Two American copywriters recently asked me for my opinions on the potential market of ethnic or multicultural copywriting.

Now, you may have noticed…

Twitter For Cross-Cultural Marketing Research

I have beefed up my Twitter micro-blogging recently. And following everyone who Tweets about everything related to international and cross-cultural business.

There are a few very useful things that have come out of following my favorite topics this last month.

• I’ve noticed the increased interest in ethnic marketing in the United States due to the Obama effect
• I’ve met a few key ethnic marketers in the US and here in France.
• I’ve noticed top American marketers scrambling to find out more about ethnic marketing.

And I also saw a number of Tweets on about a recent survey on the increase of the ethnic population in the US.

• Americans of ethnic origins will represent the majority of the US population in my lifetime.

As a cross-cultural marketer, it is obvious that this will change marketing tactics.

Marketing gets you more sales when it connects with your customers. And you need to understand your customers’ behavior for you can create an effective marketing campaign.

The problem is that different cultures have different behaviors.

• Different cultures need different marketing.

Ethnic Marketing TodayLet’s look at ethnic marketing…

Ethnic marketing still represents a few hurdles for businesses today.

• It is not a standard practice – companies do not use this often enough
• Ethnic marketing best practices still have to be ironed out – more businesses need to have ethnic marketing strategies

Not Just MarketingThe trouble is that management often assumes that ethnic or multicultural marketing is “just marketing”. They do not realize the extent to which selling to different cultures effects the entire business.

In addition, the first hurdles businesses encounter in ethnic marketing often translate into more time and investment.

• Businesses do not realize that will often need to re-position their product
• They underestimate the amount of work this involves
• They underestimate the extent this effects all of their business

An ethnic marketer who does not have the support and participation of the whole business team cannot impact ethnic sales effectively.

Best place to look for insights:

• International marketers

They can easily understand how doing business with different cultures can effect the entire business. International business development is a process that involves new skill sets.

This international process and these skills sets are very similar and can usually be transposed to develop effective ethnic marketing.

Positioning The Sale

The very first task for ethnic and cross-cultural marketers is to reposition the sale. Different cultures respond to different emotional buttons.

Best place to look for insights:

• Copywriters and marketers with field experience

Copywriters are marketers trained in understanding a market from their side. A professional copywriter is usually able to grasp the extent of how much you will need to reposition your offer in order to sell to a different cultural or ethnic group. With two caveats:

• The copywriter or marketer has to have the time to do the research.
• He also needs to know when he needs to continue to dig further. Cross-cultural communication challenges hit everyone, no matter what your profession.

The Future Of Multicultural & Ethnic Copywriting & MarketingThe book Megatrends Europe by Adjiedj Bakas comes to mind because our societies are changing, but:

• No one knows for sure what they will be like in the years to come.
• No one knows how the different elements will influence each other.

Despite these uncertainties, if you have a business today, it is wise to look at current trends. You will have more informed insights into where you business will be tomorrow.

There is an obvious trend in ethnic changes in the populations of many of the current leading world countries. The one assumption you can count on is:

• An increased need for effective ethnic and multicultural marketing

And my advice to the two copywriters interested in multicultural copywriting…

…Jump onboard now if you can.

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Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural eMarketer & International Sales Specialist, aligning businesses with different cultures. She has over 25 years field experience in international business development and helps mid-sized business owners create international business development strategies that shorten time to profitability.