Editor’s Note: This is the second part of our series on connecting with low-income audiences.
Engaging the same people benefitting from your services or funding is a worthwhile component of any communications outreach effort. However, it’s not enough to merely list them among your various audiences – you must examine their media habits. People living in poverty have unique ways of accessing content, along with preferences as to what they consume.
Content and channel preferences
Lower-income individuals spend much more time online than their more affluent counterparts – nearly six hours more per month than middle-class users. The online content they access is important to consider as well – notably Facebook and video streaming, which they consume in greater quantities than the middle or upper class.
The devices they use to view this content must also be taken into account. For many lower-income individuals, mobile devices offer cheaper access to the Internet than desktop computers. Therefore, any content you develop for this group should be mobile-friendly.
As with online media, lower-income individuals watch significantly more television than other income groups – 40 more hours monthly than the middle class according to Nielsen, including nearly 15 more hours of daytime programming.
The case for multilingual content
While knowing where and how to target this group is essential to successful communications, they must be able to understand your content – which often requires breaching language barriers. Non-native English speakers make up a disproportionate amount of people living in poverty, necessitating the development of multilingual content.
Don’t hesitate to employ outside resources to translate your pre-existing messages or assist with the development of demographic-specific content. The engagement these efforts can generate more than justifies the cost.
Developing a sound knowledge of these habits will enable you to deliver tailored messaging specifically to your lower-income audience along the same channels they use daily – facilitating conversations invaluable to the development of your continued service.
