Online Language Preferences for US Hispanic Community

The online business community has grown expediently, over the past few years, bringing more and more consumers from all over the world online including the US Hispanic community. Recent studies from market research firms indicate the US Hispanic speaking community is one of the largest search groups online. This market is not only searching the web using the English language, but also using their native language (e.g. Spanish) to search.

While many consumers today write and speak in English even though it is not their native tongue, they often will choose to search the web using their language preference. Up until a few years ago, it was common for US businesses online to offer the online community the ability to search, read, and communicate in the English language only. However, time has changed and consumers shopping and buying habits are constantly changing as well. Such behaviors demand that online companies optimize their search availabilities as well as, translating their landing pages to offer convenience and a customer-centric approach in languages other than English.

Customer-Centric Approach as a Win-Win Solution

A customer-centric approach is a tool businesses can use to enhance the way their customers feel about them. Customers, of course, are human beings with purchase power and word-of-mouth marketing control. We all want to feel included, listened to, important, and valued as a customer and as a business. Many companies today are leaning more toward its direction and drawing a bigger crowd of perspective customers who feel good about shopping on their site.

Today, many companies have had their website programmers translate their existing site into Spanish as well as optimizing their url to capture the consumer looking for their services in Spanish. Some of these companies have also implemented other translations and optimization techniques to amplify their broad spectrum of offerings to the world. These implementations broaden a company’s horizons by expanding their target audience thus, bringing more customers and clients to them as well as helping to secure profitability.

Since the web is available for just about anyone to access, provided they have an internet connection, businesses are rethinking their marketing strategies in order to attract and engage consumers and businesses worldwide. By offering simple marketing techniques such as website translations and optimizing their urls to trigger searches in Spanish, it is a win-win solution for all involved. Businesses gain a larger customer base, which in turn can increase profitability, and consumers feel important, appreciated, and acknowledged as a Spanish-speaking consumer.

All consumers interested in conducting web searches to easily locate, buy, communicate, and learn about a business services have plenty of businesses to choose from estimated well into the billions. So, if all online businesses want to attract and retain more customers worldwide then, they will need to optimize their sites to bring in the masses worldwide and stay competitive among their fellow competition.

There are three strategies you can employ when partnering with Hispanic Market Advisors

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Spanish Website Translation: A Simple Investment with Limitless Rewards

In the increasingly competitive e-Commerce industry, everyone is trying to find a way to stand out. e-Commerce sites enjoy brisk business thanks to the convenience of shopping online from home and the better prices that these companies can offer. However, many e-Commerce sites are missing out on a huge portion of potential customers that they could easily accommodate with one simple and quick solution.

US Hispanics have similar online shopping habits to their non-Hispanic American counterparts. Yet many online retail sites seem to ignore this segment of the population. More than 40 million Americans count Spanish as their native language, and many of them prefer to do their online shopping in Spanish. Making an online purchase from unknown e-Commerce sites can be a little nerve-wracking so it's understandable that most people feel more comfortable conducting business transactions in their native language. Online retail customers tend to pore over every word on the page before clicking "send order" and doing so in a language you don't fully understand can be enough to deter certain customers. This makes website translation into Spanish paramount to serious companies who wish to rise to the top of the market.

Nearly one third of the 40 million US Hispanics conduct searches in Spanish, so a company who fails to utilize website translation is missing quite a significant number of potential clients. That means millions of customers will never see these e-Commerce sites when they are searching for a place to spend their money. This amounts to a huge missed opportunity that may even make or break a company. As the population of US Hispanics continues to grow and many companies are shifting strategies to tap into this lucrative market, those companies who fail to get on board may find themselves going out of business.

Spanish website translation is not very expensive and will ultimately pay for itself over and over with increased revenues. In addition to reaching US Hispanics, it also opens the door to future expansion into Central and South America as well as Spain. Spanish speakers comprise 81.7 million internet users and this valuable market cannot be ignored. Even if entire website translation is not feasible, creating an entry page in Spanish that will show up in search engines can offer a significant advantage over online retail companies that make no effort to accommodate Spanish speakers. As many US Hispanics do speak English, they may stumble upon a site while searching in their preferred Spanish, but if they like what they see they will place an order in English anyway. This means that a Spanish entry page is a fast and inexpensive way to get your foot in the door with the Spanish speaking market while working out a long-term strategy.

These are three of the strategies you can employ when partnering with Hispanic Market Advisors:

Website Translation and Spanish SEO

The Spanish speaking population is simply too significant for serious e-Commerce sites to ignore. Online retail websites that are translated into Spanish are quickly becoming the norm. Even offering a Spanish entry page that shows up in search engines can give your company a big boost. This simple investment will reap great rewards in making your company known to the 81.7 million internet users worldwide who speak Spanish.

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US Hispanics, History and Growth of the Internet

There has been an incredibly fast evolution of the Internet from 1995 until the present time. As you can see in the graph below, Internet Users in the World has grown from 16 millions in Dec 2005 to 1,596 millions in Mar, 2009.

However, there’s an important distinction which is the language fabric composition of the Web content. What do we mean by this? Well, in the early ages of the Internet, almost everything was in English because most internet applications started in the United States. Therefore, in the early to mid 90s the search engines were in English as well. Anyone within the US or overseas conducting a Web search had to do it in English, there was no other option. As technology caught up around the world, the Web has become a multilingual platform and foreign Web growth has been astonishing. While in 1996, 75% of all Web searches were conducted in English, today English searches accounts for only 25%. Search engines and directories understood the importance of this non-English segment and today it is becoming easier and easier to find content in your mother tongue.

Reaching the entire spectrum of the US Hispanic community

As one article explains, U.S. Hispanic advertisers have historically lagged behind in moving their budgets online and therefore have provided less of an incentive for U.S. Hispanic publishers to post a wide variety of content online. However, this trend has shifted. Last year alone, the biggest Hispanic surge has been in internet media, up 36.3% in 2007 (according to the Hispanic Fact Pack 08). As a result, more Spanish-language sites/pages based in the U.S. are being optimized for search engines. US Hispanics will increasingly have more search options as Spanish Web content is being propagated over the Web. And since we know that people speaking the same language show an inclination to form their own online community no matter what country they happen to live in, it’s becoming almost imperative for many US businesses to make all or some of their Web content available in Spanish if they want to maximize their reach to the entire spectrum of the US Hispanic community.

For more information, please complete this Hispanic Market Advisors contact form

 

Marketing to Generation Y In Latin America

We are living in an increasingly global economy. Small business owners can no longer look at marketing their products exclusively to a local community. Immediate profits can be reaped by taking advantage of mobile marketing and online promotion to the Hispanic online market. As emerging markets gain greater access to online communication technology, marketing professionals are investing more effort into reaching generation Y (20 to 28s) in Latin America.

Online marketing to generation Y in Latin America represents a huge untapped opportunity. With low-cost options at just a click of a button, consumers can be empowered to learn about your product, and, with the use of social networking technology, they can even assist you with grassroots promotion of their own. Consumers love to use their social networking accounts to endorse products and deals that they have found online. Often the mobile marketing strategy you employ can even include tools that make the free, grassroots spread of information easier. Marketing professionals are creating more and better ideas for empowering small business owners with fast, attractive ways to spread their product information online each day.

Consumers in generation Y in Latin America are interested in a wide array of products. Whether its buying the best new technology, finding great deals on bulk food items, or purchasing an insurance plan, tech savvy young people are purchasing all kinds of products online from small business owners. The price competition benefits them, while the increase in volume benefits you.

Mobile marketing is one of the most viable channels for quick and powerful spread of consumer choice information. Marketing professionals love how easy and instant the transactions are. It is very easy for a consumer to quickly make a purchase based on information they received through trusted social networking channels on their cell phones. They are also empowered to instantly tell their friends about this great bargain, who can also purchase it quickly in the same way. This is vastly different than the old system of using only complex media that requires traveling across town, or, in some cases, the world, to complete the point of sale.

Generation Y in Latin America has growing purchasing power. Emerging markets have greater access to technology as time passes. As these consumers age, they also gain access to more and more wealth. In this way, an early and active promotion to these consumers is a great long term plan. The earlier you gain access to a critical market, the more consumers will trust you as a quality name. As time passes, these particular markets and consumers will yield more and more business.

Marketing professionals are taking the Hispanic online market very seriously. Small business owners will benefit greatly from targeting generation Y in Latin America. Be sure to stay on the cutting edge of mobile marketing.

For more information, please complete this Hispanic Market Advisors contact form

Related articles you might like:
*The Importance of Hispanics in the Social Media Age
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How to Market to US-Born Latinos Effectively

There are many ways to market to US-born Latinos. Since there is a wide variety of lifestyles and culture among Latinos, it can sometimes be hard to choose the right way to market to them. However, with a few key factors, marketing to US-born Latinos effectively does not have to be an incomprehensible task.

Many Latinos in the Hispanic market are bilingual. Spanish and English are interchangeable in many Latino homes. One easy way to utilize the Hispanic market is to promote marketing campaigns that have English and Spanish words attached. Alternatively marketing strategies can be composed of either English or Spanish, but to reach the Hispanic market most effectively it is wise to use both forms of language and writing.

Marketing to US-born Latinos is different than marketing to the Latinos born elsewhere in the world. Acculturation is a big occurrence for Latinos in the United States. Many of the cultural practices and traditions from other countries mix and meld into the traditions and practices of the United States. What this means is that Latinos are not strictly Latino or American, but a unique melding of both cultures. Marketing for this group of people must reflect melding of cultures. Some Latinos have completely aligned with American culture, while others prefer to celebrate their own cultural heritage. It is important to study each city where marketing is to be done to know what practices and beliefs the Latinos have in that city.

Latino Population Growth and Market Profiles for the Hispanic Market

The number of Latinos in the United States is a constantly growing number. Some analysts have projected that in just a few years the Latino population will have the majority of people in the United States. This means that marketing to Latinos is very important. Without Hispanic society backing a product or business, it will have a hard time remaining popular and successful.

There are several different market profiles for the Hispanic market. There are US-born Latinos who live in close relation to non-citizens. These people stick closer to the culture of Mexico rather than what happens in the United States. There is another group of Latinos who have lived in the United States for generations. These people are more concerned with cultural practices of the United States. Then there are the Latinos who fall somewhere in the middle. Each of these groups is important to any marketing plan.

Some large cities that have a large number of Hispanic people are: New York, Boston, Detroit, San Antonio, and Chicago. The number of Latinos in these areas equal up to one in five people. That is a very large segment for marketing potential. Industries that are growing among Hispanics are: hotels, automotive, clothing, car rental, credit cards, supermarkets, fitness, health and life insurance, hair care, and many others.

The future for Hispanics is very bright. As the population continues to grow, they will have more and more impact on marketing and products that are created. Soon Hispanics will have more marketing impact than any single other market group.

For more information, please complete this Hispanic Market Advisors contact form

Related articles you might like:
*Reaching More Customers by Tapping into the US Hispanic Audience
*Tapping into the Hispanic Online Market

Marketers Reach Out to Hispanics - A Multidimensional Segment

It seems that U.S. marketers have finally discovered the Hispanic market. Not that it hasn’t been here for some time; it has. And not that it isn’t of substantial size; it is. So what has suddenly woken Madison Avenue to the potential in this market? A number of things.

First, consider the size of the Hispanic market—35.3 million people. Second, consider the growth rate—58 percent in the past decade (four times that of the overall population). Third, throw in the estimated $400 billion in buying power, which “seems impervious to the Nasdaq’s swoons” according to Marci McDonald of U.S. News & World Report. The end result is an extremely attractive market. And, unlike the case in the past, this market has finally attracted the attention of some big time marketers.

CBS has noticed. Hoping that the Hispanic market will help reverse the downward trend in the size of its soap opera audience, the network has introduced a Spanish simulcast of The Bold and the Beautiful titled Belleza y Poder (“Beauty and Power”). Liz Claiborne Cosmetics introduced its new perfume, Mambo, with a $20 million campaign targeting Latinos (among others), and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has more specifically targeted the over-50 Hispanic market with a $3 million campaign. Among the other firms now increasing their efforts in this market are MasterCard International, Reader’s Digest, and Tillamook Cheese.

Even though there has been a significant increase in spending in the Hispanic market, Spanish-language and bilingual campaigns still account for only about one percent of the $200 billion advertisers spend yearly on broadcast media(another $250 million goes to magazines and newspapers). While some companies already spend heavily to attract this segment (e.g., Sears and AT&T has targeted this market for over 10 years), most have simply ignored the segment—until now. The fact that young Hispanics has become the largest ethnic youth population in the United States has made more marketers take notice.

Refining Hispanic Market Segmentation through Cluster Analysis

Reaching this segment may not be as easy as it seems, however. Roberto Ramos, president of the Ruido Group, a Hispanic-youth-focused communication agency in New York, notes: “One of the biggest misconceptions about Hispanic youth is that they are a homogeneous group. Puerto Ricans, Colombians and Cubans are not all the same. What works to attract one group may not work for another.” Erasmo Arteaga, a Sears store manager in West Covina, California, adds: “People think Hispanic means one thing… But it’s different from Miami to Southern California. And here in California, it’s not just Mexicans; it’s Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and other people from Central America.” Arteaga notes that two Hispanic-designated stores in Los Angeles only 20 miles apart reflect very different buying motives. While this segment is certainly a challenging market, there is no doubt among many marketers that Hispanics are worth the effort.

With the segment’s strong growth rates in population and in spending power, you can be sure that many more will join in. The question is, will they take the time and effort required to understand the diversity of this market, or will they simply attempt to reach Hispanics through the appeals and media they employ for other ethnic groups. One thing is sure: If they pursue the latter strategy, they won’t be in the Hispanic market for very long.

For more information, please complete this Hispanic Market Advisors contact form

Related article you might like: Hispanic Advertising Agencies at a Glance

Drive Bilingual Websites with User Research

Small and medium-sized companies that have operations in Spanish speaking countries rely heavily on bilingual websites to drive local business. In order for these websites to be effective, they must be localized in order to appeal to the core demographics of each local community. Many companies make the mistake of simply translating their English website copy into Spanish and find that their sites are not well received by the communities they are attempting to reach. Extensive user research must be coupled with proper translation in order to create bilingual websites that are effective at driving local Hispanic business.

Where to Begin

Before beginning the website design process, small and medium-sized companies would be wise to perform field studies and cultural probes into the communities they wish to reach with their company message. This user research will enable the creation of bilingual websites that are able to resonate with the customs and culture of your local Hispanic audience. When small and medium-sized companies rush into site construction without the necessary understanding of the local culture to which they are attempting to appeal, they suffer the consequences of a website that falls flat and does not generate the additional business activity they had hoped to achieve.

Research is the foundation on which quality bilingual websites are built and accurate information on the various cultures to which you are marketing, will enable your business to create vibrant and relevant online content that is highly likely to increase your sales base within any given region.

User Research

Many small and medium sized companies do not have the manpower necessary to conduct the listening labs and usability tests that are necessary in order to produce relevant bilingual websites. Their overseas communication strategy must therefore include hiring a marketing team that specializes in user research among Hispanic populations. It is important that the marketing company with which you choose to do business understands the nuances of Hispanic culture. This is important because it will ensure that they are using the right marketing tests for the market within each of the local Hispanic communities to which your company would like to appeal.

Continual Learning

Communities evolve over time and it is therefore imperative that your user research continues past the creation of your website. Ongoing learning will keep your website on the cutting edge of any new trends that spring up within your target Hispanic audiences in various communities. This knowledge and understanding will in turn enable your company to keep your website relevant and appealing to your target markets. The time and money invested into the research that will make your company website relevant, will be returned to you in the form of favor with your local market and increased sales potential.

For more information, please complete this Hispanic Market Advisors contact form

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Small Business Tip:How to Operate a Bilingual Site in the US