In the last decade or so, ethnicity and religion have become issues of extensive debates due to global political turmoil and increased social awareness and activism. This changing dynamic has also affected the marketing campaigns centered on religious and cultural motifs. There have been cases of late where a slip-up in the execution of cultural-centric marketing forced companies to roll back the entire campaign.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that businesses can’t use ethnic tangent in their promotions at all. Using cultural elements in marketing campaigns are absolutely fair, given that they are ethically executed.
Never Go for Cultural Appropriation
It’s a reality that ethnicity-based marketing campaigns are often launched to target consumers that belong to minority groups. In appreciating their culture, some businesses go overboard where it starts to look like the dominant group has hijacked the cultural elements of the ethnic group. In many cases, it is not done on purpose. Marketing campaigns found guilty of cultural appropriation often backfires. So, make a conscious effort to ensure your marketing work doesn’t appropriate the culture of targeted ethnicity.
Don’t Touch Controversial Issues
Some marketers believe there is no such thing as bad publicity and forays into a territory where it becomes unethical to exploit the angle of ethnicity. For instance, they often make a controversial statement relevant to the grievances of the targeted ethnicity to get more traction. You may able to get few customers from such exploits. However, a large part of the consumer base (both ethnic and non-ethnic) will refuse to do business with you.
Always Use the Strengths of the Culture
Always talk about the strength of the corresponding culture and history of the targeted ethnicity. Ethnic-targeted mailing lists provide business owners with several ethnical groups to choose from. So, if you are going to reach out to a particular ethnicity from the targeted mailing list, always have a thorough look at their history, cultural distinctions and topics that can offend them.
All this information can help you in working out a direct mail copy that will be perfect to reach out to that specific ethnic group. Subtly incorporate the noble features of their culture in your mail and avoid the potentially offensive and controversial topics. With this strategy, you can effectively use ethnicity in your direct mail marketing without breaching any ethical rule.
People Love to Hear Good Things About Their Native Culture
Rampant social media outrages have developed a perception that people don’t want to hear about their culture from others anymore. This is not true at all. Diasporas living far away from their native lands feel more relevant when their culture is cited and discussed in a positive manner. Similarly, they get a pleasant surprise when they find out that an ‘outsider’ is aware of their cultural nuances.
So, don’t drop the idea of using ethnic-targeted mailing lists for reaching out to ethnic groups. A direct mail devised by taking care of the things discussed in above discussion will definitely help you in winning the hearts of ethnic customers.
You can read this blog to find the importance of a targeted mailing list for customer acquisition.
