FIGISM #9: Practice inclusion

Victoria Gonzalez, Regional Marketing & Community Relations for Whole Foods Market, is interviewed by NBC affiliate station KTSM in El Paso, Texas. 

At FIG, we believe that practicing inclusion engenders successful PR. There’s nothing wrong with leveraging ‘tried and true’ event promotion strategies that have worked well in the past. In fact, having a well-tested campaign framework you can share with clients only helps to establish trust for the program you are creating. What doesn’t work is when you refuse to look outside of the established framework box – meaning, you turn a blind eye for ways that can help amplify your current event program.

As anyone who has worked on event promotions knows, no two events are alike. Especially those that take place in different markets. An often overlooked but obvious place to start is by researching the demographics found in the market where your event will take place. Understanding more about the different audiences will help you determine if the said audiences should become a part of your target outreach strategy.

Practicing inclusion. FIG managed media for the opening of the first ever Whole Foods Market store in El Paso this past October.
FIG managed media for the opening of the first ever Whole Foods Market store in El Paso this past October.

For example, with the recent Whole Foods Market El Paso store opening, we knew going into our event planning that 81% of the population was Latino. This finding drove us to create an all-encompassing outreach plan that included targeting both English and Spanish media in order to fully connect with our target audiences.

As a result of this simple strategy of inclusion, our coverage results were more than double than what we have achieved in the past. We also found that engagement levels were higher on Spanish media affiliates’ social channels which allowed us the opportunity to further monetize our own content.

We live in a diverse society full of rich cultures and beliefs. Now more than ever communications professionals can no longer afford to follow the singular path of storytelling with outreach focusing on routine audiences. There must be layers of targeted marketing and storytelling to meet each audience’s values.