By Maggie Aguirre, Performance Measurement & Reporting Coordinator
City people have been moving to smaller towns for years, and work from home options have only enabled that. For me, moving from Houston to Northwest Arkansas more than a decade ago gave me some culture shock, but the diversity I’ve discovered has made up for much that I miss. Though moving to farmland and away from family, friends and my favorite comfort foods was an adjustment, I’ve since found a local Mexican restaurant with decent tortas and a place to get an elote in a cup. It may not quite compare to my favorite spots back home or buying a snack straight from the elote guy down the street, but it’s a start.
The NWA area has flourished these past few years, which is no surprise with Walmart, J.B. Hunt and Tyson headquarters all down the road. Still, I had no idea that Northwest Arkansas was home to the largest Marshallese community in the U.S. or that the Asian population accounts for 16% of the total population. The Hispanic/Latino population has also grown to 10%, which now includes my family of four. It’s made me realize that even small-town America is ripe for multicultural marketing. In fact, according to the 2020 Census, the past 10 years have seen an increase in diversity in smaller and more rural areas like this one.
This trend isn’t happening just in NWA, though; the multicultural landscape is expanding across the U.S. We’ve watched the marketplace change daily as some businesses adapt and others fail. Brands need to be mindful of racially and ethnically diverse differences even when targeting smaller communities. Understanding these evolving demographics will require a different approach than in the past.
Here are some multicultural strategies for your rural outreach:
- If you are looking to expand your outreach to a more diverse audience, consider market research for a better understanding of that community and how they perceive and engage with your brand and your competitors.
- Explore ways to connect and engage with multicultural customers and understand their cultures, behaviors, languages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Use your findings to develop media and marketing campaigns that authentically speak to your audience.
- Develop year-round marketing strategies that highlight diverse groups beyond the awareness day, week or month assigned to them.
At 4media group, your success is our success. We’re highly motivated to help you expand your messaging to be more inclusive – from insights & analytics to creating engaging content and executing intentionally multicultural digital and media campaigns.