This document discusses the importance of considering culture and language when marketing to different target markets, especially the Hispanic/Latin market in the US. It notes that over 13% of the US population is made up of immigrants, representing many cultures. Large companies have had to adapt their marketing campaigns for different markets based on cultural norms. The author discusses how in their plastic surgery practice, 90% of patients are Latin, so the practice markets in both English and Spanish and promotes family-friendly events to appeal to Latin cultural values of closeness and family referrals. The document stresses the importance of understanding your target market's culture to create a successful marketing campaign.
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MARKETING TO THE
MULTICULTURAL CLIENT
When talking about marketing oneof the most important step to think about is ourtarget market.
Within the characteristics ofour target market wealways look fordemographicsand interests but
sometimes don’t give the importance to their cultureand languages as we should.Living in the United
States it becomes muchmore important to keep on top ofmind the target markets’ culture in orderto
prepare a successfulmarketing campaign. More than13%of the U.S. populationis made upby
immigrants, making ourcountrya big array of cultureswhereveryou go.It is important to understand
how yourtarget market thinks accordingto their culture beforeyou start marketing tothem.
Big brandedcompanies have had to make changesto their marketing campaignswhenentering new
markets forcultural reasons.There are several examples of this, like IKEA entering the Saudi Arabia
market, they had tomake the same productcatalogwithoutwomen in the pictures,or Disney in
Europewhohad to introducewine to the lunchmenus tobe more appealing to their new market.
So if hugecompanies like these have changedtheir marketing campaignsto be more appealing to their
market, whywouldn’twe take this into consideration in oursmall businesses?
Inmy industry, plastic surgery,we see different nationalities everyday come throughourdoors. Inmy
officein particular 90%of ourpatients are Latin. This means their preferred language is Spanish,
althoughthey may speak English perfectly they will most likely be more easily attracted by ourSpanish
speaking staff. We have taken all this into consideration and made ourmarketing campaigns in both
English and Spanish, usingdifferent wordingin ourmarketing to be more appealing to our patients.
Also,Latin population likes closeness withtheir doctors andwhoever they do businesswith, whichis
something they have a hard time findingin many places.So we get an advantage by havingour doctors
and staffmaking ourpatients feel as close and comfortableas family and feel well taken care of.We
promote family-friendly events and make it easier forourpatients to spread the wordaboutus to their
family and friends,whichis also very popularwithin the Latin culture.Ifwe are able to make oneLatina
patient happyshe will most likely bring her mom, her sisters, her husbandand even her “abuelita” along
and refer them to ourpractice.
So next time youare thinking about a new marketing campaign foryourbusiness take this into
account.Whois yourbiggest target market? What is their culture? What wouldmake them wantto do
business withyou? This is important forany industry;small, medium orlarge businesses!