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According to David Perez, co-founder and CEO of the New York-based marketing intelligence provider Latin Force Group, there is a new, ethnic American mainstream waiting to receive direct mail. At the Direct Marketing Association’s DM Days New York Conference & Expo, Perez indicated that because this segment tends to view mail as a source of information, direct mailers have a distinct advantage when marketing to this segment. Here, Perez details three tips for reaching the Hispanic market.
1. Identify Latinos Within Your Customer Base
According to Perez, most companies are unsure of their ability to accurately identify Hispanics or other cultural segments in their databases. He suggests marketers look first at existing database information for those populations by segmenting on actionable criteria such as: language, acculturation, country of origin, socioeconomic strata, and spending and behavioral tendencies.
2. Actively Predict Customer Response
In order to market to this segment, Perez says, companies need to learn “where to find more good customers,” then predict the expected response. The steps to this include: testing for key tendencies, finding out which are the most descriptive, then using both household and geo-demographic indicators to formulate a best customer profile. After this, Perez says marketers should translate these attributes into micro locations. For example, “segment the data into the following sections: ZIP + 4, carrier routes, block groups, retail trading areas, telephone numbers and six-digit prefixes,” he says. Then, Perez explains that marketers should rank each area according to suitability for the desired target market. He also suggests “overlaying your data to include stores, mailing lists and media options based on local information,” then, remember to measure performance through back-end analysis to ensure your message is on target.
3. Link Analytics to Cultural Competence
When segmenting within multicultural targets, it is essential to ensure that your messaging and client contact “resonates and delivers,” says Perez. This requires working with marketing operations that have “expertise linking the analytics to messaging, offers, packaging and customer relationship management.” Gathering very specific behavioral and geographical information about the Hispanic market will help better target potential customers; with this audience, well-targeted offers that result in building a relationship often develop a loyal customer base, he says. For example, Perez suggests marketers pay close attention to the following when targeting the Hispanic market: socioeconomic strata, country of origin, life stage, psychographics and regional variation.
1. Identify Latinos Within Your Customer Base
According to Perez, most companies are unsure of their ability to accurately identify Hispanics or other cultural segments in their databases. He suggests marketers look first at existing database information for those populations by segmenting on actionable criteria such as: language, acculturation, country of origin, socioeconomic strata, and spending and behavioral tendencies.
2. Actively Predict Customer Response
In order to market to this segment, Perez says, companies need to learn “where to find more good customers,” then predict the expected response. The steps to this include: testing for key tendencies, finding out which are the most descriptive, then using both household and geo-demographic indicators to formulate a best customer profile. After this, Perez says marketers should translate these attributes into micro locations. For example, “segment the data into the following sections: ZIP + 4, carrier routes, block groups, retail trading areas, telephone numbers and six-digit prefixes,” he says. Then, Perez explains that marketers should rank each area according to suitability for the desired target market. He also suggests “overlaying your data to include stores, mailing lists and media options based on local information,” then, remember to measure performance through back-end analysis to ensure your message is on target.
3. Link Analytics to Cultural Competence
When segmenting within multicultural targets, it is essential to ensure that your messaging and client contact “resonates and delivers,” says Perez. This requires working with marketing operations that have “expertise linking the analytics to messaging, offers, packaging and customer relationship management.” Gathering very specific behavioral and geographical information about the Hispanic market will help better target potential customers; with this audience, well-targeted offers that result in building a relationship often develop a loyal customer base, he says. For example, Perez suggests marketers pay close attention to the following when targeting the Hispanic market: socioeconomic strata, country of origin, life stage, psychographics and regional variation.
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