Strategic Marketing for Hispanics Online: Cultural Adaptation and the Online Marketplace

Language translation is just part of the communication process. Besides the ability to communicate in Spanish you will also need to build know-how or work with a competent partner to make sure you understand some of the cultural variables.

• Using Hispanic faces in your online photography can increase rapport between your visitors and your organization.
• Adjusting to different color preferences and forms of graphic presentation can increase the effectiveness of your website presentation.

Understanding Latino lifestyles will give you an edge in your online campaigns. For example, a marketer recently running a mother’s day campaign learned that in most Latin American countries mother’s day falls onto a different date than in the U.S. While some U.S. Latinos have adapted to the U.S. date, others still celebrate on the day that is common in their native countries. The marketer therefore spread his campaign over a longer period of time to cover both dates.

Understanding the online marketplace

While having a Spanish-language website that is professionally translated and culturally appropriate is an important first step, this alone will not generate you any business. You will also need people to know about your site and come to visit.

Marketing your Spanish website requires specialist knowledge about the Hispanic online community. Not many web development companies can provide you this expertise. Besides mastering general web marketing techniques such as search engine optimization, pay-per-click campaigns, banner ads and sponsorships you will need specific knowledge about which sites are popular with Hispanics, which search engines they use and how they spend their time online. Without this knowledge you will not be able to attract visitors to your Spanish web pages, and will therefore not be able to reach this market effectively.

The strategic mix

Strategically combining the above factors translation, culture and online marketplace will enable you to successfully reach the growing Hispanic online market. The timing is excellent. The market has reached a critical size and chances are your competition is not there yet.