Friday, November 19, 2010

Reaching Latin American Audiences with Hispanic SEM

Technology is bringing people together across borders in the Latin American market. More than ever, people in Latin American countries are gaining access to computers and the internet, which means Latin America is slowly coming online. The world wide web used to be a predominantly English speaking environment, but many changes have occurred in the last several years, and now it is common to find blogs, newspapers, and other sources of information and entertainment in nearly any language one can imagine, including Spanish. As a result, the time for Hispanic SEM (search engine marketing) has never been better.

Language, culture and content play a crucial role in what type of people come together. When people share a common language, they share a common culture, and they become more likely to experience a common content on the internet, as well as in real life. Today, there is more Spanish language content on the internet than ever before, which means people in Latin American countries have more opportunities than ever to contact each other and express their shared and unique cultures with each other. Companies and businesses that can tap into such cultural connections with Hispanic search engine marketing and effective communication strategies are at an advantage, as they have access to an audience that has been largely ignored by many businesses and companies in the United States until now.

Business Practices Designed to Effectively Reach Hispanic Audiences

Fortunately, many major marketers have begun adapting their strategies to this new framework through business practices designed to effectively reach Hispanic audiences. A number of techniques that have been shown to be successful in reaching English language audiences are beginning to be applied toward Spanish language audiences, such as targeted ads written in the language of the intended audience, search engines that operate fluidly in the target language, and informative and entertainment based content in the target language. Hispanic SEM/SEO has become far more popular in the last few years than in the last decade, and the results are becoming visible all over the internet. Companies who make efforts to reach out to Spanish language markets are being rewarded with increases in popularity, site hits, advertising revenue, and on and offline attention.

The role of traditional media, social networks, and mobile is also significant in the effort to reach Spanish language audiences with search engine marketing. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace have allowed English language audiences to stay connected, share content, and distribute information freely and at the speed of the internet. These technologies are rapidly adopted by younger people in any society, regardless of language, and they are becoming much more popular among Spanish language speakers, both in the United States and in Latin America. Furthermore, technology involving mobile phones and wireless connectivity is enabling people to access the internet no matter where they are, which further increases opportunities for Hispanic marketing. Traditional media such as televisions and newspapers still play a role in effective Hispanic audience marketing, particularly among middle aged and older adults, who may be more hesitant about using the internet for information and entertainment.

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