Marketing and customer relationship management are two essential functions for all business owners, whether you’re targeting a low-income audience or high-end clients. However, the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect in the U.S. and other countries has affected the livelihoods of many low-income earners. From the real estate sector to health, many low-income customers seek to enjoy efficient transactions within their means. Businesses targeting them must tweak their services and marketing efforts accordingly. Check out these tips to help you market and appeal to your low-income audience.
Provide efficient services.
Consumers of all income brackets demand value from their purchases. For this reason, it’s vital to provide products and services that offer value while saving customers money. As a service provider, it also helps to have various payment systems and options. For example, for many retailers, the use of a credit card machine is the norm, but they still offer cash payments or buy now pay later options.
Credit card machines can also help you save costs. Some point of sale (POS) systems have digital receipt features that help eliminate hardcopy receipts’ printing costs. The less cost you incur in providing your services, the more generous you can be in providing value to appeal to your low-income customers.
Avoid perceived stereotypes.
Having a low-income audience doesn’t give you the excuse to run with ill-informed stereotypes, especially in your marketing communications. For instance, talking about the wage gaps of low-income people and what you think they deserve on your insurance flyer might appear insensitive on the part of your insurance business. In contrast, studies show that low-income shoppers aren’t only concerned about costs. Many of them demand quality and are willing to pay reasonable prices to trusted brands.
Therefore, it’s essential to understand your customers and their interests. Researching your target audience can help you create information-specific content that speaks to the needs of your low-income customers. Basing your content on well-researched insights can also be a great way to sustain long-term effects with your marketing efforts.
Go where the consumers are.
The low-income market segment is an entire niche with pros and cons. The more focused you are on your customers’ behaviors, the higher your chances of providing them budget-friendly services. Generally, experts advise large and small businesses to center their marketing around customers’ preferred communication channels.
It’s essential to know that many low-income groups spend more time enjoying different online content types on their mobile devices.
According to Nielson, they spend an average of nine hours each month on social media platforms. That means marketing strategies like pop-up ads and special offers can be a good choice. You can also ramp up product awareness if you target daytime TV shows.
Use appealing slogans.
According to Harvard Business Review, low-income consumers’ preferences lean more toward career and educationally upgrading products and services. Preferences out of this bracket might appear secondary to them. So, creating marketing messages or slogans around vague aspirations like “how a cologne increases your romance prospects” can receive low reactions. Instead, you can align your cologne’s market proposition to new opportunities for career growth and advancements in their daily lives.
Bundle products and services.
Customer support and experience play a vital role in marketing, whether you’re a small business or an industry giant. Focusing on your target group’s experiences, especially online, can be a great way to improve customer relationships. Customer experiences can inform your business’s actions in several ways. Low-income consumers care more about the overall value they get from a brand than the individual products they purchase.
For what’s worth, consumers with less disposable income may prefer a breakfast meal that includes coffee over purchasing a cup of coffee alone. Therefore, bundling your services or products based on your customers’ definition of value can be a great way to improve traction and sales.
All in all, these tips can help improve your brand’s chances of success with low-income consumers.
