This article was originally published online by the Orlando Business Journal.
There has been a lot of debate about using a “total market approach” when reaching out to Hispanics, especially in regards to their millennials.
Total market approach is relying only one marketing program designed to reach all consumers across both general and ethnic markets. If you take a shortcut like this and try to tap into the Hispanic market using a straight translation of your Anglo campaign into Spanish, it’s basically like serving a burger with every Anglo topping imaginable and then adding beans, rice, sofrito, mofongo and habanero pepper. You simply cannot be effective trying to please so many people at once with the one approach.
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The Hispanic market is unique and diverse — with differences between U.S. born and foreign born. Even U.S. Hispanic millennials, the Hispanic consumer of the future, are a little different. If we compared them with the general market millennials, the differences are even bigger.
Whether Hispanics are foreign born or U.S. born, speak English or Spanish, what keeps this community together as a strong group is a defined culture from motherland Spain, tethered to the Catholic Church. Also, they share one language, Spanish, and the pursuit of the American dream.
According to a study done by Nielsen, Univision & SMG (The Bilingual Brain), Hispanic millennials (ages 21-34) represent 20 percent of U.S. youth. Within this group, the number of bilingual speakers has increased 73 percent, beating the English-dominant speakers in the past decade alone (22 percent to 38 percent bilingual). They continue to be more optimistic about the future, carry less debt and have more children at a younger age than their mainstream counterparts.
It is important to understand that Hispanics are living the path of acculturation and they never will be fully assimilated due to immigration levels and how proud they are about holding onto their heritage.
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So, if you want to reach Hispanics far more effectively than a simple total market approach can, here are three recommendations to consider:
- Be multicultural: Develop targeted marketing efforts to specific, clearly defined ethnic groups. All markets are not the same, even within the U.S. markets. Make sure your campaign respects the overall brand positioning from the general market.
- Be relevant: Building momentum for your brand with Hispanic consumers requires a true intent to earn an authentic relationship. Speak to their culture within the value proposition of your product and/or service offering. Make sure your message is culturally relevant to them even when you use English.
- Be loyal: Once you build momentum with your Hispanic campaigns, it is important to continue that dialogue. Your efforts do not end after they buy your products. Make them feel that you appreciate their business and you care about them. This is one of the most important steps to build loyalty. People do not buy brands. They buy experiences.
Based on the latest census, the U.S. has the second-largest Hispanic population in the world, even larger than the total population of Spain. So take the right steps now, and soon you will find yourself in the middle of a very loyal — and rapidly growing — following. And that will be an approach that will deliver greater return on investment for years to come.
