Black history month is an annual celebration of the achievements, contributions, and culture of Black Americans throughout history. This celebration happens every February. But the Black community’s impact should be recognized beyond these 28 days. It is essential for brands to engage Black communities all year long.
Often in February, tone-deaf marketing and unkept promises made by brands emerge, and once the month ends, so does the effort.
According to B Code, brands can reach 83% of Black consumers positively by emphasizing honest messaging about brand promises, delivery on promises made, truthfulness about social issues and relevance to the consumer’s life.
Representation Matters: Serving Black Consumers
Thirty-four percent of US consumers have abandoned a brand due to failure to represent their identity. As a result, brands have stated that they are consciously making the decision to include more diversity in their campaigns. However, incorporating diverse, intersectional creators should not be an afterthought in your marketing campaign.
Focusing on diversity in your campaigns and fulfilling the needs of Black consumers will help you tap into a new market with great buying power. Over the past two decades, the spending power of Black households has increased 5% annually, outpacing the spending power of other ethnicity’s households. Mckinsey & Co. estimates that companies that serve Black community’s needs could tap into $300 billion of value annually.
Black consumers are also more brand-aware than other groups, so your messaging and efforts are everything. Mckinsey suggests that they are willing to shift approximately $260 billion to companies that can better deliver what they need. Building awareness around the community and employing more representation internally will help to ensure your efforts are genuine.
Diversity and Inclusion with Creator Marketing
More than ever, today’s informed consumer has been emboldened to seek out brands and products that align with not just their needs, but their values too. There are so many options after all.
Marketers have long realized that a brand’s values are an increasingly important factor to consumers. The best way for brands to stay ahead is to spend ample time listening to their consumers and putting trust in their diverse creator partners to speak authentically to their own audiences to the benefit of the brand’s creative and bottom line.
Consumers not only appreciate these efforts, but they also notice when you are not doing it. The general market is the multicultural market, and your content should reflect that.
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At Open Influence, we love witnessing the influence of Black creators on the content landscape. We are captivated by their creativity and contributions to our campaigns.
We want to continue the celebration and shine a spotlight on five stellar Black creators who are inspiring audiences:
Jazmyn W
Bio: Stand Up Comic, Content Creator, Artist, YouTuber, Beauty Expert, Foodie & Baddie 💋 Follow me on TikTok – LA ✈️ DFW
Helecia
Bio: fashion • travel • beauty • natural hair
🔗 YouTube: iknowlee 🔗 TIKTOK: iknowlee 🔗 Email: iknowlee@gmail.com
All my links 👇🏿👇🏾👇🏽
Jeff
Bio: Jesus lover🙏🏽 Self Taught Cook🇳🇬 Catering & Private Dining🥇
@foodnetwork Big Bad Budget Battle 📺blessitsjeff@gmail.com All Recipes👇🏽
Jeremy
Bio: I help people get fit,build financial empires & market for your favorite brands📈
~ Indy📍 ~ @dyc_fitness Owner🏋🏾♂️ ~ @pescience Jeremy💰 ~ Investor 🏡
Sharron
BIO:📍Atlanta
Style+Smiles+Color. Inspiring women through Fashion, Fitness, Faith, ✈️ Pro-aging Advocate
Award-Winning Influencer
PR: sharron@gb-dm.com bio.site/arrayoffaces
About Open Influence
Open Influence is a global creator marketing agency that has been serving the world’s Fortune 500 brands for over a decade by working with over 1 million of the world’s most influential creators. Contact us to see how we can help you build your brand.
