Contributed by: Sarah Loeffler, Director of Media Innovation, PMMI Media Group
Looking to build brand awareness outside of the U.S.? With the new Mundo PMMI media brand for Latin America, OEMs can now easily reach packaging, food processing and industrial automation professionals in 20 Spanish-speaking countries.
Mundo PMMI includes:
- A dedicated website
- Print and digital advertising opportunities surrounding EXPO PACK Mexico and EXPO PACK Guadalajara
- Perspectivas, a monthly e-newsletter reaching 59,000 professionals in Latin America
- Ad targeting of the audience on Facebook and on 130,000+ brand-safe websites
(Information for marketers on all of these channels can be found at: oemgo.to/mundo)
If your company is new to marketing in Latin America, don’t let the prospect of developing non-English creative become too daunting. Armed with a few of the tips below, you’ll be off to a successful start.
5 Tips for Marketing to a Latin American Audience
Be prepared for some length differences if you’re translating content from English to Spanish. Inherently, Spanish text will run slightly longer than the same text in English, so be prepared if you’re working with an existing layout that you may need to adjust headlines, captions or other tight spaces. And if you absolutely must have the same piece of collateral combining both languages, avoid mirror-image layouts to lessen the likelihood of unintended open space. Instead, vary the size and position of your photos.
Consider a seamless experience with your creative.There’s nothing more frustrating for Spanish-speaking prospects than clicking a video and discovering the content is in English. Taking the extra step of providing Spanish voiceover and/or captioning is important to keep prospects from feeling alienated.
Need help finding voiceover or captioning assistance? Don’t just settle for a nearby staffer who took Spanish in high school. Project-based hiring sites such as Upwork.com and Guru.com can be a great way to access professional translation at low cost with dialect appropriate to the region targeted.
Tip: Here are some frequent missteps seen with common industry phrases to help when assessing quality of translation:
- Packaging = Paquete (the correct translation will be “Envase” or “Empaque”)
- Testing = Testeado (the correct translation will be “pruebas” or “desarrollo de pruebas”)
- Dampening = Amortiguación (the correct will be: “humectación” for printing)
Don’t just send copy off for direct translation. Take a few minutes to make sure your text is simple and direct to minimize the likelihood of different meaning across languages. Avoid idioms or jargon: You’ll want to be literal instead of offering “early bird” discounts or a solution that features “the best of both worlds” in forming and filling.
Also, don’t forget to read your landing pages with an eye toward accessibility. Tip: Remember that while search engines may translate site text for readers automatically, they won’t change typography within your images. By keeping typography off of your art, whether photos or charts, you’ll support a viewing experience that works equally well in Spanish and English.
Avoid the one-size-fits-all marketing strategy.To get messaging right, it’s particularly important to have strong communications with your sales team on the market’s needs rather than simply translating what works best at home. For example, which is more appealing to the majority of the market, latest technologies with advanced features or entry models with easy-to-use functionality?
Note that PMMI offers a variety of global business intelligence reports to aid in understanding market needs. For a guide to global markets and latest research and analysis on packaging machinery market trends in Mexico and other countries, see: oemgo.to/internationalresearch
Focus on frequency of message.Lastly, if you’re new to a market, it will be particularly important to invest in ongoing branding to grow familiarity with your brand. A one-off ad or e-blast around a show will not move the needle nearly as effectively as a planned series of efforts in front of the same audience throughout the year.
