What Does It Mean to Use Diverse Marketing Strategies?

In your career with PPC (pay per click) advertising, you will experience a lot of challenges. From keyword selection to ad copy, to studying Google’s algorithm changes, the learning never stops.

However, there is one more aspect that few marketers take into consideration: the globalization of their marketplace thanks to technology spreading across the world. It is more important than ever to keep in mind the diverse audiences you are interacting with.

In this article, we are going to discuss the question of diversity and marketing. We’ll cover the importance of this topic and how to implement diversity into your campaigns so that you can appeal to your market in meaningful and engaging ways.

Let’s get started.

What Does it Mean to use Diverse Marketing Strategies?

Diversity refers to the fact that there are various ethnic or cultural groups within society. By using diverse marketing strategies, you appreciate this societal makeup with all of its different talents, needs, interests, and skills.

It also means tolerating different preferences and ways of life — even in religious or sexual orientation. This does not mean you must agree with these differing preferences or lifestyles, but in marketing, you need to keep your audience in mind first and foremost because you are here to serve them.

Cultural diversity has a significant impact on marketing. For instance, African-Americans were the first group identified as needing a unique marketing approach thanks to the cultural uniqueness and historical challenges that they have faced.

Furthermore, Asian-Americans were lumped into the “general” marketing category until recently. This was based on the assumption that they assimilated more closely to typical American culture.

However, the studies show that they tend to be more educated with higher incomes and purchase technology at higher rates and participate in social media at higher rates. These are just some examples of how diversity plays a role in your campaign planning and ad execution.

What are the Elements of Cultural Diversity?

Diversity marketing involves acknowledging that marketing and advertising must offer alternative ways of communicating with diverse groups. With that knowledge, diversity marketers aim to develop a mix of different communication methods to reach people in each of the various groups present in the market.

So what does it mean to use diverse marketing strategies? The following are salient elements of cultural diversity:

• Interpersonal Relations – The way people interact can be influenced by the customs and practices of the cultural group to which they belong.
• Festivals/Celebrations – An example of a celebration or religious observation is Ramadan, marked by a period of fasting followed by an evening celebration for Muslims. It doesn’t come regularly on a fixed month of the Gregorian (a.k.a. the standard Western) calendar.
• Family Structure/Obligations- These can influence the way people behave. For example, in Tonga, a girl should leave the room when her brother or father enters, out of respect.
• Language – Barriers may exist when trying to communicate with people from different cultural groups and language trees.
• Religion – This can determine things like what foods should be eaten or avoided and what kind of clothes should be worn.
• Customs – This is generally how a group behaves or what its members believe.
• Food Preferences and Dietary Needs – Many differences exist between cultural groups in the ways food is prepared, cooked, and eaten. As an example, Hindus do not eat beef as they believe cows are sacred animals and Muslims don’t eat pork as it is prohibited in Islam.
• Social Values – These are an accepted way of behaving and acting within a particular social setting.
• Work Ethic – Some cultures have a more laid-back approach to work hours, whereas others have a rigorous approach to work hours.
• Communication- Body language and gestures can have different meanings in different cultures. For instance, it is impolite to use a lot of eye contact in Asian cultures.
• Product / Service Preferences- Some cultures have certain expectations about services and products.

What Are Some Examples of Cultural Diversity Marketing?

Do you need to worry about cultural diversity even if you only do business in the United States? Yes, especially if you want to reach all of your potential customers in a meaningful way. In the Chicago area alone, 20.86% of the population is foreign-born, for example.

Chicago is also home to the largest ethnic Polish population of any city outside of Poland. The largest non-English language spoken in the Chicago area is Spanish, which is spoken by 13.23% of the population. So, you can see why understanding different marketing messages and techniques would resonate differently.

If this is the case for Chicago — a typical “American” city if there ever was one — imagine how it plays out across your customer base in other areas. And if that doesn’t convince you, consider that successful companies are keeping this in mind.

When answering the question of “what does it mean to use diverse marketing strategies?” It helps to have examples. There are a lot of brands who adopted diverse marketing strategies:

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola succeeds in so many advertising areas that it’s often easy to overlook one of its simplest messages. Its Super Bowl ad was designed to celebrate the idea that ”together, we are beautiful.” It featured a cast of diverse individuals singing various lines of the patriotic tune ”America the Beautiful.”

The song, which started in English and included portions sung in Hindi and Arabic, also featured imagery of a gay couple, Latino family, women in traditional Middle Eastern attire, and Jewish men wearing yarmulkes.

SunRice’s “The Rice Breaker”

Australian FMCG company, SunRice, created this award-winning campaign for the 2019 Chinese New Year. It depicted a Sino-Australian family sharing a meal with their Australian neighbors, finding common ground over a bowl of rice.

The campaign was named the “Campaign of the Year – Business” at the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards.

Fenty Beauty

Perhaps one of the best examples of non-contrived diversity marketing, Rihanna’s makeup line – Fenty Beauty – launched with 40 foundation shades, which at that point was an almost unheard-of range in the makeup industry.

The launch became the biggest beauty brand launch in YouTube’s history, sold $100 million in the product in its first 40 days, and induced the “Fenty effect.” This inspired other brands to do more to challenge the status quo of beauty by “showing, not telling” inclusivity and diversity in its product offerings and advertising.

Google

In 2018, Google produced an ad titled “The Picture Perfect Life” that features a group of real individuals’ photos taken using Google Pixel phones, along with narration of tidbits from their lives.

As the ad wraps up, we learn that each individual had called the suicide prevention line at some point in their lives, and the narrator asks the viewer to “question your lens.”

Google promoted mental health awareness and created an appropriate advertisement without feeling forced or exploitative.

Procter & Gamble – The Talk

‘My Black is Beautiful’ is a group that Proctor & Gamble” to spark a broader dialogue about black beauty.” They introduced the campaign ‘The Talk,’ which addressed the conversation African Americans have with their children about racism.

McDonald’s

Market research and strategy consultants noticed McDonald’s efforts in diversity marketing in his hometown of Las Vegas and noted that it wasn’t anything flashy or contrived.

“The local McDonald’s franchise organization produces a large variety of creative materials that reflect the diverse needs of different audiences,” he said. “It has outdoor creative and bus signage in Spanish, usually combined with morning breakfast promotions, in areas where a larger share of the audience starts work early and speaks Spanish. Meanwhile, in more family-focused parts of the city, advertising focuses on family-friendly combos and meals.”

Microsoft

Microsoft is an excellent example of how diversity marketing can permeate other aspects of your business. It was brought to Microsoft’s attention that people with physical disabilities were having difficulty playing video games with traditional controllers.

In response, Microsoft created a line of adapted controllers and systems that featured touchpads instead of buttons, or brighter colors for those with visual impairments.

It also created a dedicated line of communication for the disabled community to request continued modifications, and then put the story into an ad for the world to see.

Sport England – This Girl Can

The “This girl can” campaign was created by FCB Inferno for Sport England with the mission to encourage more women to get into sport and leisure activities across the UK.  Research shows that 2 million fewer (14 to 40-year-old) women participate in sport than men, although 75% say they want to be more active.

“This Girl Can” took the concept that women are less likely to get involved in sport because of fears of body image judgment and family commitments, and flipped these preconceived notions on their head. The campaign focused on power, body-positive representation, and achievement, and was directed by an acclaimed female director, Kim Gehrig.

It was also supported by a social media campaign that used a tailored algorithm to send encouraging tweets to women tweeting about exercise. The campaign was very successful, with results showing that 1.6 million women have started exercising and the number playing sport is increasing faster than men.

Why is it Important for an Advertiser to Study Culture?

Culture is a way people lead their lives. And your job as a marketer is to understand your target market’s experience. The deeper you dive into their background, experiences, and culture, the better you can speak to them as peers or trusted advisors.

When designing a product and planning the advertisement, the style uses, and other related marketing activities must be made culturally acceptable if they are to be operative and meaningful.

Culture is persuasive in all marketing activities —  in pricing, promotion, distribution channels, product, packaging, and styling.

The marketer’s efforts are judged in a cultural context for acceptance, resistance, or rejection. How such actions interact with a culture determines the degree of success or failure of the marketing effort.

Markets constantly change. They are not static but evolve, expand, and contract in response to marketing efforts, economic conditions, and other cultural influences.

One cannot truly understand how markets evolve or how they react to a marketer’s effort without appreciating that marketers are a result of culture. This is exciting news for you as a PPC marketer. You can truly be an agent of change.

What Impact Does Culture Have on Market Strategy and Segmentation?

Within the global market, and your particular market, there are sub-sections (segments). These are small economies of their own with distinct cultural realities.

The American economy is distinct from that of India and Pakistan. These markets are distinct from the Chinese, and the Chinese are distinct from the Japanese. These differences are there because of the different cultures and cultural styles.

A few things that are acceptable in Germany may not be acceptable in the US market. The kind of fashion loved in the US may not be as acceptable in the Middle East. These cultural differences can affect business performance.

With market segmentation, you can concentrate your resources and efforts to achieve maximum penetration of that market rather than a spreading strategy too far and wide. When segmenting, what does it mean to use diverse marketing strategies?

The traditional and common practice in international marketing has been to segment a market using environmental factors as the primary base for segmenting international markets. You can classify countries by political systems or level of economic development into distinct categories such as:

• The Primary Markets – This is where the best opportunities for long term strategic development are seen. They are also known as “first world” markets like the US, UK, Germany, Japan, etc.

• The Secondary Markets – This is where opportunities are identified, but the political or economic risk is perceived as being too high to make long term irrevocable commitments. Developing nations in Asia and Latin America are a great example.

• The Tertiary Markets – These are “catch what you can” markets. These markets will be perceived as high risk, and so your allocation of resources will be minimal if you decide to even enter these risky markets at all.

The Pareto Principle usually applies to international marketing strategies with its full vigor. The most broadly-based and well-established international firms found that 20 percent of markets will generate at least 80 percent of the revenue.

These consumers must receive greater managerial attention and allocation of resources.

Once the prime markets have been identified and targeted companies, then use standard segmentation along the lines of demographic, economic, lifestyle, and psychographic distinctions.

Looking Internally — What Does it Mean to Use Diverse Marketing Strategies?

Unfortunately, there’s no magic wand to wave and create instant diversity. It has to be grown organically from a marketing philosophy that rewards and celebrates it, and that usually requires some long-term work.

But some of the diversity steps that marketers can begin taking today include:

• Hiring Practices – Diversity-centered hiring practices are a subject unto themselves, and if you haven’t yet embraced them, that’s something to work on first. If you don’t have representation on your marketing staff, your representation in your campaigns will suffer.
• Diversity in Project Leads – If someone is a member of a cultural group you are targeting, ask them to take the lead on that initiative. They can add insights and sensitivity to avoid alienating your customer base.
• Research – Robust market research can help identify demographics your brand may have been under-serving. Try to understand the specific concerns that motivate people from different cultures and how your marketing may have missed a beat.
• Let Your Customers Chime In – Curate some customer-centered diversity by offering customers a place to upload content related to your brand, such as a YouTube channel.
• Watch Your Words – Your ad copy should be as inclusive as possible. Keep in mind that your market contains people from various ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, genders, and other lifestyle distinctions.

How to Develop a Diverse Marketing Strategy

Diversity marketing is accepting the reality that consumer bases are no longer as homogenous as they once seemed. As more consumers look for brands that resonate with them, brands that are slow to adapt their marketing to this reality can seem out of touch and dated. Diversify your marketing as follows:

Recognize that It’s a Process

As a business, it can be extremely challenging to jump into diversity marketing and inclusion if you have not been actively practicing it all along. Recognize and accept that diversifying your marketing and making your company more inclusive is a process. It is a practice that will continue to grow and develop over time.

Truly Champion Inclusiveness

One of your first steps in implementing a diverse marketing strategy should be researching and educating yourself and your employees. Offer training, seminars, or resources to your workers, and include inclusivity training as part of your onboarding process.

Strive to build diversity in the workplace by crafting a team that includes the backgrounds, philosophies, and beliefs of those you’re trying to convert. A solid diversity marketing strategy will flow from it.

Listen First

Ensure authenticity in your marketing message by including the voices of the people you are marketing to in the campaign. This could mean collecting and listening to customer feedback, having diverse representation in your advertising campaigns, or bringing in consumers to consult on projects.

Prioritize Your Marketing Data

One of the best ways you can get yourself on good footing is to collect and understand as much data as you can get about your target market. Be sure to use a variety of data analytics to extract as many perspectives as you can.

Ultimately, a diverse marketing strategy can open your business up to entirely new markets and target a diverse audience through the simple process of learning about and reaching out to them.

Diversity marketing is simply an expansion of traditional marketing, which seeks to connect consumers to a product through a sense of shared experience and culture. Luckily, answering the question of “what does it mean to use diverse marketing strategies?” is really about expanding your efforts rather than starting all over.

Always Analyze, Test, and Tweak

Multicultural marketing shouldn’t be a one-off strategy. A focus on specific cultural groups and their needs can be a consistent theme across your brand’s identity.

Analyze campaign performance in different locations and varying languages to pinpoint problem areas. Don’t be afraid to tweak the message slightly and re-launch when the opportunity presents itself.

It is advisable to embed analytics across the entire omnichannel landscape to analyze performance in near real-time. This will give you accurate and actionable reports rather than mere guesses.

Wrap Up

“What does it mean to use diverse marketing strategies?” In short, to approach marketing from a more human perspective. Merely translating material from one language to another is not enough to inspire the same emotions and actions in a new target audience.

It is crucial to take cultural nuances into account and avoid unintentionally offending anyone. Therefore, you should create campaigns that accurately reflect and resonate with your target audience.

If you can accurately assess your market segments to appeal to those specific people, your marketing campaigns will be more effective. You can speak their language in the way you place keywords, write ad copy, and ultimately persuade them to purchase your product, resulting in better conversions and efficient bidding.