The world appears to be entering recession, and that means marketers are confronted with a major opportunity and a huge threat. 

Smart marketing careers are made during recessions. People still buy things, they’re just more careful about what. So, how do you increase the ROI of your advertising to ensure that by the end of the recession, you’re sitting pretty while your competitors are long gone? 

Broaden Your Market

Did you know that 4.4 million Australians are living with a disability of some kind? That’s about in 1 in 5 people. And it’s estimated that globally one billion people, roughly 15% of the entire planet’s population is living with a disability too. 

And yet, when was the last time you saw an advert on TV, or heard one on the radio that tried to be even remotely inclusive of this huge market segment? 

A Nielsen Report from 2017, called Reaching Prevalent, Diverse Consumers with Disabilities, estimated that Australian companies were leaving billions of dollars on the table by not addressing this market segment and yet, nothing has changed.

Good News!

This may not be good news for me and the many other people living with disabilities but it’s certainly good news for you as a marketer. That’s because marketing and advertising people who choose to include disabled people in their advertising strategies are going to have much less competition than they ought to – for now, at least.

There are, quite literally, billions of dollars up for grabs and nobody is grabbing them. Did you know, for example, that consumers with disabilities tend to make more shopping trips AND spend more per trip than an average consumer?

Did you know that they are also much less likely to use coupons or focus on “deals” than other consumers?

A disabled consumer is also more likely to spend more on food and on pet food and pet care than a regular consumer too. 

A smart marketer armed with just a bit of research ought to be able to tap into the incredible spending power of this market segment and, by making their lives easier, and including the disabled community in their advertising approach – they ought to be able to see a serious rise in profits.

Inclusion Shouldn’t Cost Extra

The best news about this, from a marketer’s perspective, is that this doesn’t need to cost a whole lot more money in the first place. It costs no more, for example, to hire a person with a disability to act in a commercial than someone without one. 

Market research into the specific segments of the disability community (such as individuals with a particular type of disability such as hearing loss, vision impairment, wheelchair users or Autism) won’t cost any more than regular market research, either. 

That means you can boost your ROI without having to increase your outlay to get there. This is very important in a recession as your boss is unlikely to want to boost your budget, until you show them that there are results coming their way. 

And that’s the thing – by investing efforts in inclusion, results will come your way. You will grow your ROI, while keeping spending under control and that will be gold dust for a marketing career. 

Final Thoughts On Boosting Your Marketing ROI

Marketing to the disabled community or marketing to the entire community and including people with disabilities is, of course, the right and ethical thing to do. But sadly, most marketers don’t get paid for “doing the right thing”.

They get paid based on their profitability and there’s no doubt in our minds that this is also the profitable thing to do. In fact, if you want an easy uplift on your ROI without taking risks with your budget – it’s a no brainer. Try it and see.