One expert offers his top 3 tips for brands looking to better engage with this population.
By Kristina Knight
Originally published on BizReport.
First, think localization not just translation.
“To effectively engage the U.S. Hispanic community, you must deliver native-language content that fully reflects the way those individuals live, act and speak. And this can only be achieved by incorporating localization and transcreation into the content creation process,” said Judd Marcello, Vice President of Marketing, Smartling. “Simply translating websites and other digital content can result in a user experience that is not culturally relevant – and this will actually do more harm to your brand than good. Localization adds cultural nuances to translated text, and transcreation involves adapting and creating entirely new content to fit the customs and preferences of specific markets.”
Second, think quality.
“Some organizations will quickly throw up a Spanish-language site that is translated verbatim from its English-language counterpart, falsely believing that demonstrating some effort is better than doing nothing at all,” said Marcello. “Quality is the No. 1 factor to consider when engaging in a localization project, and machine-driven translations through tools like Google Translate rarely offer the quality your customers expect. Leveraging professional human translators in combination with translation management software that removes the complexity, time and cost from the non-linguistic parts of the process is the best way to deliver the highest quality user experience – without draining your budget and resources.”
Third, localize all your content points.
“In addition to offering a Spanish-language website, localizing your mobile app is another great way to engage with your Hispanic customers. Research has proven that Hispanics are leading the mobile charge. When it comes to mobile, Hispanics have a higher than usual adoption rate: 76 percent access the Internet on a mobile device, smartphone or tablet,” said Marcello.