More Representatives, Better Business?

The news from the 2010 US Census is clear and impactful. The population is changing. According to this MSNBC report, for the first time in history California did not gain any seats in the House of Representatives and will maintain 53 seats, followed by Texas with 36 seats and New York and Florida with 27 seats each.

According to US Census Bureau data, six of the 16 states with a minimum of a half-million Hispanic residents have experienced positive population growth requiring additional seats in the House of Representatives. Eight cities with the top 20 Hispanic populations are within those six states, including Houston, Miami, Phoenix and Dallas. HispanicBusiness.com reports, “the average population size for congressional district is 710,767 people, up from 646,952 people in 2000.” Understanding the shift of the population southward and westward combined with the growth and revealing of the Hispanic population will positively affect a company’s identification of the Hispanic target market and their efforts to engage them.

Here are several guiding principles gleamed from the 2010 US Census reports and marketing industry best practices:

• The Hispanic population’s buying power is expected to surpass $1.2 trillion by 2011, according to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. Ignoring this source of revenue is simply unwise. Moreover, this market tends to spend more of its total income so an expended marketing dollar can generate a higher ROI. Efforts should run parallel to those put forth for the general population. However, a knowledgeable marketer needs to recognize whether the market is Hispanic. Juan Job, VP of Hispanic Markets at New York Life says, “we define a market as Hispanic if 50% or more of its customers are Hispanic. We have associates exclusively devoted to the Hispanic market in the following units: New York (two), Fresno, CA, El Paso, TX, Mc Allen, TX, Edison, NJ, Miami, FL and San Antonio, TX.”
• Create media units with a message around core Hispanic values that toggle between English and Spanish. Core values such as family, religion, sports and gender roles all play an important part of the Hispanic psyche. Impacting that consciousness requires an understanding of how those values line up and differ across subcultures. U.S. Hispanics report interacting with content in English and Spanish. Integrated campaigns will respect the deep sense of Spanish price Hispanics have but honor their shifts in education, socioeconomic status and the population’s large youth sector.
• Get to know the distinction and stability of the market. Regional populations differ. Persons of Mexican origin dominate the market; Cuban populations are largest on the East coast and concentrated in Florida, New York and New Jersey. Unlike the rest of the Latino population, Cubans in the US tend to be older. Puerto Rican populations are largest in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Just as the Cuban market is affected by its unique welcome status under US immigration law, marketing to the Puerto Rican population is affected by their status as citizens and the ease of travel between the island and mainland. Creating an ad that appeals to all Hispanics would prove difficult; Mexicans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans speak different dialects and have considerably different tastes. Differences in idiomatic expressions, food habits and political leanings that follow local and regional populations should be incorporated into the successful, culturally relevant campaign.

Over 20 Spanish-speaking nationalities are represented in the U.S., each with its own cultural characteristics, traditions and values. The unique characteristics of this growing and young population withstand and respond to different marketing techniques. The successful campaign will not be a simply adaptation of one aimed at the white European market and will take into account the subtleties, regional differences and core values of the sub-cultures.

Sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40733820/ns/politics/
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/politics/2010/12/21/us_population_308745538.htm
http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/

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Sampling Hispanics

ATT: MARKETING PROFESSIONALS AND BUSINESS OWNERS

Hispanics now surpass African-Americans as the second-largest race/ethnic group. Because their families are larger and food is an important part of their life, Hispanics purchase and consume more food products. When developing a marketing strategy, this large target market has many cultural marketing categories to consider.

Culture and the Hispanic Market

When translating marketing material for Hispanic customers, the Hispanic-market region of origin is an important consideration. Many Hispanic customers originate from Cuba, Caribbean or Mexico, as well as other regions such a South America and Spain. Each Hispanic cultural category makes food-purchasing choices and prepares food differently. For example, Tortillas prepared in Mexican culture prefer corn passing through a lime bath whereas South American Hispanics from Venezuela prefer pre-cooked corn for Tortillas.

Every market has cultural differences, and food-purchasing decisions are sensitive to these differences. Various Hispanic customers prefer different versions of ethnic food and at times prefer the same food prepared somewhat differently. People are sensitive to their culture as is the Hispanic target market. There are dispersed variations of the Hispanic-culture communities throughout marketing regions, and the members of these communities are making purchasing decisions by differences in culture.

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Marketing professionals should keep in mind the Hispanic category targeted before making product and promotional decisions. When marketing to the Hispanic community, remember that not every Hispanic community may interpret a translated English version of a product in the same way. Customs and languages are different in the Hispanic market just as in any target market.

Hispanic Sampling and Brand Attitude

It is important that a brand elicits excitement from the consumer. California launched a marketing campaign a few years ago to promote product awareness to change Hispanic attitudes about purchasing milk. Traditionally, the female family member passes on cultural food ideals to the next generation; therefore, the milk campaign in California targeted Hispanic mothers and grandmothers.

It is important that a brand elicit excitement from the consumer. The milk marketing campaign targeting Hispanic mothers and grandmothers is an example of changing attitudes and creating excitement for a brand. Before the campaign, Hispanic women did not purchase milk, and the attitudes toward milk had to change to generate a purchasing reaction.

Hispanics value samples and coupons more than the remaining population. Samples introduce products and services to new target customers. Hispanic response levels to samples and coupons are always higher, especially when brand excitement plays on various cultural differences such as family values or the pursuit of the good life.

The recession has all target markets keeping a closer watch on money. Similar to other markets, the Hispanic market appreciates coupons and samples to reduce increased costs. Data shows that 83% of buying decisions are now made at home, and coupon use has increased to 19%; this data includes information from the Hispanic and non-Hispanic markets. The reported data describes the recession as having a strong impact on consumer purchasing decisions.

REFERENCES:
http://www.hispanicmarketadvisors.com
http://www.nal.usda.gov/outreach/HFood.html
http://www.portada-online.com/article.aspx?aid=6077

Hispanic Marketing for Law Firms

Connecting With the Fast Growing Hispanic Market by Adding Spanish Content to Your Website

If you're interested in targeting the Hispanic section of the legal market, you will need to utilize certain online tools and changes to your website. One of the most successful of these is adding Spanish-language information and content to your attorney or legal firm web site. This will put you ahead of any local competition who do not offer any Spanish-language information.

The potential income growth, which includes the geo-demographics within the Hispanic market, is a vital consideration for legal referral services. This target market can be divided into distinct Latino buying pattern groups or segments.

Over 15 million Hispanics in the United States were internet users in 2005. But one of the biggest complaints coming from the Hispanic market was a lack of advertising and content being distributed online in their primary language. comScore Media Metrix released a report that revealed at least 50% of the Hispanic online population prefer to read their content in Spanish.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 15% of the population in the U.S. reported being Hispanic in 2008. That translates into roughly 46.9 million people. Some groups estimate that 1 out of 5 Americans will be Hispanic by the year 2020. This makes them the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States. Even as the recession effects the U.S. economy in 2009 and 2010, Latino and Hispanic populations across the country are continuing to increase their buying power, keeping many communities afloat. If you're not reaching these people, you're missing out on a huge opportunity.

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Choosing a partner that adds value and fits into your overall business strategy

You need a partner that helps you reach out to the Hispanic community. There's a handful of experts in the diversity that is part of the Hispanic market. You need to choose a strategic partner who best understands your needs, goals and objectives. To help you on your decision process, Hispanic Market Advisors offers you a free comprehensive analysis along with a full proposal for the Web site translation and search engine optimization services.

So, what did you think of this post? Post a comment (good or bad) and if you liked it, please tweet or email about it!

About Hispanic Market Advisors:
Hispanic Market Advisors offers innovative and unique search engine marketing techniques for the Spanish-language sites, including:
* Spanish search engine optimization (Spanish SEO)
* Spanish language research for keywords

Hispanic Market Advisors has a full staff of writers and translators equally fluent in Spanish and English, and they will work to provide culturally relevant content for your legal needs. They will also keep your marketing messages and position intact throughout the translation process.

Learn more about English to Spanish translations services