Latino Engagement: It’s Not About Language…It’s About Cultural Relevance

It’s great that many of our favorite corporate brands (the smart ones, anyway) and more recently the Democratic and Republican parties are reaching out to the burgeoning Latino market. However, I’m here to remind the minds behind these initiatives that if your strategy consists of translating your fancy brochures or your shiny new websites into Spanish, and that includes dubbing of videos — congratulations! you now have a good chance at reaching my mom, my tia, and their “networks.”

Be warned, that approach neglects more than half of our community. You know, the one that went to school in this country and whose kids now attend those same schools – the bicultural Latino. Here’s the snapshot:

Conference in the Bay Area: My Thoughts

Last year alone my company produced 32 events, and then we co-produced (that’s when we run marketing and registration only) an additional 24 events. This past Saturday I attended the Latino2 Confered by #LATISM in Silicon Valley, and though I was involved as a Board Member and a panelist, it was such an amazing feeling not having to coordinate, organize, or run around like crazy for once.

As I mentioned, I did speak as part of the Digital Marketing Panel, and like a good boyscout I was prepared for most of the questions posed by the moderator, except for one; “what is the one thing you want to leave the audience with?”. Ironically, I ask that of speakers at our events. I responded with; “if the riches are in the niches — then find a niche for your blog or business. Just when you think you know who you want to target, segment that audience once again.”

It’s definitely advice I live by. However, as I drove down from San Jose to LA for 6+ hours, I realized there is something more sound and meaningful that I will leave future audiences with; “print marketing, radio, TV, social media are tools of communication and they will continue to evolve. At the end of the day, it’s all about creating meaningful relationships and providing value for the client/reader/subscriber.”