Solutions Marketing Group

Providing clients with innovative strategies that position them to understand, penetrate and retain the disability market.

A Letter from the Founder: How to Reach Consumers with Disabilities

Carmen JonesAccording to the U.S. Census, there are 56 million people with disabilities (PWD) in the country. While this market intersects all races and ethnicities, on its own, it is larger than the African-American (42M), and Hispanic (35M) segments. Targeting this market can be challenging since disabilities are diverse, individuals don’t always disclose they have one, and there’s no residential segregation or concentrated areas in cities and towns where people with disabilities reside.

This begs the question: How do you reach them?

Representation matters and I celebrate (and patronize) disability inclusive companies. I applaud brands like Toyota, Facebook, Microsoft, Duracell, and AT&T, who’ve included authentic images of people with real disabilities, not actors faking it. In the 20 years since I founded SMG, one thing remains consistently true – to reach consumers and prospective employees with disabilities, your organizations must know how to reach them – on-the-ground or digitally.

Your organization’s ability to effectively reach candidates for employment or as customers depends on how well you understand the needs of people with various disabilities. Creating a candidate or buyer persona will help identify what their goals and challenges are as relates to familiarizing themselves with your business.

If you want to elevate brand affinity, drive business growth and shareholder value, and have a wider talent pool, there are a few actions your organization can take.

  1. Create the Candidate/Buyer Persona: Buyer personas are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers or candidates. They help you understand your customers/employees (and prospective customers) better and make it easier for you to tailor your marketing strategy to the specific needs, behaviors, and concerns of customers and employees. The strongest personas are based on market research and interviews you gather from your actual customer or employee base — through surveys, interviews, and so on.
  2. Go Where People with Disabilities (PwD) Are: This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many organizations focus solely on internal processes and procedures, like starting an Employee Resource Group or sponsoring a disability-focused event with expectations that it’ll drive traffic. To move the needle, begin by identifying organizations to build relationships with that are trusted voices or influencers; reach/serve a large number of PwD, their families and allies; and, want to build a relationship with your company beyond a donation or contribution. The most beneficial partnership will add value to your organization by providing access, as well as resources and tools.
  3. Develop a Disability Inclusive Team at Headquarters and Beyond: Many organizations focus disability inclusion from the headquarters office. This team will have senior leadership support, and is responsible for providing the vision, resources and guidelines for disability inclusion, throughout the enterprise. Regional teams should be established to implement the vision, as well as build and maintain relationships with disability organizations in the region.
  4. Develop and Implement a Digital Marketing Strategy: According to Pew Research, “constant” internet usage among adults increased by 5% in just the last three years. The way the general market shops and buys is constantly changing, and the ground game must integrate online tactics. This means consistently connecting with the audience in the right place and at the right time, with resonant messaging. A few tactics to consider are:
    • Content Marketing: Do you include disability-relevant blog posts, Ebooks or whitepapers, or infographics that generate brand awareness, lead generation or sales? If not, this is an excellent way to share your organization’s disability inclusive evolution.
    • Social Media Marketing: This practice promotes your brand and your content on social media channels which increases brand awareness and drives traffic. Channels to consider are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
    • Email Marketing: Companies use email marketing to communicate with their audiences. Email can be used to promote content, discounts and events, such as job fairs. I suggest using emails of those you gather contact information from, at events or from your website, and use your company’s CRM system to consistently reach them. The types of emails to consider sending for an email marketing campaign include: blog subscription newsletters, follow-up emails to website visitors who download resources, customer welcome emails, holiday promotions, tips or a similar series of emails for customer nurturing.

Your ability to reach people with disabilities – as customers or candidates – relies heavily on C-Suite support, organizational will, focus and consistency.

Carmen Daniels Jones
President and CEO
Solutions Marketing Group

How are the Lives of People with Disabilities Better After Using Your Product?

A young man with Down syndrome hugs his mother and father.

Marketing brings clarity for all customers to hear:

  • That their existing situation could be improved.
  • Your product or service is the best fit to solve their problems (real benefits, genuine outcomes).
  • Making the change to your product or service is a good choice (no fear, no uncertainty).
  • Their reasons for remaining with their current solution aren’t as compelling as they think.

Marketing, when done well, transfers anticipation and enthusiasm to the customer to try a new product or service. Expecting customers to get excited without your brand’s help is expecting a lot.  When it comes to disability inclusion, many brands seem satisfied being compliant or checking boxes, rather than focusing on outcomes – increased sales and employment.

If your organization takes steps to create disability inclusive marketing, it’s imperative to communicate two things: 1) Show other customers making the leap; and, 2) Take care to approach different verticals.

Show Customers Making the Leap

Communicate, using social proof or testimonials, outlining the positive impact a product or service has had in the lives of people with disabilities when a purchase has been made. Testimonials are most effective when the journey from before to after is shared.

Take Care to Approach Verticals

Customers with disabilities, and their influencers, have different issues, concerns and preferences. It’s really important to understand the distinctions of each. A parent of a child with autism or cerebral palsy may prefer a brand of clothing that doesn’t have tags or seams because they’re an irritant for their child.  A person who is Deaf may prefer a specific smartphone because of a text plan, or the quality of the video. A wheelchair user may prefer a specific hotel brand because of the accessibility features in the rooms. Change isn’t the same with each vertical, so you can’t communicate with them the same way. But to start you must understand the preferences of target audiences.

The first step to meaningful disability inclusive marketing is recognizing why it can be difficult for this segment of consumers to change, from what they’ve had experience with, to something new. The second step is knowing that even the most innovative product or service won’t sell itself without the right messaging. You can influence perception by sharing the world of a person with a disability before your product or service, and their world after.

Disability Market Consultation Calls | May 2017

Disability Market Consultation Calls presented by Solutions Marketing Group

Many organizations have mastered marketing, advertising, customer experience and employment for multicultural segments, but don’t demonstrate high-level insight and expertise that effectively reaches people with disabilities, their families and friends. It is mind-boggling that a market of 56 million people, with over $1 billion in disposable income to spend, isn’t a priority for most organizations.

In the past, executives have shared reasons they’ve not taking a deeper dive to understand, penetrate and retain the market.  Any of these sound familiar?

  1. ‘We know we should do more, but aren’t quite sure what to do, or how to do it.’
  2. ‘My team was inspired during a disability sensitivity training but there hasn’t been any actionable follow-up.’
  3. ‘We just don’t have the budget this year to spend on integrating the disability market into our overall strategy.’
  4. ‘The disability market is so large, and many people don’t disclose that they have a disability. How do we identify and target specific segments?’

If this sounds like conversations you’ve had, I’d like to talk with you about closing the gaps.

May 9 – 11, 2017, I’m offering 30-minute Disability Market Consultation Calls (DMCC) to discuss and/or answer questions you and your colleagues have about effectively employing, marketing to, or providing an exceptional customer experience to the disability market. My goal is to provide     value and actionable steps your organization can implement. And, did I mention there is no cost?

On previous DMCC, I’ve shared insights on a wide variety of topics, ranging from:

  1. Standing out in a crowded market.
  2. Speaking to the needs of families with kids with disabilities.
  3. Leveraging Section 503 to develop and implement new policies and procedures.
  4. Understanding disability market segmentation.

This offer is for large and small businesses, as well as non-profits and government agencies. DMCC are no cost to you, and scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up for your call today!  If you have questions, contact Celeste Beaty at cbeaty@disability-marketing.com. I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Warm best,

Carmen
Carmen Daniels Jones
President/CEO

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SMG Celebrates International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Today, the SMG team joins the United Nations in celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  It’s a day we recognize the advances, rights, and progress of people with disabilities throughout the world. While significant strides have been made globally, more work remains to be done.

This year’s theme is Achieving 17 goals for the future we want. Download the poster to explore the focus areas and how you can get involved.

IDPD 2016 Infographic

Download a PDF of the 2016 IDPD Infographic

National Disability Employment Awareness Month Presents a Unique Opportunity

by Carmen Jones

In 1986, a car accident left me paralyzed. When I returned back to school almost a year later, I still did everything career-bound college students are advised to do – got good grades, held leadership positions in student government, and became involved in a host of extra-curricular activities. Yes, I was now a person living with a disability, but I had no intention of derailing my plans to pursue a career in marketing.

Carmen Jones, in her wheelchair and cap-and-gown, surrounded by 4 people

Carmen at her Hampton University graduation

But when it was time to start my post-graduation employment search, unlike most of my classmates, I received no guidance from the Hampton University Career Planning and Placement Office. Looking back, I know they were willing, but we were all on unchartered territory. I was one of a handful of undergraduate students with a disability and they didn’t know how to support or connect me to resources or recruiters from companies or organizations with inclusive hiring practices.

So I was left to navigate the job market on my own.

I started out hopeful. During my senior year I had a number of initial interviews, and two of those companies actually called me back for a second round. Yet despite my accomplishments, and perceiving that I did well in those interviews, I wheeled across the stage with a degree in one hand and no job offer in the other.

While my parents are sweet and patient people, they made it clear that I had to get a job. Heeding their demand, I continued to beat the proverbial pavement to no avail.

Through a series of unexpected circumstances, Ralph Shelman, the executive director of The Peninsula Center for Independent Living, read an article about my accident and returning to school. He reached out to the university and, fortunately, Hampton contacted my parents to relay the message. A week or so later, I was in Ralph’s office interviewing for an Independent Living Counselor position. He hired me on the spot, and I began providing guidance and counsel to people who had their disabilities much longer than I, some from birth. On paper, I was woefully unqualified for this position, but Ralph gave me a chance.

Since full-time employment was my goal, I didn’t really think about having any practical knowledge about the disability community or counseling. I had only been a person with a disability for less than three years and had no prior experience navigating the community and social supports for myself, let alone helping others. I jumped right in, and my boss wasn’t deterred by my learning curve. He had a solutions mindset, one that was willing to give a new graduate an opportunity to gain a foothold on the world. A mindset that could see past my wheelchair to my potential. A mindset that was willing to open the doors a little wider for someone with a disability.

And without that mindset—that opportunity—I wouldn’t be where I am today.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and the time of year when the disability community and many employers spotlight disability employment and inclusion in small businesses, local/state/federal agencies, and corporations. NDEAM, supported by August 2016 data from the Department of Labor, reminds us that the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is 11.3%, while the rate amongst people without disabilities is 4.8% – almost 3 times higher than the general population.

NDEAM - Inclusion Works: Inclusion Workds for Opportunity, Inclusion Works for Business, Inclusion works for Innovation

NDEAM 2016 Poster

As disability inclusion has grown, NDEAM can be a catalyst for moving beyond awareness to creating an opportunity mindset among decision makers. Much like my former boss, employers with an opportunity mindset seek to address what’s needed to open doors wider to enable people with disabilities to apply for positions they are most qualified for. It looks at what people can offer, removes the stigma of disability, and understands that diversity of thought and experience makes for a richer culture.

There are some initial questions that you and your team can answer to begin developing an opportunity mindset:

  1. Start with why. Why is disability inclusion important for your organization?
  1. Be honest. What has your organization done to identify, recruit, onboard, and retain individuals with disabilities? What was the outcome?
  1. Have a champion. Who is the leader that has the authority to drive disability inclusion?
  1. What additional leaders and/or departments need to be engaged across the enterprise?
  1. Buy-in is Critical. What are your internal stakeholder’s biggest objections about disability employment? What steps can your team take to counter objections?
  1. Define a measurable goal. For example – The XYZ organization will hire a certain percentage of employees with disabilities by a target date. By making this clear your organization can outline action steps to achieve this goal.
  1. Build partnerships. What disability organizations do we need to build relationships with to access talent, locally and/or nationally?

I hope these questions will help your organization take important first steps to develop an opportunity mindset during NDEAM. If this discussion guide is beneficial to you, please send me an email at cjones@disability-marketing.com.