How to Use Hispanic Digital Marketing to Grow your Business
Maya Rector • March 16, 2020
You may have heard of multicultural marketing, or marketing that appeals to a particular culture or identity rather than the general market. With growing multicultural audiences across the US, this form of marketing is no longer just optional - it’s necessary (if you’re looking to grow your business, that is). Read on below to find out more about using in-culture advertising the right way to boost both your sales and business image among your local Hispanic audience.
1. Communicate effectively - Culture Matters, Language Matters
Marketing to a Hispanic audience in Spanish might seem like a natural solution. The truth is, it’s more complicated than that. For instance, while it’s true that some Hispanics are Spanish-dominant and prefer advertisements in Spanish, a large percentage of the Spanish-speaking population is either bilingual or English dominant.
Bilingual ads are growing in popularity, and according to a study from eMarketer, 65% of Spanish-dominant Hispanics said they find bilingual ads appealing, as did 76% of bilingual and 55% of English-oriented Hispanics.
Advertising in-culture definitely has it perks when appropriate, and it can pay off big time in terms of customer loyalty. According to Simmons Research, 50% of Spanish-dominant and 24% of English-dominant Hispanics expressed that they were “much more loyal toward companies that show appreciation for our culture by advertising in Spanish.”2. Grow your Audience by Keeping it Personal
It’s not enough to throw some Spanglish in your ad and call it a day. Consumers can see through obvious attempts at businesses trying to understand them, which means that the content in your advertisements needs to be culturally relevant and authentic. From an outsider’s perspective, this can be tricky to do.
Today’s audiences have seen it all - and they can see right through overt marketing ploys. Customers place a lot of value in feeling understood by the brands and services that they choose to use, so much so that 84% of them think that being treated like a person, not a number, is crucial in electing which brand or service to buy. Let’s face it, the last thing anyone wants is to be reduced to a number or stereotype. A good way to go about making customers feel like they aren’t just another number is to make the customer service experience as personal as possible.
As a local business, it’s vital that you get to know your customers on an individual level to build rapport and maintain a loyal customer base that keeps coming back - and this often begins online when people are looking for your services.
This is why it is crucial to have a specialized team who can understand and translate the value of your business across key platforms.3. Build Trust and Boost Your Business Image
Not only can inclusive marketing help you reel in more customers, but it also has the added benefit of increasing your business’ favorability and overall image.
So, what’s really in it for you? A lot, actually. A recent Ad Age article reports that in the last two years, the stock price of brands that featured the most diversity in their advertising did 69% better than that brands that featured the least. The article also cites that these same diversity-friendly brands received BrandIndex consumer preference scores that were 83% percent higher than their counterparts.
What does consumer preference boil down to though? Ultimately - trust. Adding a multicultural component to your digital advertising strategy is a great way to build trust and an overall “purpose” for your brand or business. Now more than ever, purpose matters. For instance, more than 80% of US consumers said they are more likely to trust and be loyal to brands that are mission-driven. In other words, how does your business go beyond simply selling a service or product?
Building trust starts with thinking about the human-elements of your business. Does your business take pride in its outstanding customer service? What about it makes it outstanding? Do you participate in any meaningful community events or fundraisers? If so, make sure to highlight these qualities that set you apart to offer a genuine connection with your potential customers.
To take things a step further, find ways for your audience to engage with your community outreach as well. The more familiar you are with your community, the more familiar they’ll be with you. Building trust won’t happen overnight, but once it’s built, it goes a long way.
4. Engage with your Community
Speaking of customers … they can provide you with essential insights to understand how your company can improve for the better. If you haven’t already, make sure to regularly check up on and respond to your Yelp and Google Business reviews for feedback to find out what is (and isn’t) appreciated by your client-base, especially if you notice recurring trends.
Still hesitant about the role reviews play? Well, it definitely helps to pay attention to them, seeing as statistics indicate that 72% of customers won’t take action until they read reviews, and more than half of consumers won’t choose to buy a product or service if a business has less than a 4-star rating online. This goes for word of mouth too. You wouldn’t feel inclined to use a business your friend or family member spoke badly about, just as you’d be more likely to use one that they spoke highly of.
Once you find out what your customers value and find important, you can tailor your marketing plans to best serve them and their needs - just make sure you’re still being authentic to your brand and not coming across too gimmicky in the process.
Long story short - it’s one thing to know what your business does, but what does it stand for and represent? You don’t necessarily need to be changing the world, but you do need to have a clear idea of the role your business plays in your community.5. Reach a Rapidly Growing Hispanic Audience
Although multicultural consumers made up 40% percent of the total US population in 2019, multicultural media investments only comprised 5.2% of total advertising and marketing revenues. With multicultural audiences making up almost half of the population, this leaves room to tap into a massive audience that would otherwise be left behind.
Hispanics made up a huge portion of multicultural audiences, so much so that they were the largest of three multicultural demographic categories in 2018. In total, Hispanic marketing expenditures rose 5.3% to $17.94 billion in spending ($905M realized revenues).
The secret is out, and people are quickly catching on. Advertising spending aimed at multicultural audiences is projected to go up 6.3% to $28.7 billion (that’s a lot of zeros!) in 2020.
(Source: ANA)
The Bottom Line
Advertising in-culture for Hispanic markets can make a huge difference for your local business - but isn’t as simple as just advertising in Spanish. Given the differing levels of acculturation and assimilation, advertisements should be tailored to the varying degrees of English, Spanish, and bilingual preferences of U.S. Hispanics and the nuances of your local community, along with the wide range of ethnic ties that your audience may have to their culture. Of course, this will also depend on your overall digital marketing campaign and target audiences.
If you’re curious to learn more about how to appeal to your local Latino audiences, make sure to contact us about the digital marketing services we provide. We’d love to help make your Hispanic marketing integrations run as smoothly as possible.
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