4 Ways BIPOC Business Owners Can Build Exposure and Awareness

1. Community Engagement

2. Create Buzz (marketing)

3. Tell Your Story

4. Ask To Be Featured

Besides racism and bias, 3 out of 5 Black business owners said they struggled with being taken seriously while a further 63 percent of Black business owners had difficulty accessing capital compared to their non-black business-owning counterparts.

Unfortunately, half of the Black business owners studied had a hard time building a support network, while a further 27 percent struggled with owning their accomplishments — which their non-black business owners didn’t necessarily have to overcome when creating a successful business. Source: New York Post

I open with that statistic so we can all agree that this is not news to us, we know this to be true, there are a lot of articles, statistics, and reports that share the same information. What we are doing here at SASS Marketing Agency is teaching you how to overcome all these well-documented challenges that are faced by the marginalized and underrepresented community, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC).

Utilize the tips in this blog post to start building awareness and exposure for your business, elevate your brand so you can be taken seriously, and so you can be seen.

1. Community Engagement

Whether you have a brick-and-mortar location for your business or not is irrelevant. Relationship building is at the core of business success, so start exercising that muscle. Get plugged into your community, engage with organizations and partners that serve your ideal customers/clients. “Community involvement is an excellent way for any business to build relationships and increase brand awareness and visibility”, Source: Forbes.com

Distribute your marketing materials and attend events when you’re able to, so that your brand is seen, people get to know YOU and your business, and so you also have the awesome opportunity of networking with your ideal customers/clients, in-person; which is invaluable and cannot be compared. Host your own community events to build visibility and recognizability within the community. Tap into your own contacts/network by reaching out and communicating your vision and goals for your business; a newsletter is a great tool to do this. You want people to remember your brand and business so that you are the first business or brand they think of. Be Memorable!

2. Create Buzz with Your Marketing

This one may be a little challenging for most of you, but it really is all about strategy and consistency. We know that marketing can be a daunting topic, but it doesn’t have to be. Think of it as you ‘building a community' around your product/service. To build a community takes a lot of communication, transparency, trust, and buy-in. It’s pretty much the same concept when marketing your business. When you think of it this way, you can see that it’s not really that complicated.

In creating buzz, you want to keep your audience engaged in the journey of your business. You’re not Walmart, Nike, or these big box stores, so don’t be intimidated by their marketing tactics. You are in a different category and at a different stage, so stay focused on building trust with your audience, and the best way to do that is to include them in your business journey. Every step of the way, communicate, engage, and interact with your audience. This creates excitement, buy-in, and eagerness to see the growth of your business and it inspires support. We’ll be launching our Marketing Foundations Bootcamp v.2 soon, and it goes through everything you need to establish a solid marketing presence, click here for more information.

3. Tell Your Story

“People don't buy what you're selling; they buy the story behind it. Your brand is the stories that people tell about you.” ~ Unknown

Don’t be afraid to share the vulnerableness of your why, that’s 1 of the differentiating factors that inform people why they should care about your business. This is the WHY behind your brand and your business, use it to resonate with your ideal customers/clients. Use it to build rapport and connection, to build trust, and for your audience to get to know more about you and your business. This is your superpower! Activate it!

4. Ask To Be Featured

Why are we so scared to ASK for the opportunity? Business ain’t fair! Go out and ask for the opportunities that will put you in front of your ideal customers/clients, if the answer is ‘no’… so what? Move on to the next!

If you’re truly in business to ‘help others’ than yourself, then forget about self and internalize the ‘no’… seek out other opportunities to reach the people you want to help, put on that hat every time you’re doing outreach.