You know you have Spanish-speaking customers, but are you doing a good job with your bilingual marketing efforts? Maybe your answer is “so-so.” Could you do better? We think you can, but first, we must go beyond the notion that a translated website means you have bilingual marketing campaigns.
Website Translation and Bilingual Marketing
The first step in your bilingual marketing campaign is translating your website. So, it is worth allocating a marketing budget if you’re going after more business in the Latinx market. Opening your customer base to a second language gives you a competitive advantage, and your company is stronger for it.
“Offering more than one language means you are less fragile than companies that don’t. You are more agile to changes in the market. If your English website fails, your Spanish website is still running.”
Warren Laine-Naida
Translating your online store into Spanish in domestic markets with high percentages of Spanish speakers – for example, Los Angeles, CA, San Antonio, TX, or Phoenix, AZ – is a smart business move. In that regard, website translation is a priority and makes a lot of sense for an eCommerce site, but what if you’re a real estate agent, hair stylist, or mechanic? Sí, your small business website should be en español also.
“It’s not only online stores that can benefit from going multilingual, though. A translated blog, for example, has the potential to gain new followers and generate more revenue from ads.”
WP Buffs
What is Bilingual Marketing?
Before going beyond website translation and bilingual marketing, we need to agree on a simplified definition of marketing. Marketing is communication. You’re communicating a message to your audience, and – more importantly – that message is being received by your audience.
So, if a portion of your customer base prefers to engage with brands in their native language – Spanish – then the best way to reach them is with a bilingual marketing campaign. But is that only in Spanish or a mix?
You have two obvious choices: create a totally different campaign in Spanish or translate the current marketing campaign into Spanish. The latter is an extension of your current marketing strategy, serving as a parallel campaign with a similar goal. That makes the marketing campaign bilingual. One of the best strategies, especially for the Hispanic market, is a hybrid approach – where the campaign has Spanish and English.
“Before you tailor a bilingual marketing campaign, it is necessary to re-evaluate your business marketing objectives and then create content that positions it under the end-user requirement.”
Alpha Co. Marketing & Media
The important thing to remember with bilingual campaigns is that word-for-word translations aren’t always effective – or accurate. Always make an effort to translate colloquialisms thought for thought. So, be careful, but go ahead and start that bilingual campaign.
Does Bilingual Marketing Work?
Of course, bilingual marketing works. And if you’re following along with our article, you get it. In fact, bilingual and Hispanic-centered marketing campaigns win awards. Casanova//McCann, who has worked with Denny’s, The California Lottery, and more, has won 2 years in a row at Cannes.
Bilingual marketing works because it honors your customers. It works because it speaks to customers where they are and because people speak more than just English. International companies know this. American companies who both recognize this fact and incorporate it into their business strategy win – all the way to the bank.
“Hispanics and Latinos are more likely to stick with a brand they like, which means strong customer lifetime value.”
SASSO
What Companies Excel at Bilingual Marketing in Spanish?
McDonald’s is one of the first companies that dedicated social accounts to Spanish speakers. Netflix does well in the Hispanic market, IKEA has had success with Spanish-based marketing, and Ford Motor Company resonates well.
One great example of going beyond just translation in bilingual marketing is from Target. Their #SinTraducción (Without Translation) culture-based campaign won hearts and brought shoppers in the door. How’s that for más negocios?
Target had a spike in Hispanic Share of Voice by over 500%, outperformed metrics on ad recall and persuasion scores, but most importantly for our Target client-partners, it increased foot traffic in key Hispanic markets.”
Third Ear
How Do You Find Developers To Help with Bilingual Marketing?
One of the first places to ask for referrals for bilingual developers is your local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce if “bilingual” refers to Spanish. They’ll be able to source local Spanish speakers who understand local colloquialisms. Another great place to find developers is at local WordPress Meetups. You can always reach out on social media to find experts. But that’s all quite a bit of work. We have a suggestion, though.
Our partners at Codeable have a directory of elite WordPress developers – many of whom are not only bilingual but polyglots (fluent in many languages). When you’re looking for a WordPress developer who can build your WordPress website, help with your bilingual marketing campaigns, y habla espanol, then we have your back.
Featured Photo by Brett Zeck on Unsplash
WP Buffs – Your Best Friends
Have a multilingual site? No problemo. Our “Perform” and “Custom” Care Plans include support for multiple languages. We love WPML for WordPress translation, but there are other plugins and platforms available, such as Weglot and Lokalise to name a few.
