How to Market to People Not Like You: "Know It or Blow It" Rules for Reaching Diverse Customers

Chapter 5. Communicate in Their "Language": Develop Marketing Messages Based on Their Values

OK, so far, you've identified the customer you want but haven't been getting; you've learned as much as you can about them and what they want, need, and care about. You've tweaked your product or service, if necessary, to meet their needs. And you've made sure that your business is operationally ready and operationally friendly for this new customer. Now it's time to actually communicate with them.

In this chapter, when I talk about communicating in someone's "language," I don't necessarily mean a foreign language. If your potential new customer speaks a language other than the one you've been doing business in, then, of course, you'd want to market to them and communicate to them in their native tongue, if possible.

What I mean by communicating in "their language" is making sure that your message has relevance to your new customer target. Your message must be authentic and sincere. It must reflect that you understand this customer and that you are reaching out and inviting them to do business with you.

There are several ways to communicate with relevance. One is with the native language of the potential customer. Suppose you've been doing business all along in English, but you really want to reach Canadians who speak French. After you've researched the market, you would probably add someone to your staff who can speak French. This would undoubtedly help with day-to-day business issues—everything ...