Written by Amy Franz
How is your community shifting around you over time? Last year, Pew Research Center, the reputable socially and demographically-focused fact tank, published an interactive search function that allows users to see the demographic changes occurring in the United States’ 3,142 counties.
The study behind the tool categorizes counties in three broad spectrums: urban, suburban and rural. By searching a particular county, Pew displays further information about that county. For example, your county might be rural, but with a growing population. You can also see whether the community’s nonwhite population is increasing or decreasing. Age demographics are noted as well.
While Pew’s interactive tool is extremely useful for understanding the general shifts US counties are undergoing, it might not be the most comprehensive in terms of multicultural marketing uses. As Pew points out, “it’s important to keep in mind that there is a great deal of diversity within community types.”
And that’s where E-Tech can help. As a supplement to Pew’s renowned research, Ethnic Technologies’ product suite predicts more granular insights into communities. These insights, such as Ethnicity and Language Preference, can underpin extensive and inclusive marketing initiatives.
Consider Orange County, California, which is the third largest county in California and the sixth largest in the US. Pew reports that Orange County “is an urban county with a growing population. The nonwhite share of the population has increased 9 percentage points since 2000.”
Who are Orange County’s nonwhite demographic? According to a national consumer database, enhanced with E-Tech, 35% of Orange County’s residents are Hispanic. With a growing Hispanic population, marketers encounter new challenges in reaching individuals. They need tools like E-Tech that can predict individual level affinities, like whether someone is more likely to speak Spanish or English, or where in Latin America they are from. Multicultural marketers want to go beyond broad trends to reach individuals.
Pew’s research sheds light on how the demographic blueprint of the US changes over time and luckily, E-Tech is always here to assist marketers navigate our diverse and ever-changing country.
Read the full Pew article here.