Sebastian Aroca

Articles by Sebastian All articles by Sebastian

• Why Do So Many Latino Marketing Initiatives Fail? in Engage:Hispanics on 10/14/2014
  

  It's no longer news that the Latino market is one of the fastest-growing consumer segments in the U.S. and has been for years. Many companies are aware of and actively engage with this audience. Some brands focus on reaching U.S.-born Hispanic Millennial while others focus on reaching foreign-born first-generation Hispanics.

• Other Key Considerations When Planning Marketing Campaigns in Engage:Hispanics on 01/31/2013
  

  In a previous article, "Allocating Latino Marketing Budgets With Projections," we started discussing one of the most serious issues that come into play when planning multicultural marketing strategies: budget allocation.

• Allocating Marketing Budgets With Projections in Engage:Hispanics on 01/17/2013
  

  The rapid growth of the Hispanic American consumer segment has been widely discussed over the last few years. It started well before the 2010 Census, which revealed that Latinos in the United States had grown by more than 27 million or nearly 10% during the first decade of the new century. This growth has certainly caught the attention of chief marketing officers at major corporations, advertising executives, search engine optimization experts, and other marketing professionals who are scrambling to tap into this burgeoning consumer group.

• Finding Cultural Identity In Modern America  in Engage:Hispanics on 06/19/2012
  

  Navigating the maze of one's identity is always tricky. Adding ethnicity to the layout brings even more twists, turns and blind alleys. The result is a course that can seem impossible to complete.

• Growing E-Commerce With Hispanics In The U.S. in Engage:Hispanics on 12/29/2011
  

  If your business provides products or services targeted to the U.S. Hispanic market, you will want to follow some basic tips that will help you to reach your business goals and increase your profits at the same time.

• The Beginning Of A Multicultural Marketing Approach  in Engage:Hispanics on 09/29/2011
  

  No doubt, Latinos in the U.S. are gradually but surely being integrated and absorbed into mainstream U.S. American society. Considering the steadily growing population of this ethnic group, they have become a target of special study looking closely into their cultures and how they are adapting to the American way of life. Biculturalism or the cross-over between the two cultures is evident.

• The Beginning Of A Multicultural Marketing Approach  in Engage:Hispanics on 07/28/2011
  

  Sooner or later, the Latinos and non-Latinos will be totally absorbed into the multicultural society and it will, hopefully, redound to the mutual benefit of all. The next U.S. National Census, about nine years from now will, I hope, bear witness to this development.

• Simple Guide To SEO For U.S. Hispanic And Latin American Markets  in Engage:Hispanics on 12/23/2010
  

  To reach these markets, you can use a combination of local SEO and more regional SEO. However, you need to be able to spot the key differences in the English and Spanish SEO needs for these markets as well.

• Of The 2 Shoe Salesmen In Africa, Which One Are You?  in Engage:Hispanics on 10/28/2010
  

  Translation is just the first step. There is more to be done to improve the success rate and make the translation process worth it.

• Look For Surge In Spanish SEO Demand in Engage:Hispanics on 09/30/2010
  

  while it's clear that consumers are neither one dimensional nor language-centric, for those businesses that are serious about reaching the entire spectrum of the U.S. Hispanic community, then, connecting to the Spanish-preferred and Spanish-reliant audience through a cost-effective Spanish SEO campaign can be an integral part of the overall Hispanic search engine marketing strategy.

Comments by Sebastian All comments by Sebastian

• Why English AND Spanish Are The Official Languages Of The Internet For Hispanics by Lee Vann (Engage:Hispanics on 10/09/2014)
  

  Great post, Lee! It could have not been explained and substantiated by facts better than you have. I always say that to reach the entire spectrum of Hispanic-Americans, brands and marketers must devise strategies to engage them in both English and Spanish (instead of in one OR the other). Defining the right combination of each language is usually the challenge for many businesses, and that's when agencies with specialized skills set come handy. After all, Latinos in the US consume information in both languages, nobody can deny that, and smart agencies are mere conduits or connectors choosing the right channels and influentials to get the message across from the brands to the target audience.

• Why Do So Many Latino Marketing Initiatives Fail? by Sebastian Aroca (Engage:Hispanics on 10/14/2014)
  

  Fraser, thank you for your comment. You're right that not all marketing agencies are created equal. I was referring to agencies without multicultural and/or cross-cultural capabilities. Translating a landing page and PPC copy ads to Spanish does not make a Latino initiative. In fact, it requires in-depth analysis and market knowledge to master the Latino customer profile, define the channels and tactics to reach and engage cost-effectively with this audience, and execute the strategy with the right people/team in place.

• Why Do So Many Latino Marketing Initiatives Fail? by Sebastian Aroca (Engage:Hispanics on 10/14/2014)
  

  Gene, thank you for your comment, I am glad you enjoyed the reading. What you call "Hispanic marketing 101 level" others call it "the fundamentals of Hispanic marketing". While it's always great to ready and write about new strategies, tactics, and case studies, I think is just as healthy and appropriate every now and then to unwind and revisit the fundamentals for when these are overlooked or forgotten (in the name of sophistication) is when brands fall into common pitfalls. I look forward to reading your posts.

• Online Publishers Double Down on Facebook by Lee Vann (Engage:Hispanics on 01/10/2013)
  

  Thank you Lee for this post, very insightful. For me it boils down to hitting the right combination of quantity + quality (reaching # likes that is attractive + high engagement rate). Having a high number of likes but low engagement rate is like having lots of visits to your site but high abandon rate and low conversion rate. If I had to choose, I rather have a facebook fan page with 10,000 likes and 50% engagement rate, than 250,000 likes and 1% engagement rate. While the first example is obviously an active and engaged Facebook community of Hispanic users taking about a brand and interacting with it, the second example is like having a retail store with lots of walk-ins but 99% of them non-shoppers. I know each case is different (depending on the product or service, industry, marketplace, etc), but any general common sense ideas of how to boost the engagement rate on a facebook fan page?

• Allocating Marketing Budgets With Projections by Sebastian Aroca (Engage:Hispanics on 01/17/2013)
  

  As far as your Q on translation, I think that is a question many companies ask themselves. Are they better off translating to Spanish the content they have in English or creating content in Spanish from scratch? The best option would probably depend on the degree of independence of each language version, and the degree to what its English- and Spanish-language content needs to be synchronized, considering we are referring to web properties. Both strategies can be valid. If the Spanish site has autonomy and has its own promotions and news, then creating content from scratch (using content creation platforms such as www.createanarticle.com) in combination with some translations may work best. If the Spanish-language site is merely a Spanish-language version of the main English-language site, then the translated copy (localized and culturally sensitive) can be sufficed to keep the bilingual site up to date. Just my two cents worth.. what are your thoughts?

• Allocating Marketing Budgets With Projections by Sebastian Aroca (Engage:Hispanics on 01/17/2013)
  

  Thank you Zeph for your comments and questions. I am planning to address that on Part 2 next month. Let me post a preview here though since you asked. I think you would probably agree with me that for B2C organizations, the percentage of an online marketing budget to go towards social media would depend on how valuable and relevant "branding" and "engaging their customers" is for the organization, first and foremost. Some companies start with an Intern managing their social networks and others go as far as working with digital marketing agencies and investing in the development of facebook applications and so forth. I think social media has many benefits when done professionally for it adds depth and builds connections between brands and users/customers thru companies sharing relevant content, news, tips, coupons that is all appealing to readers. And at the same time, it helps SEO for SOCIAL, TRUST and PERSONAL are three OFF THE PAGE SEO factors that influence rankings. In my opinion, social media, PR and SEO/SEM folks (any combination of in-house and third party agencies) should all work in sync as interrelated teams and under one strategic direction.

• The 2012 Election & Hispanics by Jose Villa (Engage:Hispanics on 11/01/2012)
  

  Thank you Jose for this article, good timing! I like your analysis. As I shared on my facebook page a while ago, I think that the more Hispanics/Latinos that are eligible to vote, regardless of political preferences, the better for our community as a whole. I'd like to see more often Julian Castro (Democrat) & Marco Rubio (Republican) with the mic, more power to them! regardless of which party they happen to be affiliated with, it's good for Hispanics/Latinos as a whole, because our voices as a community will be heard more and more from boths sides of the political spectrum...We need to permeate the political system from both sides and let everyone hear us.

• Ford Runs Its First Spanish-Language Ad On Broadcast by Phyllis Fine (Around the Net In Media on 06/25/2012)
  

  It was the first sign of how significant the Hispanic NBA fan base is becoming overall. At Hispanic Market Advisors, we have a feeling that we will see more of this.. especially, since the NBA seems to be a global-minded organization that knows quite well its market segments and how to connect with multicultural customers.

• Where Do Your SEO Clients Really Rank In SERPs? by Laurie Sullivan (SearchBlog on 03/22/2011)
  

  I like the article, and agree with the comments from Chris Nielsen as well. A good SEO consultant should not be afraid at looking at the analytical data weekly and adjust activities to those that bring the best ROI. Everything starts with keyword research, and setting the right keyword strategy, and learning how to target groups of keywords that are low in competition and high in volume search..

• When It Comes To Online Hispanics, The Internet Is Blue by Lee Vann (Engage:Hispanics on 07/12/2012)
  

  Thank you Lee for this article. Good timing for being election year. I think the best cost-effective strategy that can yield natural/organic results (for either party) is to listen to Hispanic constituents emphatically and offer solutions to their issues. I agree engaging in social media platforms is key. The White House invited a group of Latino Mom Bloggers a couple of months ago to listen to the Latino voices. I thought this was a very smart move. For Mitt Romney, creating a website and videos in Spanish indicating where his policy stands is a good start. But I'd be keenly interested to learn what Mitt is doing beyond those initial steps to engage the Hispanic audience in a dialog that advances the group's agenda...

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