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SMG Tip: Simplicity + Value + Consistency = A Recipe for Success

August 18, 2015

Companies that successfully reach consumers with disabilities understand that it requires commitment, discipline and strategy. The truth is, there is such a barren landscape of companies that are speaking to them directly, that any company that is serious about penetrating the market has the opportunity to make the competition irrelevant. These disability-savvy companies know that moving beyond understanding to market penetration requires well-developed tactics. The SMG Team has developed a quick list of tactics that change the culture and impact the bottom-line:

1. To Get the Consumer with a Disability, Keep it Simple

Most companies get into a quagmire about what to offer and what to say to consumers with disabilities. After the research has been completed and your company understands key drivers for purchase decisions, create an efficient path for consumers to navigate to help them understand how their needs will be met, communicating with them consistently and minimizing the number of information sources consumers must touch while moving confidently toward a purchase. We’ve found the most successful brands achieve this by personalizing the route. One way to personalize this process is to have customer service staff that understands how products and services are used by people with disabilities.

2. Offer Value

In most instances, people with disabilities, and families with a disabled child, live financially below their peers. They have to make their dollars stretch among the basics, and have medications, therapies and medical supplies that also need to be purchased. Companies that simplify the purchase process, and offer bundled packages, incentive discounts and additional value will win the market.

3. Be Consistent

The general rule is that a prospect has to have 7+ interactions with a company before making a purchase decision. Seven! That means that companies have to develop an integrated strategy with multiple touch points with consistency to make an impact. There can no longer be limited discussion about reaching people with disabilities in July (anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act) or October (National Disability Employment Awareness Month). It must consistently happen, with resources, all year long.

To learn more about how your organization can penetrate the disability market, contact the SMG Team for a 30-minute free call at 703-920-0225 or info@disability-marketing.com.

SMG Tip: Make a Smart Budgeting Choice for 2016

August 11, 2015

The reason many companies indicate why they aren’t targeting consumers with disabilities is because of ‘limited budgets’. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if Dove Soap didn’t target real women with a range of body shapes, Old Navy didn’t target tweens, and Chipotle didn’t target millennials? These brands would have missed a loyal following of consumers, sales would remain stagnant and stock prices would be flat.

Why hasn’t this same attention been placed on the disability market? There are 56 million people in the United States with disabilities, with aggregate disposable income of $544 billion. Why aren’t more companies targeting them as guests, customers and employees? Why, when budget planning takes place inside of companies, is the disability market placed at the back of the new markets discussion? There seems to be avoidance or lack of understanding. Once this gap is closed, then companies can penetrate and retain new consumers.

As many companies are ramping up for 2016 budget planning, here are a few things you should know about consumers with disabilities that will shorten the typical learning curve:

The global estimate of the disability population is 1.2 billion people.
There are 56 million people with disabilities in the United States, with a disposable income of $544 billion.
Friends and family understand disability and are also loyal consumers. There are some 100 million+, with a disposable income of $3.9 trillion.
Source: Return on Disability

That’s a lot of people. And a lot of money.

Armed with these facts, the time is now to begin shifting the internal discussion about the disability market from compliance to value that’s created by building a relationship with these consumers and their friends, families and/or caregivers. As this shift is taking place, there are a few key questions that must be honestly answered:

What does our company understand about the disability market, as it relates to products/services?
Who is our ‘ideal’ customer who is connected to disability?
What’s important to them?
Where are they?
How can we most effectively reach them?
What do they want to hear from our company?
What is the most important driver in their purchase decisions?
What do we need to know that we do not currently know about this market?
What initial steps do we need to take?

Questions like these have been answered by global brands about the African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and LBGT markets. The reality is that budgets didn’t get in the way of companies formulating strategies to reach multicultural markets, (or niche markets for that matter). Isn’t it high time that the disability discussion change as well?

If you feel your organization is ready to head into a new direction in how it employs, markets to and serves the people who have disabilities; and if you’d like to ask questions related to your company’s disability marketing, contact the SMG Team for a 30-minute discovery call. To schedule, send a message to cbeaty@disability-marketing.com.

Happy Budgeting!

Carmen D. Jones

How Much Money is Your Company Leaving on the Table by Not Reaching the Disability Market?

August 4, 2015

Let’s provide some context for the size and scope of the opportunity to reach the disability market. Tweens (ages 8-12) are 21 million strong, spend an estimated $30 billion annually and influence $150 billion of their parents’ spending. That’s a total of $180 billion that is spent directly linked to the tween market.

The disability market, by comparison, is 56 million and the market’s aggregate disposable income is $540 billion. When we include family and friends who have an affinity for disability, that numbers swells by 105 million and the aggregate disposable income grows to $3.9 trillion (Source: Return on Disability Group).

We’ve found that friends and family react strongly and emotionally to direct, as well as subtle, cues that connect brands to the disability community. They change their buying behavior and ‘preach’ their loyalty passionately. These folks become brand ambassadors and lifetime customers.

In weaving a disability message into brand experiences, firms engage at a basic, powerful emotional level. Smart brands will adapt to the changing demands of boomers, the wealthiest demographic in human history.

To figure out what this is costing your company we are going to do a little exercise.

Write down the average sale/s for 1 customer of your company, if you know it.
Write down the estimated number of customers your company has.
Divide that number by 5. 1 in 5 people have a disability. That is the average number sales your company is receiving from the market, by default. What would happen if you intentionally tried to reach them?

What money are you leaving on the table? It’s time to make a change that impacts your bottom-line. Forget altruism – while that’s nice. Reaching consumers with disabilities is about business. Period.

Ready to get started? Contact Celeste Beaty at cbeaty@disability-marketing.com to schedule a 30-min consultation with Solutions Marketing Group.

SMG Tip: Disability Marketing is for Small Business, Too!

July 7, 2015

Did you know that small businesses make up 23% all business in the U.S., but they employ 50% of the working population? In an environment where companies – large and small – are trying to be heard and seen in a crowded marketplace, small businesses have an opportunity to stand out when reaching an untapped consumer group – people who have disabilities, their families and friends.

The truth is that people who have disabilities and their family and friends need the same products and services as non-disabled people. So if you own a carpet cleaning business, a service station, beauty salon, or dry cleaner, there are some things you can do to connect with this market to build a life-long relationship with them. The payoff is big and can result in increasing impact and your company’s income. We suggest small businesses consider micro targeting the disability market so the impact can be measured and you understand what works.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Define your Ideal Audience
One in 5 people have some sort of disability or chronic health condition, according to the US Census. It’s safe to say that many people are your email list, or that come into your business are, or have someone in their lives who has a disability. Find out which of your existing customers is impacted by disability. Find out what’s important to them and zero in on creating your product/service offering on the right niche of consumers. It may be parents who have a child with a disability, or adult children who are primary caregivers for aging parents. We suggest you get as specific as you can and target your ideal customer.

Determine How to Find Them
Once you’ve identified your ideal customer/s, it’s important to know where they hang out or congregate. One tip is to identify many disability organizations in your city or region and contact them. Or, you may consider contacting the school districts where you live and building relationships with the Special Education department to begin the process of being a trusted company for families to rely upon. This process may take time to nurture, but it’s the best way to build credibility, by gaining access to your ideal customers through a trusted organization.

Provide Unique Value
Nobody likes to just be sold to. Determine what your company can do to provide unique value for customers who are impacted by disability. You may include information on your website, or host a day for them where they can obtain value-added information that is unique to their circumstances. Whatever it is, be sure to provide content (on your website or your email list) or an additional service that is life enhancing. For example, if you are a dentist and you specialize in providing caring services for kids with developmental disabilities and oral aversions, you may provide an email that includes dental hygiene for the kid who doesn’t want a toothbrush in his/her mouth.

Or, if you own a hair salon you may consider targeting Mothers who have kids with autism or other developmental disabilities. You know that these women want to be pampered like Moms of typical kids. You could reach them through schools, or local disability organizations and dedicate a Saturday each month where they and their kids can come in and get their hair cut in a safe environment where they won’t be stared at, and any behavioral challenges are handled well.

Be Consistent
Lastly, the key to successfully reach and serve customers with disabilities is to be consistent by creating a schedule that keeps your efforts on target. Start by adding value and building the relationship. Once customers have a good experience with your company, they will tell their friends.

Gaining a new customer base doesn’t happen overnight. But with just a little effort, your business can gain a new, loyal customer base. Ready to get started? Contact Celeste Beaty at cbeaty@disability-marketing.com to schedule a 30-min consultation with Solutions Marketing Group.

SMG Tip: Real Disability Market Growth Starts When People Talk

June 2, 2015

The Solutions Marketing Group has found through our years of research that beyond what a company says about its product, service or accessibility in an ad, the number one way that people with disabilities determine whether or not they’ll pull the trigger to buy is what they hear from their peers. We’ve heard consumers tell us throughout the country that word of mouth provides a weightier, more credible endorsement than anything a company can say about itself. Why is that? Because we’d rather hear about the experiences of others who have similar experiences or health needs, than anyone else.

Consumers don’t mind sharing a lot of information with friends, colleagues, and/or parents with children with disabilities. Topics range from identifying van conversion companies in a specific region; discussing service providers that have a successful track record; finding travel destinations, like Disney; theater arts companies that are accommodate a range of disabilities; or even the airlines that have a consistent track record in providing amazing service – on and off the plane. We do not hold back when it comes to sharing information. We want seamless experiences, as our non-disabled peers, and we want to hear from people who have experienced what we need.

We used to share face-to-face, with a phone call or in a support group. Social media has changed all of that. We dig into company websites, we read reviews on sites like Trip Advisor, and we ‘like’ what our friends say on Facebook, or we retweet on Twitter. Whatever it is, we tell it.

While becoming an event sponsor is great, and creating the infrastructure within your organization to support families with kids with disabilities is awesome, it won’t amount to much if the disability market doesn’t see your company demonstrate that they are valued consumers. Once they do, and they experience the very best of your company’s commitment to them, they will begin to tell it. At the heart of reaching 56M people in this U.S. is a really simple idea:

People decide to tell other people.

Start with that and get them talking about your organization. Make sure what your walk and talk line up, because this market can spot a phony. Once you’ve done your work to understand the market, create a robust marketing strategy that includes digital/social media. Once your company captures the attention of the disability market, they will tell each other.