Certainly, they use a different language and have a different culture but it is not just that: The Hispanic market is composed of Spanish dominant Hispanics and those who only speak English; not to mention they are from 22 different countries with different values, traditions, backgrounds, attitudes, and frequently pre-conceived notions of your brand or the kind of products you market.
At first, they seem to be a highly complex group. But you should keep in mind that by the year 2010, almost one person of every six living in the U.S. will be of Hispanic descent.
Which Hispanic demographic you should target? Is there a real shift in language preference from Spanish to English? Do second- and third-generation Hispanics tend to favor English?
In a study conducted by Roslow Research Group on behalf of Hispanic U.S.A., they concluded that the number of Spanish-dominant and bilingual Latinos will increase by 45% over the next two decades – adding 12.4 million speakers to the current population.
And it's not just because of continuing immigration.
Unlike other immigrant groups, even third-generation Hispanics – those born of Latino parents who themselves were born in the United States – will continue to speak Spanish in extraordinarily large numbers.
According to Peter Roslow, president of the Roslow Research Group, "Advertising to Hispanics in Spanish is significantly more effective than advertising to bilingual Hispanics in English."
There is another important reason why you should market in Spanish:
The fourth annual People en Espanol's Hispanic Opinion Tracker finds that 75% of all Hispanics feel loyalty to retailers who advertise to them in Spanish; while 65% of Hispanics indicate that Spanish language is more important to them than it was five years ago.
With this information in mind is easy to understand why Advertisers spent more than $3.3 billion to market products to U.S. Hispanics in 2005, a 6.8% increase from 2004.
Selling to the Hispanic community ISN'T simply translating the marketing material
Just translating your English language copy may hurt you more that it helps! An improperly spelled word or the misuse of a phrase can create an entirely different meaning than planned.
Recently an ad in Miami’s radio stations announced that a marketing campaign was “fundada” (established) by the government of Miami-Dade County. The same ad in English said the campaign was “funded” by the Miami-Dade authority. A mistake like this one can ruin the opportunity to get your message across right!
Other problem is the product presentation.
Can you picture your product in very patrician, New England kinds of setting? Can you create a control package based on those images? If you take that approach with your sales letter and marketing material and target the Hispanic market, you won’t be selling too much. Hispanics doesn’t identify themselves with those places or images. They don’t live in those kinds of places. They’re more likely to live in urban settings as opposed to rural or suburban tracts.
That's why your promotions shouldn't be translated but "transcreated" in your target language: Spanish. Your material should be translated, adapted to the target market, and properly packaged for maximum effectiveness.
It’s the ONLY way to truly capture all the cultural personality of your target audience. Exactly what you need to make the sale!