Consumers today notice it when marketing materials fail to reflect their lives in a realistic way. If your company’s advertising is the stereotyped kind featuring only young, white actors, for example, you may alienate some of your customers.

Inclusive marketing is important

The population is more diverse than it has ever been: according to surveys by Pew, nearly one in two millennial adults are non-white in US. This means that advertising that sticks to traditional stereotypes is likely to drive away nearly one in two consumers. Polls indicate that this is true.

One survey has found that seventy percent of millennials will reject a brand if their marketing is not inclusive enough. One in two millennials say that when there is a choice, they go with the brand that reflects their lives and values.

Diversity is not just about race anymore

Not long ago, diversity was seen as inclusive behavior focused on ethnicity and race alone. While earlier generations may have seen diversity in a limited way, however, millennials often expand it to include age, sexual orientation, religion, and class. It’s important, then, for marketing to be inclusive in every sense of the term.

Tips on being more inclusive with your marketing

Finding inclusive imagery for your advertising is one of the simplest ways to break stereotypes and attempt inclusive marketing. It can take an effort to find stock images that adequately reflect the diversity of your customer base, but it can be done. Here are some ways in which to try inclusive marketing.

Think beyond ethnicities: While it’s a good thing to include imagery of different ethnicities in your marketing, it’s also important to go beyond. You need to show people who use wheelchairs, for instance, people who are heavyset, or those who are unconventionally attractive.

Look beyond your customer base: It can help to be inclusive with your marketing even if your research shows that your customer base primarily belongs to a single demographic. Even if your customer base primarily seems to be middle-aged men, for example, it can make sense to include diversity in your marketing to expand your customer base to, say, young women or mixed-race couples.

Rethink the language in your marketing materials: It used to be that including feminine pronouns was all that was needed to be inclusive. Today, it’s important to realize that there are non-binary customers out there. Rather than speak of a he or she, then, it makes for far more sense to address your customer base as they.

Bring diversity to your company: Rather than make deliberate efforts to be diverse, it can make sense to have it happen in an organic way. You only need to make sure that your company employs a diverse workforce. The more diversity there is in your ranks, the more diverse your company’s voice will be.

Make sure that your customers experience your inclusiveness: It isn’t enough to be inclusive in your marketing. It’s important that customers who come into contact with your business feel included and welcome. You should make sure that inclusiveness permeates your company’s culture.

It’s important to understand that inclusive marketing is not a move that can happen quickly. It takes time to thoroughly change the way a company thinks, feels and acts. As much effort as it takes, however, businesses need to lead change. It would only be the right thing to do.

Call Us To Engage With Diverse & Inclusive Audience

With over 300 languages spoken in our homes and more than 100 religions, there is no doubt we live in a diverse environment. adStartr can help you engage with multicultural Australians.

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