Editor’s Note: This is the third part of our series on connecting with low-income audiences.
Your traditional bag of tricks (newspaper, magazine, tv, etc.) won’t get you very far when trying to reach a low-income audience. While it’s true that low income household consume more television than middle income households, traditional media channels do not offer the segmentation necessary to reach this audience.
To reach the people living in poverty you need to think outside the box and go beyond the traditional methods. You need to think mobile. The numbers speak for themselves:
- Approximately 65 percent of Americans own a smartphone.
- 19 percent of Americans rely on their smartphone for accessing the internet and staying connected to the world around them because they lack broadband at home, or because they have few options for online access other than their cell phone.
- 45 percent of low-income individuals access the internet mainly on their cell phones.
Low-income households may not have cable or in-home internet access, but chances are they have a smartphone, and they are active on Facebook and other social media platforms. The best way to reach this audience is through Facebook advertising, boosted posts and mobile display ads.
Facebook is highly mobile and engages people on their mobile devices. In fact, of the 1.55 billion monthly active users, 47 percent (or 727 million) only access Facebook on mobile devices. Facebook ads are highly targeted and can reach very specific groups of highly engaged people. Plus, Facebook’s average reach is 89 percent accurate.
For best results, test multiple ads with different headlines and photos to determine which combination yields the best results. Take advantage of Facebook’s analytics to monitor the progress of each ad and tweak it as needed. We recommend starting with a small Facebook ad budget and working your way up as you become more familiar with the process.
Facebook also offers the option to boost post. You can boost posts you create on your page, including status updates, photos, videos and offers. Posts you boost will appear higher in News Feed and occupy a larger portion of the screen than ads, so people are more likely to see them.
The first step in a successful outreach program is knowing your audience, the second is using the right tools. It’s time to expand your bag of tricks. Mobile is powerful and it’s here to stay.
