Did you know the deaf community is the third-largest cultural-linguistic group in the United States? As such, from a marketing perspective, they represent a large, mostly untapped market.
Marketing to this demographic can bring huge growth potential to many businesses. Unfortunately, many don’t consider including the deaf or hard of hearing in their marketing business plans.
Perhaps this is due to the worry of spending more on ways to accommodate and finding employees who know sign language. It could also be that business owners genuinely don’t know how to take the proper steps. Or that this demographic even exists.
In this article, we’ll go over some key statistics, questions to think about, and steps your business can take towards marketing to the deaf or hard of hearing in your community.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Statistics
- Around 37.5 million (15%) of American adults report having some kind of hearing trouble.
- Men aged 20-69 are almost twice as likely as women to experience hearing loss.
- Caucasian adults are more likely to experience hearing loss over any other ethnicity group.
- Approximately 18% of adults aged 20-69 have speech-frequency hearing loss in both ears from exposure to very loud noise for 5 years or more.
- 5.5% of adults with speech-frequency hearing loss in both ears report no loud noise exposure.
- Based on standard hearing exams, 1 in 8 people in the US aged 12 years or older have hearing loss in both ears.
- Between the ages 45 and 55, 2% have disabling hearing loss. That percentage rises to 8.5% for adults Between adults aged 55 to 64 and 25% for adults aged 65 to 74. 50% for ages 75 and older.
- Hearing aids could benefit 28.8 million US citizens.
- Among the adults aged 70 and older who could benefit from hearing aids, 30% have never used them.
- 16% of adults aged 20 to 69 who could use a hearing aid have never used them.
- About 2-3 out of every 1,000 children are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears in the US.
- More than 90% of deaf children are from two hearing parents.
As the statistics show, deaf and hard of hearing are very common in the US. However, it’s something that’s often put aside or forgotten about entirely.
Are you considering opening your business to this market? To make sure it’s going to give your business good results, there are a few things to consider.
So, how can your company attract this new customer base and drive more business? Like any good marketing strategy, it all comes down to understanding the market size and needs of the community in your area.
4 Important Questions Your Business Should Consider When Marketing to the Deaf or Hard of Hearing Populations
- How Big iIs the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Community in Your Area?
You will be surprised by what you can find out by doing a Google search.
A Google search can also land you on informative forums written by deaf people themselves to get the inside scoop on how small or large your local community is. Almost all major cities in the US have this data available online.
- How Many Communicate Through American Sign Language?
250,000 to 500,000 people in the US claim ASL as their native language. Out of the population in your area that are deaf or hard of hearing, how many of those use American sign language? It’s crucial to identify this as ASL will likely be your main/only sign language offered.
Will your business need to hire someone with sign language capabilities in order to accommodate your new target market? If yes, that should be considered before embarking on a new marketing strategy.
- What Specific Requirements Must Be Met Under the ADA Protections?
What is ADA?: The Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil law to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life.
The answer here depends on what services your business provides, the size of the population affected, and the importance of the service and costs involved.
While some smaller businesses (15 employees or less) are sometimes exempt from this law, it’s important to know if your business is affected by it to avoid any possible legal liability.
4.What Adjustments Does Your Business Need to Undergo to Accommodate This Group?
This can sometimes be tricky as many companies are hesitant due to the costs that may be involved with adapting the business to accommodate this group. While meeting the needs of the ADA is standard, what else do you need to do? How can you do it in a cost-effective way?
Improving Accessibility for Businesses and Catering to People of All Needs
If you’ve considered the questions above and know that catering to this audience is a possibility for your businesses and there is a market for it, here are some tips to market and serve deaf and hard of hearing customers.
Transcribe Audio and Video
If your business is exclusively using audio and video, you’re not currently including the deaf and hard of hearing demographic in your marketing. Possibly the most obvious way of catering to this group is to have your content transcribed.
If you’re in the beginning phases of attracting deaf and hard of hearing clients, don’t forget to include transcription in your marketing campaign. You will want to get all of your marketing audio and video efforts across to them so they know what you’re offering and that you’re here for them, too.
Any materials (audio, video, recorded testimonials, podcasts, radio spots, tv commercials) can all be transcribed. You can also put links to transcribed versions in the descriptions.
Don’t stop there — as a business who claims to cater to the deaf and hard of hearing, all of your non-written content (promotional and non-promotional) should be transcribed and made available to potential clients.
A good transcription service can get these files to you quickly, so you don’t have to slow down your content creation. Make sure these files are accessible on your website. You can now use your new video transcriptions to insert subtitles right into your videos.
Encourage Communication Through Text and Email
Texting and emailing can be a faster way of communicating than trying to get on a TTY phone system with customers or using technology like a video relay system.
Your business should then invest in software that allows you to text your clients from your
computers or iPads right from your store or business. Give clients the phone number so they can shoot a text message when they have questions or inquiries. Let clients know you’re also always available to chat through email and text messages.
If you promise clients they can communicate through these means, you need to be available to reply promptly, almost like if you were on the phone with them.
Include Visual Helpers
Visual helpers in promotional or informational content can go a long way. Deaf and hard of hearing often rely more heavily on their vision. Include images, graphs, or any other visual aid in informative pieces.
For ad campaigns, try using emojis. Emojis help catch the eye and increase click rates. Someone who learns better visually might be further drawn to emojis. Make sure the emoji is relevant to what you’re talking about. For example, if the description is telling people to message on Whatsapp, use a Whatsapp emoji at the end of the sentence.
Teach Staff Some Basic Sign Language
Nothing will make your deaf customers feel more welcome than having staff greet them in their language. Learning simple signs like “hello,” “how are you,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome” is easy to pick up and can add to the experience your client has with your company.
Send Surveys to Deaf Customers
How can you improve for your deaf or hard of hearing clientele? There’s no better way to find out than to send out a survey or conduct focus groups. It’s likely your company already sends out surveys as part of your feedback process. You can adjust it to get answers specific to your hopefully new deaf and hard of hearing audience.
They’ll appreciate giving their opinion and the effort you put in for them which will strengthen their loyalty.
Conclusion
If you want to grow your business’s client base, why not cater to the deaf and hard of hearing? It’s true this audience often goes unnoticed. Businesses who choose to ignore them don’t know what they’re missing out on.
The adjustments may seem like a big change and may require a slight increase in expenses in the near term. You will see an ROI as these new loyal customers keep coming back because they noticed and appreciated how you catered to their abilities. There’s nothing better than a business that makes itself available to different needs and abilities and understands that something so simple might not come as simply to everyone.
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