Celebrating the Hispanic culture

Spanish SEO provider Hispanic Market Advisors offers five (5) ideas to consider on how to celebrate diversity and honor the Latino culture:

1. Acknowledge your Hispanic employees for their contributions 
2. Integrate diversity into your business
3. Join Hispanic Organizations and Minority Business Programs 
4. Establish strategic partnerships with Multicultural Agencies
5. Communicate to your stakeholders why and how your business embraces diversity

Read the entire article: Hispanic Market Advisors and Hispanic Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

Multiculturals growing in importance to brands

During the #mobilecultural 2.0 presentation last Thursday at IAB - NYC, we learned how Social, Local and Mobile are converging in Multicultural Marketing. Learn more here, watch live streaming online.

Did you know that 86% of retail growth within the next 5 years will be driven by multicultural consumers?

Another important note is that Ad spending on Hispanics grew 11% from 2011 to 2012, compared to 3% growth for other segments. Check the slide below that was a screenshot taken during the presentation at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, NYC.

The Growth of Multiculturals in US

How far have we come from 2011 when Nielsen published the study "Women of Tomorrow US Multicultural"?

3 Steps to a Successful Online Hispanic Market Strategy

In the Western economies, the Hispanic community is the fastest growing demographic both in population numbers as well as disposable income. Any business that is looking to build and expand a sustainable customer base in the current business landscape must take the Hispanic community into account.

Below are three steps that every business can take to engage the Hispanic community.

One - Content is king.

Make sure that your website is full of content that is relevant to the local Hispanic population. New consumers must see your brand as an expert within your industry before they will trust you enough to purchase your product.

Even if you do not have the time to create original content, there are many different ways of aggregating data from other websites via RSS. This will also allow your content to come pre-vetted from sites that have already proven their relevance within the Hispanic community.

Not only will keeping up with news help your brand be seen as an expert, but it will also make your site dynamic in nature. Dynamic sites are much more likely to be picked up by the major search engines and maintain their positions within the top search listings.

Two - Keep your websites up to date and dynamic.

Make sure that you publish all relevant material in a timely fashion. In order to be viewed as an expert, you must stay out ahead of the information curve. Ideally, your company will be adding new information to the timeline of your industry. However, if you must aggregate data from other sites, make sure that you are one of the first websites to post the news and information. If you have content in Spanish, you may want to consult with a Spanish SEO agency.

You can ensure exclusivity by cutting deals with news aggregators to distribute news first if your website is popular enough to give them an audience. However, even if your website is just starting out, if you have access to a good copywriter, you can create original content by repurposing articles in a specific voice.

Three - Promote your website through proper distribution.

Once you have solidified your website as a center for information, you can begin to distribute your information outward via social media and tastemakers within your industry. This is where personal relationships come in quite handy.

The more exclusive your information when it is distributed, the more attention it will receive when it is placed on a major social media site such as Facebook or LinkedIn. However, do not gloss over the smaller, more precise social networking sites that are focused directly on your industry. Often, these are the websites that allow you to most directly access the tastemakers of your industry and solidify yourself as an expert in the field. These are also the websites where simply conversing with the clientele will work best rather than a hard sell.

Many companies are investing in a specialized social media employee that does nothing but create a conversation with potential clients and tastemakers online. This is a great way to build positive PR that can eventually send the reputation of your company viral in the Hispanic community.

English to Spanish Translation: 3 Pitfalls to Avoid

Having a Spanish translation of a website (*) site offers a variety of benefits to business owners and entrepreneurs. For one, individuals who decide to go this route will be able to target an even larger pool of potential clients because there is an ever growing Spanish population in the United States, (for the purpose of this article, we will not count Latin America and Spain). Second, as products and services become available to a whole new niche market, this can result in an incremental source of revenues to those innovative businesses that learn how to connect and engage with this audience. Our experience in managing online Hispanic marketing campaigns for clients has taught us that when creating Spanish translations of a site, it is critical that three pitfalls be avoided in order to ensure that this effort is successful...

Read entire post:  3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Translating a Site to Spanish

Using Content Marketing to Reach Hispanic-Americans

While creating exceptional quality content has always been important on the Internet, content marketing has now changed into a method that is used to facilitate brand building and establishing a strong online presence. Content marketing refers to the practice of creating content that is interesting enough to the reader that he will want to share it with others across a wide array of websites and social networks. Content that is created for the purposes of marketing a business must consist of not just text articles, audio files, videos and photos must also be included.

When marketing to the Hispanic Americans, it is important that the content that you use will be able to speak to these people and get them interested in what you have to offer. Some suggestions that your content can focus on are topics that concern the family living of those in this country or current events that people of Hispanic origin will find interesting. It is also crucial to include Spanish terms whenever possible and photography that will appeal to Spanish readers.

Regarding whether or not to create content that is in Spanish, well, that will all depend on who your audience is. Refer to this SEOForums.org article under the section The Importance of Language in the United States and Latin America. The way that I suggest you can find out what type of content to create is to get to know your targeted audience better and then visit their online hangout spots to speak and chat with them. In 2011, Geoscape and Savvy University conducted a study that proves that there are a number of Hispanic people on a spectrum of acculturation levels. Since this is the case, it is crucial that you know your audience well before attempting to market to them.

To provide a good illustration as to how this works, let's say you want to target Hispanic youths who are second and third generation United States Hispanics. To target people in this group, you will want to market using social networks, videos and blogging. It is also okay to use English with this crowd. If your audience consists of first generation Hispanics, then you will want to target them via the TV, radio and Internet using content in Spanish. Finally, if your audience will consist of people belonging to all acculturation levels, then you will want to create Internet content that is in both English and Spanish.

To learn about English to Spanish translations and Spanish SEO, please contact Hispanic Market Advisors via this online form.

Dissimilarity Metros Hispanic in the US

If you are planning to start a Hispanic search engine marketing (SEM) campaign whether is PPC in Spanish or PPC in English using culturally relevant cues, you may want to refer to this table first. It will give you good insights about the Metro areas where the Hispanic population is large enough for you to add in the geographical reach of your ads. Dissimilarity Metros Hispanic

Mobile Marketing to Latinos in the US

Mobile marketing can be a very powerful tool in order to reach Hispanic customers. SMS marketing can send instant messages to a wide variety of Hispanic consumers. Small and medium business owners can easily create distribution groups, import customer contact lists, and build a SMS ready list that will enable them to keep customers informed of new products, services, discounts, or promotional information via text messages. Mobile Marketing for the Hispanic Market
More info: http://www.hispanicmarketadvisors.com/mobile-marketing-to-latinos

Hispanic Marketing Is Target Marketing

Being cognizant of the unique characteristics of the Hispanic market will make the process of marketing to that demographic more efficient, economical and effective. There are seven keys to unlocking the inherent value in this rapidly-expanding market.

First: Overcome the language barrier

The first and most obvious key is to overcome the language barrier. However, it takes more than just one salesperson who speaks Spanish as a second language and a sign that reads "se habla Español." The obvious language barrier is also indicative of a cultural barrier. By hiring first- or second-generation Hispanic immigrants for both customer service and staff positions, you will make it easier for Hispanic households to do business with you. You will also be able to benefit from their cultural knowledge and experience to provide feedback in developing marketing materials, selecting media and planning special events.

Second: Recognize the strength of family values in the Hispanic market

The next set of keys is to recognize the strength of family values in the Hispanic market. Brand loyalty may span several generations, and Grandmother may be a powerful influence to enlist or overcome. However, unlike many other demographics, the Hispanic household is often patriarchal, with the husband making the final decision, especially on big-ticket items.

Third: Consider to start building brand awareness with the children

In many first-generation immigrant families, the parents speak little or no English and their English-speaking children may play a stronger role in the buying process. You may find that it is easiest to start building brand awareness with the children and younger family members.

Fourth: Direct mail marketing still highly effective in the Hispanic market

While direct mail marketing is less effective than it used to be in mainstream markets, statistics show that it is still highly effective in the Hispanic market. This is because these families view it as an educational opportunity to learn more about the products or services being offered.

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Fifth: Include Spanish radio in your Latino marketing efforts

Spanish radio is a cost-efficient and effective way to reach Hispanic households. Market studies indicate that it is even more effective than Spanish television, especially when the radio personalities endorse the product or service being offered.

Sixth: Use sports celebrities to raise brand awareness

Local Spanish sports heroes are also excellent spokespersons and very effective at raising brand awareness. Even amateur players, if well-known within the community, can be very influential.

Seventh: Offer creative options for those with no sufficient credit to qualify for financing

When selling big-ticket items, credit may be an issue. While most Hispanic immigrants prove to be excellent credit risks, they may not have established sufficient credit to qualify for financing with some lenders. By being aware of your lenders' loan criteria and of the fact that there is big difference between "insufficient or no credit" and "bad credit", and by helping to establish financing options that will take those factors into consideration without exploiting your Hispanic customers, you can avoid losing sales to credit denials.

By using these seven keys, your business can tap into Hispanic consumers and enjoy the growing loyalty of your customers and their friends and families for years to come.

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!

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* Follow Hispanic Market Advisors on Twitter
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* English to Spanish translation services, Hispanic market business solutions

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

New Ways for Marketing Agencies to Leverage Their Impact

The web is an exponential environment. Every day, there are tens of thousands of new web sites, diverse new technologies, new media and more competitors. The demand for ideas and for people with new capabilities for delivering them are constantly expanding. Ad agencies are in a bind because while the available media and technologies for their creative efforts continue multiplying and morphing, the old business models cannot keep up with the demand any longer.

On the one hand, the large agencies have had to limit their attempts to cover every single medium and skill when they seek to create an impact on a mass scale. It's just too expensive to keep up. On the other hand, small agencies that often have new, "out of the box" ideas and very unique information or skills, lack the experience, the contacts, or the resources to take advantage of the opportunities. While targeting the Hispanic market is a niche within the big picture of all markets, it is also an immense market and growing rapidly, becoming more technologically oriented and more discriminating in its choices.

Partnership programs are an effective solution for agencies

There is an effective solution for agencies that serve this market. It consists of a partnership program, where agencies combine their complementary strengths, overcome their particular weaknesses, and through collaboration create, for particular projects and clients, a partnership of unequaled talent and ideas. It has been tested, it has been tried, and the potential results are exceptional.

This is a clear trend for many online businesses. Even the largest, big-name technology competitors in both software and hardware, all find areas for collaboration with each other. They just define them carefully. A partnership program is one way to make the exponential business environment of the web more manageable, to reduce costs, and for ad agencies to create a more impactful presence.

As with any collaboration, the keys to success for this partnership program lie in clear boundaries, transparency, and clear, consistent communications. With experience, setting up these partnership programs becomes easy for all parties involved, once a need or opportunity is identified. Partners understand each other's situation and goals. When each partner's strengths and role are clarified for each other and for clients, then there is no point to wasting time in manipulation or competition that would sap resources.

The trend for Hispanic marketing is towards collaboration

Hispanic marketing is a demanding area for agencies in that it requires attention to all kinds of variables that not all markets require. Hispanic marketing involves complex language and cultural issues, geographic and historic issues, and issues regarding the mastery, acceptability and use of technology. All of these issues become variables for agencies to consider, in order to piece together a successful, collaborative vision of success.

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Clearly, the web is changing more than technology business models; ad agencies are seeking solutions too. The trend is towards carefully considered, focused collaborations of all kinds that involve very moderate risk. A partnership program for Hispanic-American agencies can generate collaboration that is not at all "cookie-cutter," but that is rather uniquely designed for specific agencies and clients to succeed.

For more information, please contact Hispanic Market Advisors

Related articles/blogs:
* Hispanic advertising agencies at a glance
* Choosing the right Hispanic marketing agency that fits your business

Content Relevant to the Hispanic Market

In the realm of online content development for small businesses, content continues to be king. Concerning the Hispanic market, the presence of websites in both English and Spanish increases the marketability of a small business website, expanding into the mass of potential customers.

Dual language content increases 'findability' online, assuring both English and Spanish speakers will find, view, and be affected by the content on the website. Simply having the Spanish content in addition to the English, however, is not a guarantee that productivity will suddenly take an upswing. The content, in both languages, must be engaging, accurate, educational, and relevant to the customer. In the end, the website is only effective if the customer makes a purchase or engages in the business' services, or contacts the business by phone, e-mail, or in person to create a supplier-consumer relationship.

Developing content that goes beyond the purchase

Another overlooked facet of aiming web content to both English and Spanish speaking customers is going beyond the end result of the purchase. If a customer is so impressed that they pass on the information they learned or recommend someone else to use the business' product or service, then the website is even more effective. With the pervasive presence of things like social networks, one satisfied customer could quickly turn into ten, twenty, or even a hundred through content sharing, e-mails, and instant messaging.

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In that realm, it is important to develop content that not only informs but attracts the customer emotionally. Creating an investment in the product or service at hand makes it something in higher demand psychologically. Simply telling a customer that buying a product is good is not going far enough; explaining the reasons and negotiating with their way of thinking and lifestyle will lend to the best results for the customer and the owners of the small business as well.

Hispanic marketing with a Spanish-language website

Online, this is especially important, as the Spanish language website exists as something deeper than a television commercial or radio spot. It can be customized, revised, and edited with the feedback of customer responses, leading to more effective marketing.

Having content developed towards a Spanish speaking audience increases the potential number of customers and demonstrates that the small business is ready to address the reality of the current composition of society where English isn't the only language. While this might seem like a small step, the correct creation and management of Spanish language website content makes a statement about the business' willingness to interact with diverse customers and demonstrates a more personal connection rather than simply existing as a faceless business in the minds of customers.

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* English to Spanish translation services, translate English to Spanish

Lost in Translation

Walmart Employee: "Hello 'dis Walmarts, how can I help you?"
Suzanne: " I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week."
Walmart Employee: "What you want on the cake?"
Suzanne: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that "We will miss you".

(Source: email from a friend)

I could not stop laughing when I read that dialog and saw the picture! :)

Have you heard about the phrase "Lost in Translation"? Well, if this "lost in translation" occurs between people who are communicating with each other using the same language (in this case English), just pause for a second and imagine all that may get "lost in translation" in a message when there's an actual translation from one language to another (for instance, from English to Spanish or vice versa)!

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How many times or cases have we seen or heard when the translation does not properly address the target market? To remedy this situation, when translating your English website to Spanish, choose a partner that has expertise on that business. Otherwise, the added sales and profits from a Spanish language website could be lost.

Having your English website translated to Spanish requires the consideration of colloquial phrases and grammatical interpretation that is unique to an area. Many machine translation services will produce a generic result that gives the basic idea but misses the finer points. By using a language translation website that provides personalized service with individuals who look at each word and phrase, the smaller details are considered and the translation is focused on the targeted market. Spanish idiomatic expressions are not consistent across Latin America. Sometimes a small misinterpreted phrase or message can cause a potential customer to reconsider completing a business transaction.

So remember, as a small business owner who gains sales through the Internet, a good question to ask is whether translating your English website to Spanish will increase your sales potential. Most likely the answer will be yes particularly if the services offered by a reliable language translation website are employed.

For more information: Identifying your audience and delivering localized web content

Niche marketing during tough economic times

Marginalizing Hispanics as a “minority” is something of a misnomer: presently, US Hispanics comprise 15% of the population; by 2050, that number will double, making Hispanics the largest ethnic group in the country.More significantly for you as a marketer, the combined buying power of the 46 million Hispanic consumers in the United States is close to a whopping one trillion dollars. The number of purchases made by Hispanics between 1995 and 2007 grew twice as fast as that of non-Hispanics. Twenty-three million of these buyers are online: US Hispanic consumers spent $12.8 billion shopping the Internet in 2007, a number that’s projected to jump 90% by 2011. US Hispanics use search engines to research their purchases before they buy (and 44% of them know the difference between paid advertising and “organic” search results,) and they are more likely to use the Internet to find recipes, read news and blog postings, and download music than the general population.

Yet many companies persist in ignoring this market. Citing the down economy, they cut back on marketing to this huge emerging market segment, stubbornly imposing a false economy because they’re not forsightful enough to see the return on investment.

But let’s look at what actually triggers a purchase. Though companies may spend millions developing marketing plans and advertising campaigns, research indicates the most powerful driver still remains word of mouth. Moreover, word of mouth has a ripple effect: people talk about the commercials they see on TV and the Internet.

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Hispanic marketing allows a company to harness the power of word of mouth. US Hispanics, on the whole, live in a networked community. Advice is offered on the street, at church, in the grocery store. Need to know which pre-paid cell phone is best? Ask someone. Other marketing strategies are amplified through this information exchange and a satisfied customer becomes a brand recruiter. This phenomenon translates into the world of online social media, where Hispanics are present in ever greater numbers.

Simply put, Hispanic marketing offers more bang for the buck.

So how do you reach the US Hispanic market?

Well, first, of course, there is no homogenous “Hispanic market”: a Hispanic living in California may have a very different consumer profile than a Hispanic living in Florida or Texas, and search engine marketing (SEM) should target these differences explicitly. Niche marketing dictates that selected keywords for regional products and services resonate with their markets; both English and Spanish words should be tested to see which combination of the two is better for converting surfing into sales and maximizing revenues. US Hispanics also come from a wide variety of geographic regions: the content that acts as an entry page for a person with Latin American roots will be substantively different than that enticing someone whose family was from the Caribbean.

And like all consumers, Hispanic consumers will respond to outreach cues depending upon where they are in their own life cycle. A marketing blitz targeting younger consumers, and second and third generation of Hispanics might do best to focus resources on bilingual campaigns, social media and music sites while one aimed at seniors and first generation of Hispanics -- whose primary language is more likely to be Spanish -- might see better results with more traditional media like Spanish language newspapers and websites, radio and television placements.

One thing’s for certain: The US Hispanic market remains an underappreciated market. Those companies who have listened to the market cues and acted on them are a few steps ahead of the game. One sure way to boost your company’s profits is to tap into Latino buying power. If you dismiss this emerging market as merely a small “niche market” that may develop some day you are hurting your own bottom line.

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!

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Hispanic Social Networking Activities Continue to Thrive

Since the dawn of the digital age, people have been drawn to the immediate virtual interconnection of the internet, its functions and its products. Millions of people use the internet not only as a source of news, opinion, and entertainment, but specifically as a route to maintain friendships, relationships, and communities, which otherwise would be impossible due to long distances or other complications. In particular, the advent of the social networking website has led to the domination of interpersonal relationships by the intangible presented on the screen. What is the relationship between the US Hispanic population, and popular (or unpopular) social networking sites, how do they consume online information, and how will their participation in these sites likely continue?

First, a distinction must be made between English speaking Hispanics, and non-English speaking Hispanics. Though the majority of Spanish speaking nations have a balance of English and Spanish linguistic ability present in (especially) the youth culture, this duality is not without exception. Many English speaking Hispanics are of second generation immigrants to the United states, or perhaps those of a higher educational range. Most Latinos in the United States who cannot speak English are older, and subsequently less likely to adapt to new technologies.

The Florida State University Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication recently did a study on ethnic and cultural influence on social media participation, and found that of a group of 2500 test subjects, each divided into five groups of English Preferring Hispanics, Non-English Speaking Preferring Hispanics, Non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and Asians, 36% of the English Preferring Hispanics reported visiting a social networking cite 2-3 times a month; this was the highest percentage featured out of all the ethnic subdivisions. Also, 46% of English Preferring Hispanics reported visiting Facebook or Myspace "regularly", again the highest percentage of the groups.

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These sites, Facebook and MySpace, along with Twitter, are the three largest social networking sites on the internet. Social networking sites, according to Time Magazine and Hitwise.com rank no. 1 in popularity of internet access in groups 18-24 years olds, with search engines coming in second, and then web-based email access and subsequently adult entertainment. Social networking sites are being accessed often by Hispanics in the United States and abroad, but why?

First, Hispanic culture, specifically native to South America, has a long history of community based organization. The individual is less important than the whole in Hispanic tradition, which has traveled through time and geography to hold true to Latinos in the United States today. Also, more Hispanics in the United States are younger than their non-Hispanic counterparts. According to the United States Census Bureau, the median age of the Hispanic population in the United States was 27.7 years in 2008. The median age for the general population, including all ethnic and cultural minorities as well as Whites, was 36.8 years old in 2008. This leads to the inference that there are more young Hispanics in the United States, and so more Hispanics may be able and/or willing to acclimatize to new technologies such as social networking sites. In addition, it is widely viewed that Hispanic cultures reinforce emotional rather than rational behavior, and thus are likely to participate in relationship building more easily than non-Hispanics.

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Understanding Your Hispanic Audience and Being Strategic

Latinos have become a large ethnic group in the United States. In fact, according to the last U.S. Census Bureau, there are now over 45 million Latinos in the U.S. with the numbers getting larger every year. The implications of this Latino population explosion are that American business owners must think of ways to sell their products to Latinos in the U.S. since the numbers of Latino consumers are growing each year. However, marketing products to Latinos is not as easy as it might seem. One reason that it is not easy is the language barrier. Many Latinos' first language is Spanish and not English. Thus, marketing ads that are in English which rely on understanding of English word usage and American humor may not be comprehensible to a Latino audience. There are other potential problems that are due to differences between Latino culture and mainstream American culture.

In order to sell products to Latinos or develop a successful social media strategy with a Hispanic audience, it is necessary to become more familiar with Latino culture and become more familiar with the wants and needs of Latinos in the U.S. There must be efforts made to read books and magazines that describe Latino culture and interests. In addition to that, there must be efforts to go to social networking sites and communicate with Latinos in order to find out what they are interested in and what they want. There must be efforts to understand the cultural motivations that are motivating your Hispanic audience in general and there must be efforts to understand the cultural motivations that specifically motivate your Hispanic audience towards social media.

For example, you must answer questions such as the following. What social networking sites are Latinos interested in predominantly? Are there any social networking sites that are totally in Spanish where large numbers of Latinos go in order to converse with each other? Are Latinos keeping in constant contact with their relatives who do not live in the U.S.? Are Latinos resentful because of having to speak English? Do they prefer to speak Spanish during times when they are not working at jobs which require English language? What social media strategies would make the most sense given what is known about Hispanic culture? You must ask these questions and many other questions in order to find out what is going on in the hearts and minds of your Hispanic audience.

Research, Plan and then, Strategize

Once you understand what is going on in the hearts and minds of your prospective Latino customers, then you will likely have a better chance at being successful when you join their conversations at social networking sites. In other words, starting conversations, engaging their interest and maintaining their interest takes careful research, planning and a sufficiently strategic approach. It is not something that can be done overnight. Establishing a successful social media strategy with a Hispanic audience requires a lot of learning and a lot of effort on the part of American businesses. But the efforts will be worth it for your business.

For more information about understanding the Hispanic population in the United States and how to connect with the right Hispanic audience, feel free to contact Hispanic Market Advisors.

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* English to Spanish translation services

How to Translate your META Tags from English to Spanish

The world of search engine optimization has now forced itself into the life of the internet. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is now considered something nearly everyone owning a web page or online business must consider. The theory of SEO is to try to increase the amount of key words in the body of your website so when those using a search engine type in those words, your site will be among the ones being listed. The simple fact is SEO is a form of advertisement. By changing your website to fit future customers’ interest, it’s possible to lure them to your page and convince them to use what you have to offer. There are thousands of web sites out there exactly like yours, and it is imperative to use SEO to enhance your website.

Once your website business becomes useful, it may be time use Spanish SEO. In other words, translating your META tags to Spanish will help Spanish search engines list your site along with other Spanish web content. This is because, like every other search engine, when a word is typed in the search engine looks through every website containing the Spanish on-page content. This means that translating your META tags to Spanish properly will undoubtedly expand your diversity, bringing in more leads and more customers.

Landing page testing for better performance and conversion rates

Some people say you have to be willing to suffer through the short term pain of landing page testing in order to get the long term gain of a better performance and better conversion numbers. If you don’t understand the point in taking the risk or you don’t understand the point at all, you may want to consider taking the risk. Your landing page is essentially your home page, or the page that appears when a consumer clicks on your link. It takes practice to achieve perfection, and you may need to try different Spanish SEO strategies in order to achieve that higher conversion number you’ve been searching for. Taking the pain of landing pain testing allows you to find the right landing page to attract your consumers. If you don’t try new things, you may always be stuck with the same number with no new results. Without a change in results, you may never see better results.

Of course, translating your entire body text to Spanish will result in a better Spanish SEO. Nevertheless, for some websites, this may not even be necessary in an early stage. Maybe simply translating the META tags and having a few entry pages in Spanish can do the trick. Of course, until having the entire site translated to Spanish and fully optimized makes more economic sense.

For more information about writing and maintaining a Spanish blog, feel free to contact Hispanic Market Advisors.

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Writing a Spanish Blog as part of the Content Generation Campaign

Get a Better Spanish Language Search Engine Ranking by Starting a Spanish Blog

If your business is not targeting US Hispanics and Latin American markets you could be missing out on millions of potential customers. If you want to reach these potential customers, you need to use content generation to provide them with Spanish language information about your product or service. Once you have optimized your business' website for Spanish SEO, you should add to your total Spanish web content by writing and maintaining a blog.

Make Your Blog Match Your Keyword Focus

Even if your service or product is very specific, you can still generate plenty of content that corresponds to your keyword focus. If you are having difficulty thinking up topics, consider writing about the history behind your keyword. You are going to need to keep coming up with fresh approaches to your topic. If you have an idea during the day, jot it down. You can give your idea to your writers later and your content generation team will turn that idea into a blog post. If you already have an English language blog, make sure that you do not merely translate those blog entries into Spanish. You need to also make sure that your content is culturally relevant to your Spanish language audience.

Keep Your Blog Updated

You do not need to post fresh content every single day. That would be a huge time commitment. Even successful and popular blogs only update a few times each week. However, you should be adding new content fairly frequently. You want to keep your readers coming back. Ultimately, it is your decision how often you want to update your Spanish blog. My personal recommendation is that you update it at least once a week. Additionally, regular content creation will ensure that your blog has good rankings in blog directories and search engines.

Make Sure Your Content Is Fresh

Make sure that you are not simply repeating and rephrasing your existing blog content. Your content generation program should emphasize fresh information. Ask your writers to develop new topics that fit your overall emphasis. If you are not providing your readers with new information, they will quickly get bored. It is fairly easy to determine if a blog exists just for Spanish SEO purposes. Your blog should be a marketing tool, of course, but it should also be a real blog. Give your readers real and useful content, and you will gain loyal customers.

Get the Word Out about Your Blog

If your Spanish blog is just sitting in a corner of cyberspace unread, it is not going to add much value to your business. Once your blog has been filled with information through your content generation process, submit it to blog directories that specialize in Spanish web content. Of course, you should also submit your blog site to Spanish language search engines. Soon, potential customers will read your Spanish web content and will learn how valuable your company truly is.

For more information about writing and maintaining a Spanish blog, feel free to contact Hispanic Market Advisors.

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.

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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.

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