If there’s one lesson we’ve learned over the past two years, it’s that it is no longer enough to merely include low-income audiences among other various audiences in your marketing plan.

In fact, given how quick the news cycle moves these days, and the way people consume information, marketers must now closely examine the media habits of people living in underserved communities to meaningfully connect with them. What’s clear is that underserved communities have unique ways of accessing content, along with preferences as to what they consume.

To reach all people effectively you need to meet people where they are. We now know what media people consume and when they do. At Fraser we use media research tools to focus media in the places where low income and underserved communities trust and look for messaging.

Content and channel preferences

Here’s what we’ve learned:

• Understanding your audience — Who are they? What are their media habits? How do they access information?
• A closer look at the Hispanic community — including those who speak English as a second language
• Going beyond traditional media: the rise of mobile and non-traditional tactics to reach these families
• From public transportation shelters to places of worship — meeting your beneficiaries where they are

The Fraser way

In late 2020, Golden State Opportunity, a California based non-profit which is dedicated to ending poverty across the state, engaged Fraser to employ a statewide educational campaign that encourage Californians to file their taxes, claim the California Earned Income Tax Credit, Young Child Tax Credit and Golden State Stimulus.

In support the campaign, Fraser executed a multilingual campaign which included a mix of digital and traditional media tactics to strategically reach Californians living in poverty across the state and they included:

• Creative assets to be deployed across TV, radio, digital, social media, and print media
• Custom TV spots in English, Spanish, Hmong and Tagalog
• Digital Banners, Video Pre-roll and Facebook/Instagram ads targeted based on geographic region, language (English and Spanish)
• Phone numbers from texting campaign were utilized on Facebook (for added frequency of messaging to qualified users.
• Half-page newspaper ads in English and Spanish ran in popular local papers

Overall, the campaign was successful in driving more than 1.9 million Californians to Golden State Opportunities website, which was more than three times the expected traffic.

Most importantly, more than 4.27 million California households, approximately 6.65 million individuals, including 1.91 million children and dependents claimed $1.25 billion from the Cal EITC and Young Child Tax Credit. And an additional 10 million households received more than $7.84 billion from the Golden State Stimulus.

To learn more about our work, including campaign creative please click here.