How To: Capture the U.S. Hispanic MarketThis article was originally published on the Acclaro blog.

Category: Marketing, Global Trends, Top Ten

"The concept of an 'average American' is gone, probably forever."

- Peter Franchese, founder of American Demographics magazine

The 2010 census was the first time that the U.S. government made a concerted effort to

include all multilingual immigrant groups, and as a result it will likely show the U.S. as it

is: a truly multicultural nation, a multigenerational society and a multi-segmented

household economy.

Specifically, the new census will show numbers reflecting a large and fast-growing

Hispanic population that for years many people were aware of, but never fully grasped

the impact this group can have in the future. The Hispanic segment will represent over 50

million consumers with over a trillion dollars in buying power, writes Terry Soto in The

Transformation of the U.S. Consumer Market (pdf).

Page 1: How To: Capture the U.S. Hispanic Market Copyright © Acclaro 2012

But how do you capture and retain the Hispanic consumer? First and foremost, you need

to gather market insights. Because the U.S. Hispanic is so incredibly diverse, you have to

identify and understand the micro-segments within it that will be the most productive for

your brand.

For instance, find out geographically what makes the most sense. Texas and California

have high concentrations of Hispanic consumers, with Los Angeles the largest city

market, with 5MM total — more than the entire country of Costa Rica. If you are looking

for volume, geographically targeting these regions would make your marketing and sales

efforts more efficient.

Also, the segment as a whole is young and fertile — they are and will continue to

represent a stronger growth market compared to non‐Hispanic whites who are older and

not having kids at the same rate. Know how your product or service benefits this age

group, and think about the long-term investment of gaining loyal customers now.

What about language? Translation can be tricky, since the type of Spanish spoken by

these groups can be very different. And, knowing that two thirds of Hispanics speak

English and consume mostly English language media, is there value in marketing to

Hispanic consumers in Spanish?

Definitely. The answer again lies in those multicultural insights. When you have solid

information concerning pertinent lifestyle and cultural aspects, you can use those as cues

as input for product development, messaging, merchandising and promotions in both

English and Spanish.

From an article in AMA's MarketingPower (registration required):

This means ensuring that product/service and retail delivery aligns with the types of

Hispanic customers buying the company’s products or going into your stores or websites

— this would include digital screens, employees, self‐serve payment or checkout kiosks,

signage, collateral, merchandising and product assortment.

This also means that post sale strategies, actions and communications must follow suit —

everything from billing, to customer service lines, CRM and loyalty efforts and even online

account management functionality must all be in alignment — this doesn’t always mean

language, but it certainly means culturally relevant content and images.

Given the recent controversy around Arizona's immigration enforcement law, some

companies are jittery about blatantly marketing to strictly non-English speakers, and vice

versa. How do you direct messages at recent immigrants, without taking a political stance

or scaring them away?

Reduce messaging that may call immigrants out publicly, such as billboards or in-store

marketing, and instead buy more Spanish media spots to reach them in the privacy of

Page 2: How To: Capture the U.S. Hispanic Market Copyright © Acclaro 2012

their homes, the article suggests. Wells Fargo, for example, offers but doesn’t overtly

advertise the fact that they accept Mexican ID cards from people opening an account.

About Acclaro: Acclaro is an international translation and localization company that helps the world’s leading brands succeed across cultures. We specialize in website translation, marketing campaigns, documents and software localization to give clients an authentic voice in key language markets.

North America: 1-866-468-5106 Worldwide: +1-914-468-0222 www.acclaro.com sales@acclaro.com

Page 3: How To: Capture the U.S. Hispanic Market Copyright © Acclaro 2012