“Te mereces la mejor buena salud. Estamos aqui aseguararlo.”
“You deserve world-class healthcare. We are here to ensure you get it.”
That byline on a health services website will warm the hearts of many web users visiting your site. But if you only have it in English, research shows you may be ignoring 13.5% (over 41 million) of the US population who speak Spanish as their first language. In fact, Hispanics account for 18.7% of the US population.
Recent stats also show that Hispanic Americans are at higher risk for health conditions like diabetes and obesity, with Hispanic women over the age of 20 having an obesity rate of 49% and Hispanic men over 18 years having the highest risk of diabetes at 14%.
Your best bet at connecting with and helping the Hispanic community would be to speak to them in their language. Let’s help you speak Spanish in your marketing so you don’t leave out a demographic that could turn your bottom line around.
How to Advertise to the Spanish-Speaking Community
Language is the vehicle for culture, and you can’t separate a person from their culture –so much so that it’s impossible to show any audience that you care about their culture if you can’t use their language. The ideas listed below will help you appeal to the Spanish-speaking community to boost conversions.
1. Take Advantage of Google Search
11.6 million of the Spanish-speaking community in the US are bilingual, and many of them use Google search daily. Forbes says that ads targeting Hispanics in Spanish significantly increase their interest in purchasing products.
It also found that over 80% of Spanish-dominant Hispanics use Spanish at least 50% of the time when they read, write, or watch videos online. 79% of Spanish-dominant, 82% of bilingual, and 60% of English-dominant Hispanics believe brands should communicate with consumers in English and Spanish.
You can use Google AdWords to appeal to this population. These ads help businesses through the Google search engine and partner sites. These partner sites host a text or image ad on the page immediately after a user types a set of keywords related to your practice. AdWords usually appear at the top and right-hand side of a SERP.
Creating an AdWords campaign in Spanish is straightforward. Just set the language settings for your campaign to include both English and Spanish. Your campaign dashboard will automatically display English and Spanish options under the language column.
Google then displays your AdWords campaign to anyone who has set their search interface to Spanish. AdWords campaign may also display ads for searches that return results almost exclusively in Spanish.
Alternatively, use Display ads to help you generate brand awareness and increase conversions. Display ads are image-based and allow you to target people who are likely to be interested in your products but aren’t looking for them yet.
2. Don’t Just Translate, Transcreate
Transcreation merges translation and creation. It intends to preserve the text’s original intent, retain the emotions and tone, and relay the message just as a native speaker should have relaid it.
The McDonald’s Hispanic site is an excellent example of how transcreation works. The fast-food giant completely customized the site for its Hispanic market, incorporating games, music, Hispanic stars, and themes that are more relevant to this demographic.
We get that following in the footsteps of MacDonald can be costly. Still, you’re welcome to take a hybrid approach by translating some of your messaging while carefully using transcreation to generate original content that resonates with your Spanish-speaking audience.
Whatever you do, avoid translating your English content into Spanish without a Spanish expert to edit it.
3. Leverage the Power of CTV Ads
Connected TV advertising (CTV) refers to advertising on a TV that can connect to the Internet. These TVs either directly access the Internet or rely on other technologies ( Xbox, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, etc.)
CTV advertising works by leveraging the TV screen estate, allowing advertisers to engage more audiences through co-viewing, which is impossible with phones and other devices with smaller screens.
To make the most of it, use data and research to provide customized ads. For example, refer to the nearest Spanish store and regional climate. You can choose to greet audiences as a region by saying’ Hey, Florida, ‘followed by the message you want to share.
Q&A
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4. Narrow your Messaging Further to Different Spanish Traditions
The Hispanic community includes people from at least twenty nations with varying cultures. The culture of Spanish-speaking people of Mexican origin is different from those who come from the Caribbean Islands.
A little homework will help you determine if your target audience comes primarily from one region. If so, that’s your cue to curate your marketing efforts using nuances that appeal to that region.
The most promising way to hack that is by tapping into colloquial language and involving their unique customs and heritage. Nothing speaks of intentional personalization better than that, and the region will likely respond by switching their attention to you and your services.
5. Don’t Ignore Traditional Marketing Strategies
The whole idea of speaking Spanish in your marketing is personalization –but you can’t personalize enough not to need proven marketing strategies.
For example, you can never go wrong with targeting multiple demographics. You can narrow your Spanish-speaking audience further by region, social class, and age. For example, you can tailor some ads to millennial Hispanics rather than just casting your net wide to include all Hispanics.
Plus, use your Spanish-speaking staff if you’re lucky enough to have any. These staff can be invaluable in crafting messages, taking advantage of traditional holidays, or alluding to a historical season that a particular age group can relate to.
They are also helpful in helping you successfully handle a campaign in Spanish from start to finish. It would be disastrous if you began a campaign in Spanish only to switch to English because you can’t keep up with the language.
Finally
Each of these strategies stands or falls on how authentic a connection you create with these audiences.
The last thing you want is your marketing efforts to seem to pander, or worse, condescending to Spanish-speaking people. If anything, you’re trying to show them that their health matters, and if you have to speak their language to get it to them, so be it.
Be honest in your communication and find transcreation experts who can ensure your messaging retains the natural intention of a phrase or story.
Target Continuum exists to ensure you market your health practice in ways that count. Beyond helping you reach all audience groups, we have an array of cutting-edge technology and digital engagement tools to help you build meaningful connections with every patient and ensure you maintain it as you scale. Let us change your practice for the better. Book an appointment today.