Affirmative Marketing

The goal of affirmative marketing is to promote fair housing and to ensure outreach to households least likely to apply, such as:

• Low-income households
• Households of color
• Non-English-speaking households
• Individuals with disabilities

Affirmative marketing was created to reverse systemic barriers and discriminatory patterns. Targeted outreach supports diversity and promotes  access to a wide range of housing options and services, regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability or family status. 

Examples of affirmative marketing include:

• Making information related to housing opportunities and resources available to target specific groups. Specifically targeting those least likely to know of or hear about this information. 
• Focus on the best practices to target those groups by posting information in spaces where those groups frequent, ex. schools, churches, businesses, and social spaces.
• Providing that information in various languages, ex. Spanish, Vietnamese, etc.

The County of Marin strives to ensure that all of our programs are in alignment with goals and objectives to affirmatively further fair housing. This means taking proactive steps towards addressing patterns of segregation in our community. Therefore, all recipients of the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) fund are required to submit an Affirmative Marketing Plan (AMP). 

The AMP outlines how fund recipients plan to market housing opportunities services and resources to targeted groups. Marin County has implemented the AMP into its program procedures and policies to ensure programs align with objectives to affirmatively further fair housing. CDBG and HOME subrecipients must agree and adhere to affirmative marketing standards. To produce a successful AMP, providers must: 

• Have a structured plan to provide an open and fair market
• Learn more about their target population and market area 
• Implement communication design methods that effectively reach targeted groups
• Collect quantitative data and analysis that show the effectiveness of the affirmative marketing plan (Note: this information is subject to annual review).
• Develop a detailed list of partners, locations and media types for advertising services and opportunities.