multicultural marketing
Jul 26, 2016 — TrackFive

Multicultural Marketing: Closing Digital Divides

Despite the constant refreshing of strategy, one trend is poised to grow for much of the foreseeable future, and that is multicultural marketing.

For marketers, the pursuit is always that of finding fresh, yet reliable groups of consumers and clients to keep the world spinning. Strategies emerge by sifting through research, trends, and the latest in digital techniques – only to continue evolving with the customer.

Propelled by U.S. population growth and the expanding buying power of people of many cultural heritages, marketing will need to continue relying on diversity as a means of connecting with audiences.

To get a grip on just how significant this multicultural influx really is, consider that U.S. multicultural buying power has increased from $661 billion in 1990 to nearly $3.4 trillion as of 2014.

Understanding the many multicultural essences that drive consumer behavior today is not only an advantage but also a necessity in order to forge long-term relationships with these dynamic and growing consumer segments of the economy.

So far, we know that multicultural consumers are increasingly media-savvy and socially empowered – combine that with the fact that many belong to the millennial generation, and you’ve got a potent market indeed.

Multicultural Marketing for International Reach

In many ways, multicultural populations represent the proverbial “fountain of youth,” connecting international markets to those of corresponding cultures in the U.S., what’s more, is the trend-setting potential multicultural marketing has for the rest of the American population.

For such examples, look no further than the rise of foods featuring Sriracha, cilantro, agave, cardamom, and dulce de leche – all well-loved ethnic and international flavors currently thriving in the American market.

Finally, marketing is breaking away from strategies that assume ethnicity and race will just magically dissolve into a homogenous “general market.” Instead, we’re looking at a much-needed diversification of what it means to cater to our domestic, yet multicultural consumers.

This gets really interesting when we consider just how tech-savvy multicultural consumers in the U.S. actually are:

With the digital divide between Latinos and whites at its most narrow point since 2009, Spanish speakers and immigrants are becoming more connected than ever before.

Pew Research found that the number of Latino adults who report using the internet increased from 64% to 84%, while Spanish-dominant Hispanics’ internet use more than doubled from 34% to 74%.

Essentially, Hispanic/Latino population growth in the U.S. means more multicultural consumer identities than ever before – a relative gold mine for marketers and a mounting challenge for SEOs.

Now instead of struggling to create a high ranking a website for English speakers (a full-time job as is), the industry may soon have to come to its senses and optimize its strategies in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, and so on! It seems that marketing will have as many opportunities to evolve as there are cultures in the U.S. – arguably a true sign of a vibrant future.

Authentic Communication Makes Authentic Brands

As with most marketing campaigns and advertising, consumers want to identify with the values of brands they perceive to be authentic. Most people, regardless of their cultural identity, place huge importance on family values, heritage, and empowering themselves and their communities.

In the same way that traditional marketing and digital marketing must be linked to provide an omnichannel experience, multiculturalism and a company’s core strategies are increasingly inseparable.

Again, as both U.S. consumers and marketers themselves become more diverse, the potential to reach more international markets increases as well. Multicultural marketing is something we can all expect to explore in times to come and is in many ways long overdue.

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