Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/999395
"Brands and organizations come to LAGRANT Communic-ations because they truly believe that to be successful, you have to be able to target a multicultural market. The business is out there; when you look at hotels and lodging places, I think that there are still organizations that just don't get it. The reason I say that is because you have a lot of people that take a homogeneous approach, believing that they can reach everyone with one message, but we know that isn't true. People travel for different reasons; say for example, we know that in the African-American community family reunions are big and have been for a very long time. People are having family reunions every year or every two years and they do a lot of traveling, particularly to the north and the south because that's where most African-American roots are. However, you don't see a lot of hotels taking advantage of that and tapping into that marketing segment. "A great way to reach out to the Multicultural commu- nity is through social media. We utilize all social media platforms, particularly Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. About 70% of African-Americans online use Facebook. It began as a platform for people to get together and stay connected, but then younger people decided that since older people started following Facebook, they'd seek out other platforms. So younger people ventured off to Twitter, Snapchat and Instra- gram. So it's very important that when you utilize social media, you know who you want to target and how to utilize social media, because everyone uses social media differently and different age groups utilize vari- ous platforms. "As an integrated marketing and communications agency, Black Meetings and Tourism magazine is a great media tool that we use to reach the market. We also use African-American owned newspapers. They remain a great vehicle for us to be able to get informa- tion out into the community. These newspapers are out- lets that are in the community and are distributed at local businesses and churches and deliver news that is positive in the community, which is something that you just don't often see in general outlets. We also incorpo- rate radio, cable and network television for our clients advertising needs." If you are not currently targeting the nearly $60 bil- lion African-American meetings & leisure travel mar- ket segment, you are clearly leaving money on the table. African-Americans understandably go where they feel welcome and their business is valued and appreciated. When you don't invite them to meet or vacation in your city, utilize your venue or book rooms in your hotel, what kind of message are you sending them? B M & T ••• May/June 2018 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 32 to LAGRANT Communic-ations because they truly believe that to be successful, you have to be able to target a multicultural market. The business is out there; when you look at hotels and lodging places, I think that there are KEISHA N. BROWN, Executive Vice President of LAGRANT COMMUNICATIONS Once they get that segment of business, they don't let it go; they want it to come back over and over again. Sales are based on forming good relationships; you need to look at this as being a courtship and you have to be sure that you're in it for an ongoing basis. "So many in the hospitality business spend the money to advertise that they are gay friendly, child friendly, pet friendly, but are they African-American friendly? In 2019, the Alliance of African American Meeting Professionals; (AAMPRO) will be introduc- ing a program for those who want to have effective training in understanding and connecting to the African-American segment. It's mainly designed for people that really need to be trained on how to go out and welcome that business on a regular basis. Anyone in convention, tourism, hospital and lodging should attend these awareness training sessions in order to be able to understand how to sincerely embrace the African-American market. For more information about AAMPRO, you can inquire at roy@royjay.com."