Solutions Marketing Group

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

Understanding the Market

The disability market is the largest untapped group of consumers in the United States, comprised of 56 million people and represents an annual disposable income of $544 billion. The disability market is more than twice as large as the tween market (20 million), and has almost 3 times the disposable spending power ($180 billion).

The facts alone are not enough.  Many companies know they should do more to reach the disability marketing, but few take decisive action. Successful companies know that in order to reach consumers with disabilities and their influencers, it’s important to understand what drives them.  What are their needs? How to communicate in ways that resonate with them? And, how can a company build a relationship that inspires the know/like/trust factor?

The Solutions Marketing Group (SMG) has completed extensive research for companies in various sectors and has discovered a few things to jumpstart disability marketing for companies.  Among the things we’ve learned are:

  1. Most people with disabilities receive and trust information on products and services from peers, conferences and disability organizations. The power of an endorsement coming from a trusted source is strong. If your company has built relationships with disability organizations, begin to identify the one/s that have programs or services that align with your company’s mission and explore opportunities to attend events, or add value at their conferences with workshops that enhance the lives of the people they serve.
  2. Peer review of products is preferred over solely receiving advertisements from a company.  Word of mouth for the market is THE most trusted way to reach them.  Determine how your product/service be experienced by ‘influencers’ so they can share their experience with their peers?
  3. Consumers want companies to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to the disability community by employing people, strengthening the buying experience, and placing products and information in an easy-to-find format.  How can your company tell its story so it resonates with consumers? This goes a long way to build credibility.
  4. People with disabilities want to be able to interact with the product or service before making a purchase. As your team plans its 2015 outreach calendar, what disability events can be integrated into the schedule so consumers can see and touch your products?
  5. When possible, promote products and services in a staggered manner – regionally, statewide and nationally.  The SMG Team has found that repeated, consistent resonant messaging that is focused in approach allows consumers to understand corporate commitment to them, and lays a solid foundation for building trust.  This approach provides companies with the ability to test and refine messaging and tactics, creating a win-win.

If you’d like to learn more about how to understand the disability market, contact the SMG Team for a 30-minute free call to gain further insights.

SMG Tip: The Power of Family and Friends

A young boy in a wheelchair with his brother and motherThere are 70 million families in the United States and the Census Bureau indicates that one third of those are impacted by disability. That means that a little more than 20 million families have a loved one with a disability. There are more subtle shifts in these numbers as 1 in 68 children born in our country are on the Autism Spectrum. This requires infrastructure and social supports in our communities at unprecedented levels, which reinforce equity of education and opportunity.

Why is this information important for businesses to know?

It’s important because it can translate to sales. The number of people with disabilities in the U.S. is currently estimated at 56.7 million with an aggregate disposable income of $544 billion. Friends and family comprise 105 million people with a disposable income of $3.9 trillion. Companies who employ, serve and market to people with disabilities and their families reach a large and powerful market, which is more than 2 times the size of the tween market, with more than 4 times the spending power.

Families and friends witness the lives of people with disabilities and understand what they encounter daily. They often become passionate advocates and are ready to share about the value of the person they love. There is unlimited opportunity for the company looking to reach this market.

There are a number of things your company can do to target family members and friends. Here are just a few:

When a company successfully targets families and friends of individuals with disabilities, most assuredly they will not only have a lifelong customer, but also an ambassador who will gladly share about their experiences with other families. Word of mouth has more influence that promoting products and services in ads. Receiving an endorsement from a peer, who has managed similar disability circumstances, builds a credible connection that shapes how consumers know, like or trust your company.

  1. Go where they are: The quickest and easiest way to find family and friends of people who have disabilities is to go where they are: school systems, disability-specific groups, blogs, and non-profit agencies.
  2. Find out what they need: By completing qualitative and/or quantitative research you will hear not only what is important to this important group of consumers, but what services would enhance and add value to their lives.
  3. Speak to them directly: Build facilities and services to support them well. Walt Disney World has built in several accessibility features into the rides, as well as the property for family members to tend to the personal needs of their loved one in a most discreet manner.  Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has provided value-added for people with mobility disabilities, and has recently been awarded the designation of Autism-Friendly Cruise Lines by the group Autism of the Seas.
  4. Tell it! When your company has made enhancements to provided services and products to people with disabilities and their families, do more than issue a press release.  Advertise on disability sites, and reach out to the disability media, establish partnerships with disability organizations. And share what the latest innovation is, repeatedly.

To learn more about reaching family and friends of people who have disabilities and the money your company is leaving on the table, contact Celeste Beaty at the Solutions Marketing Group, at cbeaty@disability-marketing.com.

SMG Tip: Make a Smart Budgeting Choice for 2016

hand-drawn graph showing increasing bars and a stack of moneyThe 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?

Image of a man walking away from a table with stacks of money on itLet’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!

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.