When you think of diversity marketing, you probably think of inclusivity. According to Think With Google, diversity marketing goes beyond inclusivity. The three keys that unlock authentic diversity marketing are inclusivity, intersectionality, and accessibility. These three keys are the core principles of All In, Google’s marketing playbook for accessibility marketing.
Inclusivity
Inclusivity in business goes beyond including members of different minorities and demographic groups in your advertising. Inclusivity should expand to almost all aspects of your business from start to finish, including product design, selection of services, website design, advertising, and more.
Google sums up their principle of inclusivity with the phrase “nothing about us without us.” That means seeking ways to include input from members of diverse, underrepresented groups in whatever your business does from start to finish.
Small businesses, of course, cannot afford to create an internal team of advisors. However, small businesses can seek out and partner with groups in disabled and minority communities with expertise and interest in having their members represented by and included in marketing and other business activities.
Small businesses may even find such groups in their local community. In areas where no such groups exists, small businesses and representatives from disabled and minority communities could band together to form an advisory panel modeled on the Small Business Administration’s SCORE (Service Corp of Retired Executives) mentoring program.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality refers to the fact that people with disabilities or members of a minority are people, whole people. Their disability or minority does not wholly define their identity. Taking intersectionality into consideration reduces the likelihood that a business directs its market at a stereotype or represents a stereotype in a marketing campaign.
Who someone is as a person goes beyond their disability or minority to include demographics like age, relationship status, educational level, income level, or whether they rent or own a home. It also includes whether or not they have or want children, the type of car they drive, the work they do, and whether they live in or would prefer to live in the city, suburbs, a small town, or the country.
The identities of people with disabilities and members of minorities also include:
- -Their hobbies
- -The music they like
- -Whether or not they play an instrument
- -Whether they create art or enjoy visiting a museum to enjoy art
- -Their political beliefs
- -Their religious or spiritual beliefs or disbelief
- -What movies and television shows they like
- -What books and magazines they read
- -Whether they participate in, watch, or ignore sports.
Intersectionality means taking into account all of the other groups to which someone who has a disability or who’s part of a minority might belong. It means considering how all of those groups intersect to define minority members or people with disabilities. It means marketing to them and representing them in marketing campaigns accordingly.
Accessibility
Thanks to the 1990s Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities are more likely to have physical access to buildings and access to participating in educational activities and sports. Screen readers assist those whose vision is impaired to access computers and smartphones. Still, issues arise, and new technologies develop that offer expanded access to those with disabilities.
In its discussion of accessibility, Google mentions how L’Oréal adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for Web 2.0, 2.1, and 2.4. A draft of WCAG 3.0 is also available online. L’Oréal consequently places accessibility controls in the navigation menus of its website.
Just Eat Takeaway discovered that those with impaired vision or muscle control had difficulty accessing the buttons on touch screens. Making the buttons larger and increasing the sensitive area around links solved the issue.
On the other hand, Booking.com discovered that some screen readers were not reading the correct navigational tab indicated by the pointer. They also found that legacy components from older apps included in new apps might not function properly. As a result, the company now updates the components and technology of apps so that adjustments for accessibility apps are integrated by everyone working on a new app.
Proctor & Gamble uses a number of videos on their site. To improve accessibility, they added audio descriptions of the action in the video for those with impaired vision. Think of this feature as the alt text read by screen readers to describe photographs and artwork applied to videos.
Including awareness of inclusivity, intersectionality, and accessibility in your business marketing and other activities in authentic ways not only expands your potential customer base but also enhances your business image as a company that truly supports diversity.
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