Sonia Thompson – The Blog Pros

November 13, 2024

8 Inclusive Ecommerce Website Examples That Drive Growth

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

Brands in ecommerce have the wonderful advantage of having access to a broader number of consumers than their local counterparts. Before you can woo a broader base of consumers, it is important to recognize the diversity that exists among them, and the intention required to convert them.

I’m an inclusive marketing strategist and run an inclusive marketing consultancy.

Last year I did audits of multiple ecommerce websites, and found the same opportunities for improvement over and over again from the perspective of how brands can do a better job of converting more of their ideal consumers who are part of underrepresented and underserved communities.

Consumers, no matter their identity, are looking for an answer to this fundamental question: is this brand for people like me?

There are three core areas that signal to a consumer whether or not a brand is for them or not. And as a result of those signals, the consumer will make a decision whether or not to take the next step forward with you, or not.

Signals That Tell Ecommerce Customers a Brand Is for Them

1. Representation

The people you want to serve need to see themselves, or who they aspire to be, reflected in the visual imagery your brand puts forth.

When they see themselves represented in the models you use, in your customer testimonials, or even imagery of your team, they receive a signal from you that communicates “people like me belong here.” When they don’t see themselves represented, the signal they receive is, “This brand isn’t for you.”

2. Customer Experience

Delivering experiences that have as little friction as possible for the people you serve, especially those with identities that are part of underrepresented and underserved communities, will demonstrate to them that you’ve taken the time to consider them to ensure they feel like they belong with you.

3. Identity-Based Design

One of the most effective ways to eliminate friction in your customer experience, is to design your ecommerce user experience with specific identities in mind.

By considering the various types of identities your ideal customers hold in the design and development process, it makes it easier for you to incorporate elements that make people with those identities feel seen, supported, and like they belong with you.

If you need additional resources to help you with your ecommerce strategy, check out this Ecommerce Planning Kit from HubSpot.

Examples of Inclusive Ecommerce Websites

Here are eight examples of ecommerce websites that have done a good job of designing for the needs of consumers with specific underrepresented and underserved identities.

1. Moo and Farm Rio take a global approach to converting more consumers.

Smart marketers know that people who have the problem their brands solve don’t just live in one country or speak one language. As such, it is helpful to showcase to these consumers immediately when they land on your website that your brand is for them.

Business card print house Moo does it by placing an option in the main navigation of its website that enables site visitors to select which country they are in, and the associated language they need. Based on the selection, the website automatically changes to the country’s corresponding language.

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Retailer Farm Rio takes a similar approach. Consumers are able to select which country they live in from the main navigation. Once confirmed, pricing and shipping options for the clothing items change to reflect the local currency of where the consumer is shopping from.

In this image, the country selected is Morocco, and prices are shown in their currency, the Dirham.

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Having to do a price conversion adds unnecessary friction, and sends a strong signal that “This brand isn’t for me.”

This episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast details how to build an effective multilingual content strategy so you can attract more people who speak other languages to your website.

2. Dolce & Gabbana leans into accessibility.

Just because someone has a disability, that doesn’t mean that they don’t enjoy wearing stylish clothes. 15% of the world’s population has some form of disability.

As such, making your website accessible enables you to support the needs of a broader group of people, while delivering an experience with less friction.

Fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana has embraced accessibility, by making it so website visitors can adjust accessibility settings to suit their needs.

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3. Amazon delivers an effective experience for neurodivergent consumers.

Estimates show that between 15-20% of the population is neurodivergent, including people with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and sensory processing disorder.

Amazon is a brand that is making an intentional effort to serve these consumers.

In this video, three neurodiversity consultants, who are also consumers, share the ways in which Amazon delivers an experience that supports their needs.

You can catch the full discussion on how brands can design experiences that work for neurodivergent consumers on this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast.

4. Calvin Klein, Fenty Skin, and Bonds welcome LGBTQ+ consumers.

Smart brands demonstrate to the LGBTQ+ community that they are seen, supported, and belong all year long, rather than just with PRIDE month limited edition products and rainbows.

Retailer Calvin Klein does it by showcasing a broad diversity of masculinity in the models it features on its website. Here’s how one gay male consumer explained why that range of representation is important to him.

Another way ecommerce brands can show support to the LGBTQ+ community is in how products are classified.

Fenty Beauty made its skincare line gender neutral, so there was no need to label products being for “men” or “women” which can exclude people who are non-binary. The brand even goes as far to showcase gender diversity in the models using the products.

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And underwear brand Bonds has done it by offering a gender-free line of its clothes.

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You can find more tips on how to build an LGBTQ+ inclusive brand on this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast.

5. Cooper’s Hawk embraces dietary restrictions.

Many restaurants now have an ecommerce arm to their business, as they start asking, and even encouraging, people to grab takeout via online ordering.

As someone with dietary restrictions, I’ve always been reluctant to embrace the convenience of ordering food online, for fear of the staff not seeing my write-in requests for accommodations with my food.

Cooper’s Hawk has addressed this fear. Within the online ordering section, they’ve created separate products that are labeled gluten-free. Even the name of the product has a “GF” at the end, so me or anyone else with a gluten-free restriction doesn’t have to write anything in and pray the notes were read.

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The brand takes a similar approach to vegan items on the vegetarian menu. A person can feel reassured that their food will in fact be vegan because it is labeled on the website as, “Vegan Sweet Corn & Tomato Risotto”

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6. Savage X Fenty puts women of all sizes front and center.

The average clothing for a woman in the US and the UK is 16-18. But too often, the models showcasing clothing on ecommerce retail sites are models who wear much smaller sizes.

Savage X Fenty takes a different approach. The brand features a broad range of diversity in the models it uses, including a range of body sizes and types.

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And when it comes time for consumers to select their size, they don’t have to deal with being labeled “plus-sized" as other retailers often do. They just select from the broad range of sizes offered by the brand.

7. David’s Bridal’s approach to race and ethnicity.

There are many different identities your consumers have when it comes to race and ethnicity.

As such, when you’re thinking about the people you feature on your website, make sure you include a range of models that reflect those races and ethnicities.

Pro tip: Don’t opt for trying to use models who are racially ambiguous to try to appeal to the broadest range of consumers. It actually has the opposite effect, and frustrates people (often those of darker complexions) who often don’t see themselves represented.

Retailer David’s Bridal does this on their website, by highlighting a broad diversity of races and ethnicities with their models that is reflective of the people who buy their dresses.

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8. Ikea embraces religious traditions like Diwali.

Consumers who have the problem your brand solves will also have a diversity of religious affiliations, traditions, and celebrations. While most brands lean hard into traditional Christian holidays, such as Christmas, more brands are starting to add additional holidays to the ones they celebrate.

Ikea has added products for Diwali, to see and serve consumers who celebrate it.

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And consumers appreciate that IKEA has products for them. There’s plenty of videos on YouTube of people showing their Diwali hauls from IKEA.

Make Your Ecommerce Website More Inclusive

There’s no downside to doing so. The more people you’re able to send clear signals that “you belong here” through your intentional design and user experience choices, the more people you’ll be able to convert.

September 20, 2024

How to Create a Multilingual Content Strategy That Attracts and Converts More Customers

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

When I lived in Argentina, I didn’t miss out on seeing any of the movies I wanted to see in the theaters. All the shows I wanted to see were playing to packed audiences in Buenos Aires in English with Spanish subtitles.

Here in the U.S., my Spanish-speaking husband and I recently went to see a new movie at the theater.

We were able to go because this specific theater had designated showings of the movie with the original English audio, along with Spanish subtitles.

As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant and founder of Thompson Media Group, I often remind my clients that some people may have different aspects of their identity. But their dreams, desires, fears, and frustrations aren't any different from the people they’ve grown accustomed to serving.

People with disabilities still like pizza. People with larger body sizes still like to wear cute clothes. And people who speak other languages still need tools and support to grow their businesses.

The entertainment industry has long leaned into the reality that people who speak other languages still want to watch the latest Marvel movie, Bridgerton season, or House of the Dragon episode at the same time as other people around the world.

As such, they bake global audience needs into the budget and development timelines so they can watch the content in their local language.

An increasing number of smart brands are embracing the idea that engaging their ideal customers who speak other languages is an effective way to attract and convert more customers.

If you need guidance on how to build a global marketing strategy, check out this Global Marketing Playbook from HubSpot.

How to Engage Consumers That Don’t Speak Your Brand’s Primary Language

A common misconception about engaging consumers who speak different languages is that all you have to do is translate your existing content.

However, the journeys consumers take to choose which brand to buy from are often more complex than it is for a typical media consumer. There are other factors to consider.

Federico Gagliardone is the co-founder of Mecenas, a media company that works to connect brands with Spanish speakers in the U.S. He told me that a common misconception brands have about engaging Spanish speakers is that all they have to do is translate the content.

Have a listen to this full conversation with Federico on how to effectively reach Spanish speakers in the U.S., including the role of Spanglish on this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast.

Here are key elements to include in an effective multilingual content strategy, beyond translation and localization, that attracts and converts more customers for your brand.

1. Customer Intimacy

In marketing, one-size-fits-all approaches aren’t really effective. I am constantly reminding my clients that business is about belonging. Consumers will feel like they belong with you whenever you demonstrate that you see them, understand them, and have created products, content, and experiences with them in mind.

Taking content that was designed for one market, then plopping it in front of another market rarely yields the stellar results you desire.

Selim Dahmani is a Senior Growth Manager at HubSpot who focuses on the French-speaking market. He told me, “In my experience, native blog posts created with a regional SEO approach bring 4x more traffic on average than localized blog posts.”

This short video clip gives a specific example as to why a simple localization approach didn’t yield stellar results.:

Do this: Start with the customer you want to serve. Let insights about them guide your strategy. Spend time discovering what their dreams, desires, fears, and frustrations are. Uncover common questions they have, versus the ones you may be accustomed to getting in other markets.

Avoid focusing your efforts on figuring out what you need to do to “make it work” with what you already have for people who speak other languages, either in the same or different markets.

Then create inclusive and authentic content that speaks to the audience you want to reach in a manner and format that fits their preferences.

You can hear my full discussion with Selim on this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, which also has lots of other great in-the-trenches insights about developing and executing a multilingual content strategy.

2. Customer Journeys

Don’t assume that the journey customers take as part of your multilingual content strategy will be the same as it is in the primary language your brand operates in.

What you find about consumers during the customer intimacy phase may lead you to create a different journey.

For instance, while people in one market may be keen to sign up to get a lead magnet to take the next step forward with you, consumers in another market may have a strong preference to sign up for a call with you.

Build your funnel based on the needs and preferences of the people you want to serve, rather than just duplicating what has worked for people in other markets in the past.

Another consideration is that you may find that you need different assets, and possibly in a different order, in your overarching funnel.

Do this: Focus your energy on creating a minimum viable funnel with the content you need to attract and convert consumers first. During the customer intimacy phase, you’ll likely identify relevant keywords your ideal consumer is searching for in their preferred language.

A smart way to get started with that initial funnel is to create content based on those keywords, with the call to action to take the next step forward. This will help you communicate in a way that is most aligned with your consumers’ preferences in that market.

With a baseline funnel in place, you can start to expand outward to create more content and resources that help your desired audience convert.

3. Friction-free Customer Experiences

When it comes to developing your multilingual content strategy, it’s important to think about the customer experience you will deliver to the people you want to serve.

Friction harms conversions. And too often, brands deliver friction-filled experiences to people who have identities that are different from the ones they traditionally serve.

For instance, when one of my clients was trying to reach Spanish speakers in the U.S. I advised them to create separate social media accounts for English and Spanish speakers to deliver a better experience for all.

That way consumers wouldn’t click through an ad in Spanish and land on an English-speaking social media account. Multiple languages on one account are confusing and cause unnecessary friction for consumers.

Samsung features separate social media accounts for the different countries it operates in. There’s a main Samsung page, as well as pages for various local markets including Samsung Espana, Ecuador, and Egypt.

Another point of consideration in your multilingual content strategy is creating useful entry points to find your content.

For instance, in this video, a Spanish-speaking consumer typed a brand’s name into Google, and clicked through to the brand’s website (a landing page) from there. He landed on the brand’s English-speaking version of the page, and there weren’t any links that enabled him to translate the content. Friction.

When he went to the same brand’s homepage directly, the website automatically changed the content to the Spanish-language version of the website, which provided much less friction. However, that approach doesn’t come without its challenges either.

For instance, say a Spanish-speaking consumer uses a shared computer where the settings aren’t in Spanish. The automatic change of language wouldn’t happen, so it’s important to provide options in the navigation for consumers to easily choose their preferred language.

Do this: Conduct user testing for the customer experiences you’re designing with people in the markets who speak the language you want to start operating in. That testing will highlight any friction in the customer experience you’re planning.

You can use that feedback to ensure you develop and organize your content. This is a crucial step to make sure that your content meets the needs of the people you want to serve, in a manner that delivers as little friction as possible for them.

It’s Time to Activate a Multilingual Content Strategy for Your Brand

You can attract and convert more of your ideal customers. You just have to start engaging them with a well-thought-out content strategy in their preferred language.

Don’t make the common mistake of trying to convert customers who speak other languages with the least effort possible. Instead, focus your resources on developing a deeper degree of intimacy with the community you want to reach.

Then, use that insight to develop a thoughtful customer journey and friction-free customer experience to win their attention and earn their loyalty.

August 27, 2024

The YouTube Growth Strategy Mr. Beast, Cocomelon, & Like Nastya Use to Dominate the Internet (Creator Remixes 2024)

YouTube growth strategies continue to be a hot topic among marketers. In fact, most marketers plan to increase their YouTube budgets this year and say the platform has the highest growth potential in 2024.

Anytime you’re talking about YouTube growth (and I talk about growth a lot as the founder of Thompson Media Group), Jimmy Donaldson’s Mr. Beast channel is high on the list.

It’s easy to understand why. Today, the Mr. Beast YouTube channel has 240 million subscribers, the second most of any channel on the platform. There are many reasons why this channel is so popular, but the strategy I recommend most to my clients centers on expanding their view of who their ideal customer is.

YouTube’s Power Players Use This Growth Strategy

What’s the million-dollar strategy for growing your audience and your customer base? The answer is surprisingly straightforward: inclusion marketing. Yep, that’s it. I’ve built an entire consulting business around helping brands grow with inclusion in marketing and belonging, and I can spot a great strategy from a mile away.

For example, Mr. Beast employs inclusion marketing by offering his content in multiple languages. Reed Duchscher, his talent manager, explains that this is one of the primary forces driving his rapid growth.

The strategy here is simple: get your content and products in front of more people who have the problem your brand solves. More qualified eyeballs mean more people consuming your content and buying your products.

Globalization as a growth lever is nothing new. That’s why you’ll see McDonald’s, Netflix, and Nike developing localized content around the globe.

Remember, a different language doesn’t mean we don’t have the same problem — or can’t benefit from the same solution.

As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, I tell my clients it’s never been easier or more cost-effective to grow your brand by including a broader diversity of consumers. I spend a ton of time talking about practical ways to use inclusive marketing as a growth lever on my podcast, Inclusion & Marketing.

This episode goes deep on how to grow your brand through globalization, including localizing your content.

And it’s not just Mr. Beast who’s embracing this strategy.

Cocomelon, Kids Diana Show, and Like Nastya have all snagged coveted spots in the top 10 most subscribed YouTube channels. How? Each of them makes their content available in multiple languages — and has earned millions of fans as a result.

Think this is just for kid cartoons and hype engines? Think again. Even business-focused brands such as GaryVee, VidIQ, and IKEA are embracing inclusion marketing.

How You Can Reach a Global Audience

These creators aren’t creating dozens of assets at a time. They’re creating one video and localizing it into other languages using dubbing and voiceover.

Once the dubbed content is made, there are two approaches creators use to get localized content to their audiences.

1. Language-Specific Channels

Cocomelon, Kids Diana Show, and Like Nastya all have multiple YouTube channels, each dedicated to specific languages.

Kids Diana Show has 119 million subscribers on the English language version of the channel. She’s added more than 72 million additional subscribers, with language channels hosting the same, but localized, content.

Like Nastya has 113 million subscribers on her English language channel. Her brand has more than 82 million additional subscribers on other language channels.

Business channels have seen success here as well. VidIQ has 1.78 million subscribers on their English language channel. And they’ve added an additional 351,000 subscribers on the Spanish language channel alone.

2. One Channel, Multiple Languages

The outlier here is Mr. Beast, who previously hosted several different channels dedicated to various languages. In 2022, that changed.

Around this time, YouTube began working with top creators like Mr. Beast to test out multi-language audio. This new feature allows creators to manage one channel by uploading different audio, thumbnails, and descriptions to their accounts.

When a user comes across the video, it’s automatically shown to them in their local language. This allows creators to deliver a seamless customer experience for their audience while also being more efficient content managers.

YouTube noted that creators who tested this multi-language audio feature saw 15% of their watch time come from views in the video’s non-primary language.

While this feature isn’t yet available to all accounts, YouTube plans a phased rollout of the functionality to more creators.

How To Use Localization In Your Brand

Of course, it’s important to consider the customer experience you’re delivering to your audience.

Over the years, I’ve interviewed dozens of consumers with identities from underrepresented and underserved communities. A common frustration they share is feeling like brands fall short by delivering substandard experiences to them.

One Spanish-speaking consumer told me that when brands don’t make their content available in Spanish, he feels like they send the message that “people who speak Spanish aren’t important.”

When it comes to engaging new consumer groups, I always coach my clients to be intentional about delivering experiences that make consumers feel seen, cared for, and like they are important rather than an afterthought. As a result of taking this approach, more of the people you want to serve will feel like they belong with you.

The end goal of this strategy is to create video content that’s accessible to people who speak other languages. But there are lots of ways to get there.

Here’s a quick video where I walk through a few of those options and provide examples and considerations for each one. I even drop some reactions and feedback from a Spanish-speaking consumer.

1. Use human-dubbed content.

Many of today’s top YouTube channels, including Mr. Beast, use a company called Unilingo to dub videos using professional translators and voiceover talent.

If you’ve ever watched a movie with audio in another language, you’ll notice that great care is taken to ensure the voiceover looks and sounds like the original. Tone match and synchronicity deliver a better experience to the end user.

Think of this as a moment to delight your audience by working with a human voice-over artist skilled in matching the original speaker's energy, emotion, and intonation.

2. Use AI-dubbed content.

Ok, ok. I know I just told you to use human-dubbed content. But I realize that sometimes it’s just not possible.

If you haven’t noticed, the market is flooded with AI tools right now. That means you’ve got options for dubbing using artificial intelligence. Simply upload your video, select a voiceover you like, and in just a few minutes, you have a dubbed video.

If you use this option, it’s important to have the translated version verified by certified translators before publishing.

Although AI-powered translations are often good, there are nuances associated with localizing content. You’ll also want to maintain your brand voice and tone — something that can be difficult to capture with a language learning model.

The AI will translate your content verbatim when what you’re really after is transcreation. In a transcreation, you choose the words and phrases that capture the full intention and essence of what you’re saying.

In the podcast episode below, I go deep into translation, transcreation, and the proactive choices you must make when localizing content. For instance, should your brand be using gender neutral language (gendered language is very common in languages like Spanish and French), and if so, how should you approach nuances here? These decisions will have a big impact on how people perceive your brand.

3. Add multi-language subtitles to your video.

Subtitles are another way to make your YouTube videos more accessible. You can upload multiple subtitle files in other languages directly in your YouTube content studio.

YouTube also gives you the option to upload localized thumbnails, titles, and video descriptions to deliver a consistent experience in the end user’s local language.

When a user arrives on your video, they’ll hear your original audio while reading the subtitles in their preferred language.

The same rules apply when ensuring you have a high-quality subtitle translation that human translators either transcreated or verified.

Break Through the Noise with Inclusive Video Content

Think beyond your existing audience to grow your YouTube channel and your business.

Start where you can, and make improvements over time as you learn more about what your new global audience needs most from you.

Once you get into the groove of expanding content reach using inclusion, you’ll develop new relationships with new audiences that will allow them to reach new levels of success. And, at the end of the day, that’s your goal, right?

August 27, 2024

Inclusion as a Customer Acquisition Strategy (+ Examples)

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

I’m the founder of an inclusive marketing strategy consultancy. As I’ve worked with clients of various sizes across industries over the years, I’ve observed that many marketers and business leaders still don’t fully understand the business benefit of inclusive marketing.

Smart brands engage in inclusive marketing because they know it helps them make a bigger impact on a broader audience while increasing sales.

While most marketers wouldn’t intentionally exclude consumers, not excluding is not the same as actively including. True inclusion, and the ability to consistently acquire new customers from underrepresented and underserved communities requires intention.

Why Smart Brands Invite Consumers With Varying Identities to be Their Customers

To illustrate, imagine you want to be friends with a new group of people, so you decide to throw a party. A good host wouldn’t just put a sign out that says “Hey, everybody come to my party.” A savvy host would actively spread the word so the new group knows they are invited.

Smart hosts who want to welcome a specific group of people ensure they get a direct invitation to the party.

And then, effective hosts ensure all the details and experience of the party are well planned out, to ensure that when the group you wanted to attend arrives at your party, they have such a wonderful time they don’t want to leave and are excited about attending the next one.

This free How to Build a Brand kit from HubSpot will help you with resources you need to create a brand that makes more of the people you serve feel like they belong with you, and crave attending more of your “brand parties.”

There are many ways brands can go about acquiring new customers. However, when it comes to consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities, I often need to remind my clients that it isn’t enough just to communicate “you are welcome here.”

Brands must intentionally invite people from these communities to be their customers because they have long been ignored and underserved by brands.

Consumers from marginalized communities are often skeptical of brands’ intentions, particularly those who suddenly start to engage after ignoring them for so long.

These consumers don’t know if a brand’s efforts are genuine, opportunistic, or short-lived, so they often keep their distance until they know that a brand is committed to serving and supporting their community

As such, as brands are working to acquire consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities, it is necessary to invite them in a manner that makes them feel seen, supported, and like they belong with you.

Here are some examples of how brands have leaned into inclusive marketing as a customer acquisition strategy for specific identities they want to serve.

Examples of Brands Leaning Into Inclusive Marketing as a Customer Acquisition Strategy

1. Walmart Supports Neurodivergent Consumers

In 2023, after listening to feedback from both customers and team members, Walmart decided to implement sensory-friendly hours each day from 8-10 AM in all their stores across the United States and Puerto Rico.

During this time frame, stores dim the lights, lower the music, and program static images on television screens, to offer a less stimulating environment.

Data shows that sensory processing disorder (SPD) impacts between 5-16% of school-aged children in the U.S. and about 20% of the world’s population. SPD is commonly seen in people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Autism, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Because Walmart has taken the time to “see” consumers who have a need for a lower-stimulating shopping environment, the brand removed barriers that prevented consumers and caregivers of people with SPD from shopping in its stores and invited them in.

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In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I sat down with three experts who are all neurodivergent. They shared their experiences and practical advice for brands who want to ensure neurodivergent consumers and caregivers feel like they belong with your brand.

2. Lululemon Expands to Serve Consumers Who Wear Larger Sizes

Back in September 2020, athleisure retailer Lululemon made a decision to invite people who wear larger sizes to be customers. The retailer did this by expanding their range of sizes offered to go beyond size 14, up to size 20.

In the two full years following the decision to be more size-inclusive, the brand posted the largest growth increases it had seen in eight years, at 42% and 30% respectively.

The average clothing size for a woman in the U.S. and Europe is 16. As such, by offering more sizes, Lulemon was able to acquire a new group of customers, who previously weren’t able to fit their clothes.

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3. Fenty Beauty Extends Makeup Brush to Women of All Complexions

One of my favorite examples of a brand that has acquired a broad diversity of consumers with inclusion is Fenty Beauty.

Rihanna’s brand launched in 2017 with 40 shades of foundation to be inclusive of people of all complexions who want to wear makeup. The unprecedented launch broke many sales records in its early days, with many shades for both darker and lighter complexions selling out.

After seeing the response to consumers who wore “less common” shades of foundation being invited to be customers of Fenty Beauty, other make-up brands adjusted their approach and started offering 40 shades of makeup as well.

Being inclusive became the standard for any brand that wanted to acquire new customers on a consistent basis.

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4. VidIQ Reaches Out to Spanish-Speaking Consumers

Software company VidIQ decided to invite Spanish-speaking YouTubers to become their customers by making educational videos in Spanish for the community.

The U.S. has the second largest population of Spanish speakers in the world (behind Mexico), and it is the second most spoken native language in the world (behind Mandarin).

Creators who prefer to learn and use tools in Spanish can do so as VidIQ makes an intentional effort to make its existing tools available in Spanish.

This image shows a Spanish language video on the brand’s Spanish language channel, highlighting how consumers can access the VidIQ Academy with Spanish subtitles, as well as how to adjust the software’s settings to work in Spanish.

5. KitKit Shows Muslim Consumers They See Them

The KitKat Canada team invited the Muslim community to be their customers. The brand introduced the KitKat Iftar bar — thirty KitKats people can use to break their fast each day while observing Ramadan.

By designing the bar specifically for Ramadan, the brand made it clear that it sees the Muslim community in a way that many other brands do not. As such, the brand can acquire new customers during Ramadan that can later convert to loyal customers all year long.

6. Mattel Adapts Games to be Colorblind Accessible

Toymaker Mattel leaned into inviting people who are colorblind and or visually impaired to be their customer.

The toymaker declared that by year-end 2024, 80% of the games in its extensive catalog, including Uno, Tumblin’ Monkeys, and Blokus will be colorblind accessible. The brand stated that percentage will move to 90% by year-end 2025.

Mattel recognized that being blind or colorblind doesn’t diminish a person’s desire to enjoy playing games with family and friends. As a result, the brand collaborated with experts in color deficiency and co-created with people who experience color blindness to create solutions that work for a broader group of consumers.

This episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast summarizes lessons learned from an interview with Google’s Chief Brand Accessibility Officer, on how the brand approaches accessibility.

7. MasterCard Solves a Real Problem for Transgender Cardholders

MasterCard invited transgender people to be their customers by solving a real need they had when it came time to buy something. If a transgender or non-binary consumer looks different from what the name on their card says, it often puts them in an uncomfortable position when making a purchase.

Solving real problems for people from underrepresented and underserved communities makes it easier for them to choose you.

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I sat down with an LGBTQ+ expert who shared lots of wonderful insights on how to build an LGBTQ+ inclusive brand.

It’s Time to Invite More People to be Your Customer

Acquiring customers from underrepresented and underserved communities requires intentionality with your products, marketing, policies, and communications.

Make it clear to the people you want to serve that you see them, support them, and have designed an environment that makes them feel like they belong with you.

Once you do, not only will you acquire more people from those communities, but you’ll earn their loyalty as well.