Targeting the Hispanic market doesn’t necessarily mean marketing in Spanish.
We all know that by now! Nevertheless, it is wise to include Spanish-language activities in your marketing efforts if you want to attract the entire spectrum of US Hispanics, as many of the searches coming from this group are conducted in Spanish. Does that confuse you? Keep reading and hopefully, it will become more clear to you.
The United States has the largest number of Hispanics, coming second only after Mexico. It is also one of the fastest growing segments of the population. At present, Hispanics constitute 16 percent of the nation’s total population, making it the nation’s largest ethnic minority. At a growth rate of 3.1 percent, it is also the fastest growing. This has implications for the sheer size of the Hispanic market, which is growing at a rate faster than the general population.
Ok, that helps to some extent… But how much of my marketing dollars should I allocate for English-language and how much for Spanish-language campaigns?
Well, that’s the million dollar question for a marketer trying to reach U.S. Hispanics, isn’t it? The fact is that marketers in the US try to decide between employing marketing in one language or another while using the right combination of both languages is the right approach. It’s not a black or white approach, it’s a holistic approach!
Why Spanish should be in the Mix?
After English and Chinese, Spanish is the most spoken language in the world. About 500 million people across more than 40 countries speak Spanish. In the United States, they are also becoming a very active online population. More Spanish speaking online users are likely to spend an hour or more surfing the web than watch TV, on an average 47 percent versus 44 percent. The online market for Spanish speakers is growing, and with it a demand for Spanish websites.
Access to the web in the Hispanic market in the US is 30.5 percent, which is slightly higher than the worldwide average, and in the last ten years has shown a growth of 900 percent! However the demand for Spanish language websites far outstrips their presence and growth. The share of Spanish webpages is quite low, at about 8 percent, lagging behind the share of English language pages, which is at 38 percent and Chinese pages, that are at 22 percent.
There is a large segment of the market that companies are not being able to tap into, for the simple reason that they are not accessible in Spanish. Yes, in many cases, the English version of your website may be suffice (depending on your product and service, and industry you are in). However, a portion of Hispanic users tend to prefer Spanish-language websites. By not catering to their language needs, when there is demand, thousands of online consumers may remain unreached.
Hispanic Market Advisors can help you change that. We can provide you with an up to date, English to Spanish website translation, if needed for your case. That will help you attract new customers and keep them loyal. Our services are suitable not only for search engine marketing professionals, but also small and medium sized businesses that want to cater to this growing customer base… Learn more by clicking on the articles listed below
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