Bridging the gap between people of all colors and cultures is important not just in everyday life, but also through your marketing tactics. There have been far too many instances where top companies have had to apologize for their marketing campaigns due to the message that was delivered. What you don’t want to do as a business is make the same mistake. Your website content writers can help you develop your website and email campaigns to appeal to a multicultural audience. Keep reading to find out how and why it is important.
An Increase in Multicultural Consumers
Tons of opportunity for your business
The truth is, while you are marketing to the United States – you are marketing to more than one culture. If you are marketing worldwide…well, this one should be pretty obvious, therefore, no need to discuss. Not appealing to all audiences these days can lead to a huge missed opportunity given the increases in the multicultural consumers that we have.
According to Nielsen, there are about 120 million multicultural Americans. This population made up to 92% of the total United State population growth between 2000 and 2014. This goes to show that the multicultural population is continuing to increase, and much of it consists of active consumers. In fact, of the multicultural population, 50% is millennials – another target market that is becoming a large consumer these days.
Understand the Broader Picture
Each person has a different view
Try putting yourself into someone else’s shoes when viewing the content on your website or your marketing strategy. Is there something wrong with it? Taking a look at a campaign or a piece of content from a different standpoint can reveal something that you didn’t see before if you are not open to new views.
Many brands have become sensitive to things like gender, nationality, race, and religion; however, they are still leaving the multicultural market out. This is often due to the lack of knowledge and maybe even their business priorities. With website content writers, you can change that for your company or business.
With content that appeals to a broader range of people, you will be able to tap into the multicultural market. When developing your content, it is important to keep in mind that not every demographic has the same viewpoint or is influenced to make the same buying decisions as another.
Focus on the Language of Your Website
This includes slang and jargon
Yes, the language on your website matters. No, I am not saying you have to translate the content of your website into various different languages in order to appeal to the multicultural audience. While having a multilingual website can help your business, it is not necessary – if you are mindful of what you have on there. For instance, most marketing terms or jargon are popular in the English world, but will others who have not learned, studied, or grew up with the English language know what you are saying with these phrases?
Instead of steering away from this common terminology, you can take time to explain what these phrases, words, and concepts mean in a way that is easy to understand for everyone. Including examples of what you are talking about can also help.
If you do choose to translate your website content…BE AWARE as some words can get lost in translation. One of the most successful marketing campaigns comes from The Dairy Association – “Got Milk”. However, when they tapped into the Mexican market, it was discovered that their well-known slogan translates as – “Are You Lactating?” – which didn’t sit well, as you can imagine.
Right vs. Wrong
Examples of companies failing at the multicultural strategy and others succeeding
As business owners or website content writers, you should take multiculturalism into account when developing your next market strategy. Most of these companies are leaders within their industries, yet they have still produced some campaigns that drew a lot of negative attention, especially from their multicultural consumers and audience.
Let’s begin with what not to do:
- Visa: Here, we have another case that was lost in translation. Visa – the plastic piece of currency that you probably have in your wallet – wanted to build loyalty with their campaign. It started off well until they developed a title that was geared towards the Hispanic population: “La Vida Toma Visa.” This slogan ended up confusing many people due to the fact that the verb “tomar” in Spanish means “to drink” and “to take”… leaving the slogan at “Life Drinks Visa.” This is where idioms and nuances fall short and should be explored more to get the right translation.
- Audi: This auto tycoon of a company came up with a campaign under the notion that it is always important to inspect a vehicle before the final purchase. The campaign featured a mother-in-law walking to the altar to stand before her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law and started checking out her teeth, pulling her ears, and eventually nodding in approval. This commercial certainly objectified women, reduced their value, and it was offensive rather than funny.
Others, on the other hand, lead by example:
- Google Campaigns: Google launched two campaigns – one is “Grow with Google” while the other one is called “Accelerate with Google”. The first targets small-business owners, teachers, students, developers, and more to get the free training as well as help that they need in order to grow their skills along with their career. The second targets people with unequal access to technology and economic opportunity in order to learn how to represent their business online.
- Netflix: This streaming channel is one that embraces their multicultural audiences well when compared to its competitors. Original series like Orange is the New Black, NARCOS, and even some of the most popular Spanish-language comedies as well as Bollywood films have become available for streaming over the past few years – all of which, appeal to the multicultural audience due to the diverse language, actors, and more.
Your business should be aware of the fact that your audience – no matter what you are offering – is diverse. Therefore, the content should appeal to more than one set of eyes. Your SEO website content writers can develop blogs, landing pages, emails, app descriptions, and more with the multicultural audience in mind. How is your business bridging the gap?
