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Marketing to Hispanics
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Article 7: Language And Translations
The first question most small-business owners have when they begin devising a strategy for marketing to Hispanics is the language question: How important is it to speak Spanish with these customers and translate your marketing materials into Spanish for them?
“Most Hispanic decision makers today are bilingual or even English-speaking only, so speaking the language isn’t always critical,” says Cici Rojas, vice president with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “It’s usually more important to get the cultural message right — to appeal to customers by understanding their culture, not just speaking their language.”
Although speaking the language may not always be critical, it’s usually beneficial and can go a long way toward helping build Hispanic customer loyalty. “There’s a dramatic appreciation among Hispanics for companies that try to do business with them in their own language,” says Steven Little, a small-business growth expert who specializes in the Hispanic market. “It tells them that you welcome them.”
Be extremely careful when translating English language marketing materials and advertisements into Spanish. There are numerous examples of mistakes made by marketers when translating marketing messages and brands from English to Spanish, like Chevrolet’s Nova, which means “does not go” in Spanish.
Another more recent example is the ‘Got milk?’ campaign, says Kelly McDonald, president of McDonald Marketing and an expert who speaks frequently on the topic of marketing to Hispanics. “A straight word-for-word translation of ‘Got milk?’ (Tiene leche?) in Spanish becomes ‘Are you lactating?’”
Instead of straight language translation, select a specialist who can do what McDonald calls ‘transcreation.’ “This goes beyond just translating words, to translate a marketing message into something that’s more culturally meaningful,” she says. It’s more expensive, but it ensures the right marketing message — and avoids embarrassing mistakes.
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