4 Steps to Create Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Campaigns

These four steps will help you hit a home run every time on your Multicultural and/or Inclusive Marketing campaigns.

1. Cover the Influencer Marketing campaign-planning basics.

The first step in planning and executing influencer-focused Inclusive Marketing campaigns is to cover the basics. At a minimum, every team should make data-driven decisions and follow this 5-step process to drive guaranteed ROI on Influencer Marketing campaigns:

Identify the campaign’s objectives.
Specify the campaign’s desired results.
Choose the campaign’s activations.
Select metrics tools and create a tracking plan.
Execute the campaign according to the scope of work (SOW).

For more information on Influencer Marketing campaign planning and execution steps, download our FREE eBook.

2. Customize your Inclusive Marketing campaigns by gathering the right data.

Once you have covered the Influencer Marketing campaign-planning and execution basics, you are ready to tailor your campaign. The goal of campaign customization is conversion. As HawkSEM shares:

If someone’s interested in your product but doesn’t feel like your brand speaks to them or shares their values, they’re less likely to sign on the dotted line.

Moreover, you can customize your campaigns by either making them Inclusive or Multicultural in nature. Adding Inclusive Marketing and/or Multicultural Marketing to your campaign planning meeting agenda depends on your data and your buyers’ persona. So, the first step in this phase is to drill down and really understand your target audience.

Therefore, if your target demographic only differs slightly based on race and ethnicity, follow the Multicultural Marketing route. On the other hand, if it encompasses a much larger demographic, including a mis- or underrepresented audience, focus on Inclusive Marketing.

Dive deeper into the differences between Inclusive Marketing and Multicultural Marketing campaigns.

Inclusive or Multicultural Marketing Campaign Data to Gather

Before confirming your buyer persona, gather basic data. This includes your target consumers’:

Background
Behavior (physical, digital)
Buying patterns and preferences
Current personal and professional information
Goals and challenges
Past personal and professional information
Personality traits
Pain points, problems, or objectives, especially as it relates to your brand’s product or service

Data for Inclusive Marketing Campaigns

Additionally, take the following information about your consumers into consideration for your inclusive marketing campaigns:

Ability (physical, emotional, learning, etc.)
Age
Body shape and size
Diet
Gender identity
Important days, months, or celebrations (e.g., Pride Month [June], Coming Out Day [October 11], Mental Health Awareness Week [first week of October], International Women’s Day [March 8], World Sight Day [October 13], Menopause Awareness Month [October], etc.)

Influencer level (macro to nano)
Preferences that you didn’t capture when gathering basic buyer persona information
Religion (or religious beliefs or practices, including spiritiuality)
Sexual orientation
Socioeconomic status

Hallmark: A Brand Getting Inclusive Marketing Right

As an example, the popular greeting card company, Hallmark, did a great job in its 2020 Christmas ad. Specifically, they highlighted an underrepresented market in their talent—the hearing impaired. Additionally, they had the little girl in their ad sign throughout, making the spot even more inclusive.

Multicultural Marketing Campaign Data

If your data shows that your target demographic includes a multicultural audience, gather the following minority group consumer data:

Country of origin
Ethnicity or culture
Holidays relating to their country of origin and/or culture (e.g., Multicultural Diversity Day [every third Monday in October], Black History Month [February], Hispanic Heritage Month [September 15-October 15], Rosh Hashanah [changes, but typically in September or October])
Neighborhood (where they currently live)
Race or minority groups
Religious beliefs or practices if it relates to their country of origin or ethnicity
Spending patterns and habits, especially as it relates to buying things that remind them of their country of origin or products that are more U.S. specific

How to Use the Data

In particular, use the data you gathered to do the following:

Finalize your buyers’ persona.
Drive decisions in the strategy and planning phases.
Double check that your strategy, plans, and campaign decisions are spot on.
Create tactics that will resonate with your target audience and drive your brand’s or client’s desired results.
Craft a SOW that front loads clear and comprehensive information to make campaign execution streamlined and efficient.
Detail specific metrics that must show up in your campaign wrap-up report to prove ROI.

Airbnb: A Brand Getting Multicultural Marketing Right

As an example, well known for its dedication to diversity, Airbnb launched a new campaign at the end of 2021, focusing on host and guest similarities. In a post entitled “Strangers Aren’t Strange, “the company shared:

The world is undergoing a revolution in how we live and work. Technologies like Zoom make it possible to work from home. This newfound flexibility is bringing about a revolution in how we travel. The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly untethered tens of millions of people from the need to work in specific places at specific times. They can now work from anywhere, travel any time, and stay for longer. While technologies like Zoom make it possible to work from home, Airbnb is making it possible to work from any home—and ultimately, to live anywhere.

3. Create Inclusive Marketing campaigns by asking key questions.

Furthermore, once strategy and data gathering are underway or complete, you have arrived at the most fun part in the campaign planning process—talking tactics.

According to Juanita Velez, the Multicultural Marketing Expert and Founder of HYPE, marketers need to answer these questions to drive diversity in Influencer Marketing. Again, refer to data to guide your brainstorming sessions:

Should the [campaign] have a theme? If so, what kind of themes should be considered that will be of interest to [our entire target demographic]?
Why should people want to [engage with the campaign or with the brand]? Are there different motivators for different [consumers]? (What’s in it for them? WIFM)
How should we promote our [campaign]? What channels do we need to activate on to promote this [campaign] and target the [the buyers, target market, consumers] where they consume content?
How can we increase sales among the communities that reflect our company’s values, that we want to [engage with]?
Who do we want [to engage with the brand or the campaign] that represents our company’s culture and fulfills our objective?
Should we have more than one [campaign] for different audiences?
Who do we need represented to ensure the [marketing message] is diverse and caters to all of our [customers, clients, etc.]?

How to Implement Answers to These Questions in Your Campaigns

Specifically, with these and answers to any other key questions top of mind, you are ready to double-check and confirm your campaign activations. To do that:

Share your plans with members of your target audience.
Welcome their feedback to ensure your Inclusive Marketing campaigns get an A+ on its diversity. For example, on everything from representation, language, and creative to brand message points, inclusion, and subject matter.
Accept the feedback. Resist getting defensive or thinking you know better (especially if you do not represent the buyer persona).
Modify your tactics where necessary, even if it means starting over.
Get additional input from members of the target demographic until you land on final plans that will resonate with your ideal consumers.

4. Develop a scope of work that reflects diversity.

As a result, after working through all the above-listed steps, you are ready to create a clear SOW, including:

The campaign’s objective and brand’s goal(s)
Anticipated measurable results
Budget
The campaign’s inclusions
Influencers’ criteria

Tip! For example, refer to your buyers’ persona when listing your influencer criteria. Match not only the influencers with your target audience but their followers as well.
Requirements
Brand messaging and creative asset information, (for example, phrases to highlight, topics and terminology [language, slang, and subjects] to include/avoid, camera angles or photo/video direction, etc.)
Compensation (e.g., rate, special instructions, etc.)
Wrap-up report inclusions and delivery date
Campaign timeline

Equally important, have your ideal consumers review your SOW to ensure it is spot on. Namely, you captured the influencer criteria, brand messaging, and creative asset information correctly. Then, press go! In other words, execute your Inclusive Marketing campaigns and watch your ROI skyrocket.

Tip! Specifically, in order to drive results that exceed expectations, avoid the 7 most common diversity in Influencer Marketing campaign mistakes.

Wrapping It All Up

Most importantly, executing Multicultural or Inclusive Marketing Campaigns starts with following tried and true Influencer Marketing campaign steps. Namely:

Identify the campaign’s objectives.
Specify the campaign’s desired results.
Choose the campaign’s activations.
Select metrics tools and create a tracking plan.
Execute the campaign according to the scope of work.

Finally, pinpoint the precise buyer persona data and customize your campaign based on the findings. From strategy and planning to execution, rely on the data and involve people that match it to craft tactics and terminology that will resonate with your target consumers.

Next Steps

Want to learn more about diversity in Influencer Marketing?

4 Steps to Create Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Campaigns