Social media breakfast provides a chance to learn from members in the Madison area who are making an impact in our local business communities.
“Make diversity normal.” A key takeaway from the Madison Social Media Breakfast as told by Robert Chappell, associate publisher of Madison 365 and chief operations officer of the Madison 365 Media Foundation. Madison 365 is an online magazine and media platform serving Madison’s communities of color. The media outlet prides itself on sharing mainstream news stories that present an alternative perspective tailored to reach diverse audiences.
With the goal of diversifying media production in the city, Madison 365 and Chappell are taking strides to incorporate more journalists of color into their practice. To do this, Chappell looks to two key principles – authenticity and relevance.
Just as the success of Madison 365 is reliant on being authentic and relevant to diverse audiences, so too is communicating your marketing message.
Authenticity
Madison 365 views itself as serving the larger public good by tailoring its stories to communities of color. At times, this means reporting on stories through a subjective lens. Although this is untraditional, Madison 365 finds it important to remain true to itself by making people aware of this fact. Subsequently, your marketing campaign and messaging should act in the same way. Be sure to provide your customers with accurate, relevant information about your product or service to build their loyalty and trust.
Relevance
Once Madison 365 had established authenticity, it proceeded to create relevant content for its readers. This meant looking through a lens that framed stories differently than does the mainstream media. Education marketers must know this, too. Topics that are timely and relevant to a specific audience will make a bigger splash, providing return on marketing efforts even if they don’t align with the content typically found in mainstream news media.
To reach diverse or niche audiences, play by different rules than the mass media. Share content with the target market through its preferred media, maintaining relevance and authenticity.