Selling to the Hispanic market

With the multicultural denominations we have in America today, marketing must find new ways to include the interest, backgrounds, and needs of everyone.

Why is it important in America to know how to sell to the Hispanic market? Because we have the fourth largest population of Hispanics in the world! Find that amazing? In 2004, 40.4 million Hispanics lived in the U.S., 14 percent of the total population! They represent a combined 686 billion dollar purchasing power. (See Hispanic Trends: a People in Motion, a 2005 report by the Pew Hispanic Center.)

Hispanic does not refer to a race but rather to a common language and generally a culture. Though it is common in the US to refer to Hispanics as, "Mexicans," this is not always the case. You will find in your business that you will have Mexican customers, Bolivian customers, Colombian, Spanish, Brazilian, and so on.

In general the Hispanics of this nation are more laid back and easy going than Americans. This is important to take into consideration if you are a sales person. Unlike most "busy" Americans, Hispanics are not going to want you to rush through your pitch, get right to the point, and get them to buy. Their culture has provided for a more relaxed atmosphere where things can be taken at a slower pace, questions can be asked, and answers can be given.

This is just one difference that needs to be taken into consideration when selling to the Hispanic market. There are many differences. Hispanics in America do not want only one employee to understand their needs and differences, it is important for the whole of the companies to understand the differences so that (assuming there's no language barrier) each employee can work equally as well with their Hispanic customers.

It will be important for your company to decide whether you will have Spanish speaking employees. All though we are living in an English speaking country and we should be an English speaking society, that is not the case anymore and if you choose not to have Spanish speaking employees you will missing out on a large and quickly growing customer base.

It is important in your advertising to include things your audience can relate to. If you are targeting a multicultural base then use visuals from each society that the individuals can identify with. For example use bright colors for the Hispanic society, use models from different races, bring each culture you are targeting into the visual presentation of your advertisement and you will be able to target a much wider audience.

If you provide advertising and selling online you may also want to consider providing your site both in English and Spanish. If you do so you will want to advertise your site both in English and Spanish so that the Spanish speaking only community know that they can be helped there.

America has always been a multicultural country; we were founded from different nations and backgrounds. Up until recently we have all who lived in America communicated through one common language, and it has been expected for those moving to America to learn the language of our country. However times are changing, we are quickly and ever more swiftly becoming a bi-lingual country.

For those who are a part of the sales industry they must decide whether or not to change their advertising strategies to take into consideration different languages and cultures. If a company chooses not to cater to the Hispanic population, sadly, they will be choosing to not to cater to fourteen percent of the American population.

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Tags: Hispanic Market sales America business Spanish customers