Multicultural Blogging

Guest post written by Sensis President Jose Villa

The term “multicultural” has grown out the need for the marketing world to understand and categorize the various ethnic and lifestyle minorities that have emerged in the U.S. during the last 30 years. The term has come to represent an amalgamation of various ethnic and lifestyle groups that includes the Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American and GLBT populations, not to mention various other ethnic and immigrant groups throughout the U.S. When taken as a whole, the multicultural population of the U.S. represents more than 100 million individuals — much more than a niche with spending power that cannot be ignored by any marketer.

Historically, reaching these diverse audiences has been the sole domain of the traditional media world, particularly Spanish-language TV networks, urban radio, Asian newspapers and GLBT lifestyle magazines. However, with growth of social media, sparked by the early and sustained growth of blogs and social networks, there has emerged a set of platforms with the potential to drastically change the way these multicultural audiences are reached. Specifically, the opportunity to truly engage multicultural and GLBT audiences in a two-way conversation represents a seismic shift in multicultural marketing and communications.

Looking at the growth of the multicultural and GLBT blogosphere during the last few years provides a unique glimpse into how social media is changing multicultural marketing. In many ways, the growth and establishment of multicultural and GLBT blogospheres represents the emergence of a powerful new group of influencers — individuals going online and sharing their opinions with their friends, family and broader community – that are at their heart of their respective ethnic, lifestyle and immigrant communities.

I, Sensis agency president and multicultural marketing blogger, am moderating an insightful panel of prominent multicultural and GLBT bloggers on Saturday at the Blog World Expo to discuss this powerful marketing medium and how to use it to engage the Hispanic, African American, Asian American and GLBT communities. Panelists include:

Matt Skallerud of Pink Banana Media, a prominent GLBT blogger and social media expert.

Ana Roca-Castro of Premier Social Media and LATISM, a top Hispanic blogger and social media marketer.

Wayne Sutton, a prominent African American blogger and entrepreneur.

Sumaya Kazi, executive director of The Cultural Connect and senior social media manager at Sun Microsystems, who will be speaking on the Asian blogosphere.

The panel will involve a lively discussion of issues such as:

Are multicultural and GLBT bloggers just a part of the broader fabric of a diverse blogosphere or do they represent unique voices that represent their respective communities?

What makes multicultural and GLBT bloggers different?

Session attendees will walk away knowing:

Statistics and trends of the growing multicultural blogosphere.

Key / influential blogs in these communities.

How to effectively use social media to influence this population and gain brand ambassadors for your organization.

The importance of authenticity when interacting with these users via social networking.