Forget the emo guy in the coffee shop sipping a green tea chai and pontificating about life in 140 characters or less. Black is the next wave of digital influence. African Americans are increasingly tech-savvy, according to a survey conducted earlier this year by BET Networks.
African Americans spend 31 percent of their discretionary income, roughly $39 billion , on computers, cell phones, and other electronics. This is a higher percentage than other ethnicity, the report found. In addition, African Americans spend more time online, 18 hours a week, than watching television (15 hours).
Most (93 percent) go online via their computers while some (76 percent) use their cell phone to access the internet. About 60 percent of African Americans have downloaded music, a television show, a movie, or a ringtone in the last month while 50 percent regularly check and update a social networking account, the survey found.
Marketing to African Americans is advantageous to companies if they approach it in the right way, said Wil LaVeist, a former executive director at BlackVoices.com , a pioneering African American website. “You must present content that is relevant to the audience, and not condescending,” LaVeist said. “It must speak to the audience on its terms.”
Companies must also think in terms of building relationships within the African American community to generate business and maintain loyalty. Home Depot, for example, developed successful partnership with the Steve Harvey Show, a popular African American radio show broadcast on urban radio.
While relationship-building activities include event marketing and community-based programs, according to a 2009 study by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, companies interested in marketing to African Americans should try building digital relationships online and using them to develop real world contacts. The BET report also busted the myth of African Americans as a monolithic group. The segmentation study dissected African Americans into seven distinct groups based on their lifestyles, aspirations, habits, and media.
Strivers are in their late 20s to early 40s. They are adventurous, fashionable, social mavens, and opinion leaders who value climbing the corporate ladder. Strivers not only like to shop as a social event, but they shop as a way of proving their buying power to their peers.
Conscious Sisters are selfless women that are spiritually connected and highly conscious of their culture. Celebrity examples include Angie Stone, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and India.Arie. They gain strength from the richness and history of African American culture and use that strength to make a better world through music, art, other forms of self-expression, or volunteering.
Tech-Fluentials are digital savvy and travel in globally-conscious circles. They have the strongest opinions and affinity for influencing opinions about technology issues and products. They are the first to try new products and share information with their family, friends, peers, and colleagues.
Bright Horizons are high school and college students who are use technology and electronic gadgets. They also tend to be Youth-fluentials who influence the clothing, movies, music, gaming, and electronic items their friends purchase. Targeting this market requires a combined online, offline approach with carefully constructed messages about their need to both stand out and fit in with their peers.
Inner Circle Elites are working women who are rick their cultural, ancestral, and spiritual roots. Unlike conscious sisters, inner circle elites are often found climbing the corporate ladder to become part of the system. They are also likely offline to be part of traditional social groups for African Americans such as a sorority to the Links.
Urban Dreamers are young, urban adults who are social magnets and trendsetters. Like the Tech-Fluentials and the Youth-fluentials, they are often the first to try products and recommend them to their friends. But unlike these groups, they have a strong socially conscious streak.
Inspired by hip hop culture, Survivors are risk-taking teen and young-adult males who hustle for their existence. Also called the “new hustle”, survivors are sometimes at the confluence of hip hop and corporate cultures, creating businesses and entrepreneurial opportunities.
So, the next time you see the fly socially conscious sister or the young hustler, they just might be tweeting the next digital revolution.
Image by Flavio Takemoto from Stock.Xchng
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The sad commentary in all of this is that even though African-Americans play a vital part in the success of many of these electronic corporate giants through the mass purchases of their devices, those companies never seem to give African-Americans adequate recognition for their tremendous business success.