The multicultural population has nearly tripled in size since 1990 and has been the largest growing marketing segment. It represents more than 21% of the nation’s growth in both population and consumer spending and will continue to increase over time. With this momentum, marketers are starting to realize the value of these high-growth consumers. They’re using geo-location and purchasing data, among other sources, to find out who their consumers are and what they buy. Some marketers are trying to reach multicultural population, but their messages are often lost. So how can they utilize all of the resources available to them to reach these diverse groups in a direct and genuine way?

Paint an Accurate Picture of Your multicultural Consumer.

A crucial first step to target multicultural consumers is asking the right questions and gather all of the information that you can about them. What are their cultural backgrounds by country of origin and region? This question will help you to determine the types of products that they are more likely to purchase. What is their level of acculturation? Asking this will clarify their connection to the UK culture versus their native cultures. If they are more acculturated, then they are more likely to pay attention to English advertisements. If their level of acculturation is lower, then targeting them with advertising messages in Urdu or Mandarin might be a better fit.

Where do they live? This question is absolutely essential to reaching ethnic consumers directly. Do they live close in clusters and around your retail locations? What other stores are around them? Do they live in predominantly Asian or African community clusters? Not only will these questions help you to paint a fuller picture of your diverse consumers, but they will also help you decide what kind of marketing tactics and messages are the best fit for your consumer when considering options like direct mail, digital marketing, social media marketing, OOH etc.

In addition, you must ask, what are their income and education levels? This will signal where they shop, what types of products they are interested in and what they are willing to spend. It will help you decide which ethnic shoppers are your target customers.

Target Ethnic consumers Where They Are.

Once you’ve answered all of the questions to develop your multicultural buyer persona, it’s time to consider which marketing tactics are most effectively going to reach your consumer. Recent research by Ofcom has shown that the Asian, African and Chinese population are much more digitally driven than marketers once thought. Much of the digital movement is being driven by millennial (Gen Y) and Gen Z which represents 32% within the ethnic population who are growing up in today’s digital world. That said, many brands still struggle with placing content that is relevant and engaging. So how can brands ensure that they are reaching the ethnic consumers through the right medium with the right content?

So what does ethnic marketing really mean? It means collecting all of the data available on your diverse consumer targets in order to paint the fullest picture of their interests, preferences and cultural backgrounds. It does not mean making assumptions based on stereotypes or past, irrelevant data. Multicultural groups are a very complex consumer group and brands must appreciate these complexities to best reach them. It also means authenticity, empathy and respect. It means inviting them to do business with you, to consume your brands because they are good for them and because you’re willing to embrace these consumers in a way their culture requires in order to feel they are wanted by your stores and brands.

It also means taking the data that you have and applying it to your marketing tactics. It means realizing that the majority of your growth will come from ethnic consumers in the foreseeable future and that budgets should follow accordingly. When you start building long-term relationships with consumers whose lifetime value is growing consistently.– Ethnic consumers live in a digital, multi-channel world. To reach them and get a piece of the action, you need to take a tactful and targeted approach