Importance of Understanding Changing Demographics for Businesses

Do you know who uses your products? Is it the middle-class African-Americans, senior citizens, or recent immigrants?

For quite some time, demographics have been the least of worries for entrepreneurs. However, this has changed due to the changing demographics of our nation. 

The changing demographics of the US and Canada have made it crucial for businesses to adapt new marketing research techniques to be able to learn more about the different categories of consumers, with each group having stark cultural differences and languages from another. No longer is it possible for companies to sweep the markets with the same form of research materials as was done previously. 

Care has to be taken to make sure that the questions being posed to the audience during market research are in no way offensive to them or to their cultural beliefs.

In addition to that, the language barrier between English-based companies and their non-English speaking audience also has to be eliminated. This has led to the translation of research material in the native languages of each of the audience groups.

As the demographic shift continues, there is no denying the fact that more and more companies will realize the importance of translation services and will turn to utilize them in order to win over a greater consumer base, comprising of individuals from all cultures and beliefs.

By asking each demographic segment questions in their own languages, you will be in a better position to understand their needs and wants and expectations, allowing you to develop products and services that actually solve their problems – and ultimately fuel your growth by increasing your bottom line.

While segmented market research is crucial for larger corporations whose operations are spread across the country, small businesses are not exempted from this. Small businesses and startups are normally geographically restricted in the sense that they serve communities over a specified geographical area. This makes it important for them to gain a clear understanding of who their target audience is, and what they want, so that the business can serve them accordingly.

Keeping these trends in mind, it can be accurately said that such changes are bound to disrupt many businesses while unlocking opportunities or a few others. An excellent lesson can be learned from Antonio Swad, who moved from Ohio to Dallas in 1986 to open up a traditional pizzeria. He soon realized that his business was located in an area that had a huge concentration of Hispanic consumers. As a result, he changed his restaurant’s name to Pizza Patron and began targeting and marketing to the Latino community.

The same changes await many of the businesses out there who want to remove the cap from the bottle that is hindering their growth by getting their market research materials adjusted and translated to target their respective communities.

The solution lies in utilizing the services of a top-notch translation firm, LionBridge, to help you scale new heights. To learn more about their services and how they can help you achieve your goals, visit www.lionbridge.com.