Hispanics are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population and they are open to direct marketing offers. But you have to talk to them the right way, argued Michael Saray, president of Michael Saray Direct Marketing at DM Days on Tuesday.
For one thing, the Spanish language is dominant in Hispanic households. According to Nielsen Media Research 89% of households speak Spanish at least some degree versus 11% for English-only. And 84% of persons aged 16 to 34 learned to speak Spanish before English. That number increases to 90% with persons aged 35 to 49 and 97% with people 50 and above.
In other surveys, continued Saray, 71% of respondents said they were more inclined to purchase products advertised in Spanish and 69% said they get more information about products advertised in Spanish than English.
Just the same, Saray continued, Latinos are more receptive to messages that appeal to the “right brain,” which ends to be more emotional, intuitive and creative rather than the “left brain” which is more rational and logical.
And this is a key cultural difference and one reason why straight translations from English to Spanish may not make for the most persuasive ad copy and could even be detrimental, Saray said.
For example, family is always very important to Hispanic people. So insurance offers whose copy states things like will “protect the family” is likely to have greater response than one which says things like will provide financial security.
“You want to reach the heart, not the left brain,” said Saray.
In addition, Latinos like clear product explanations and the option to respond to toll-free 800 numbers. But for financial service products, they prefer to have both Spanish and English explanations, he said.
Hispanic people tend to have a somewhat favorable attitude toward direct mail. A total of 23% of recipients review every page or section, while 14% review selected pages and 40% tend to glance or skim through while only 4% usually discard mail offers with looking at them.
“To gain share of wallet, you must gain share of heart,” Saray said. “The Spanish language and in-culture communication is the best way to accomplish this.”
The Hispanic population is growing. This year, there are 43 million Hispanics in the U.S., including as many as 6 million undocumented people and nearly 4 million in Puerto Rico.
In fact, this year, Hispanics represented 14.6% of the entire U.S. population versus 12.5% in 2000.
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