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3 Marketing challenges Latina-owned businesses face

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The Latino business community has made great strides over the years in terms of growth, recognition, and overall success. In fact, a study from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative found that the number of Latino business owners has grown by 34%, compared with the 1% growth rate for all other business owners in the US.

However, we could still do better. Currently, the number of Latino CEOs at Fortune 500 companies is still much less than it should be.  

But why is this the case? The answer may lie in how we market our businesses. Today, we’ll be discussing some marketing challenges Latina-owned businesses face, unknowingly or not, and how we can overcome them.

Balancing heritage with modern influences

When we talk about Latino roots, the main focus is always on our heritage. We’re proud of who we are and would like to spread the Latino brand across other communities. This means that most Latina-businesses are focused on Latino textiles, family-owned creations, and other Hispanic-inspired creations. But things move on. If you want to attract customers from this era, then you have to modernize your branding. A good example of a business that has successfully navigated this marketing challenge is Luna Magic Beauty, a Latina-owned beauty business, which sells make-up for Latina skin. They make clever use of hashtags and Instagram to get their name out to the wider world.

 

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Other modern influences you can take advantage of to beat this marketing challenge include but are not limited to: creating a minimalist logo, investing in professional photography to use for social media, and using apps when applicable. It’s a different approach for everyone, so find out how you can take your culture-inspired business into the future.

Naming the business

A business’ name is one of the foundations of their image. As such, you want yours to be influenced by your Latino roots, but not too much that it seems that you’re only catering to Latinos. Plus, some traditional Latino naming conventions could prove dangerous to your business, as it affects how it’s structured.

For instance, since family and tradition is a big part of our culture, plenty of Latino-owned businesses have their real names as their business name. The only way you can do this is if you’re a sole proprietor. However, this can be dangerous as The Balance states that sole proprietors cannot separate their personal and business assets. This means they will be liable to use their own money to pay for business damages. On the other hand, ZenBusiness notes that LLC owners have more restrictions. Some words like “savings” and “engineering” need proper licenses before they can be used. LLCs also separate personal and business taxes, so using your own name as the company name will only complicate your paperwork.

To keep the family imagery of a Latina-owned business alive, you can put your first or last name next to a Latino word to let the customer know what your business is about. “Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural” and “Ella’s Eve Cosmetics” are good examples. You could name part of your business in a local language as well to highlight its Latino origins like “Herbal Hermanas Co.”

Marketing to a general audience

Just because you’re Latino, doesn’t mean that your business has to cater to just Latinos. If you want to grow it, then you have to expand your market. Have you ever wondered how brands like Apple and Nike grew to the size that they are today? Quality products may be a huge factor, but most of the success is attributed to branding. These companies have worked hard to create unique identities that appeal to a select but huge customer demographic.

Instead of marketing to the Latino community, broaden your scope and target a particular group with similar interests. Lenita by Grita is a Latina-owned business that sells Hispanic flowers and floral arrangements. Anybody looking to give flowers to a loved one can buy their products.



Another good example is Majestic Bliss Soaps. This Latina-owned business advocates for vegan and cruelty-free products. You don’t have to be part of the Latino community to be on board with that kind of branding.

Again, the type of approach that you can go with depends on the nature of your business. Find an idea that brings your market together and you’re well on your way to reaching out to a global audience.

Latino-owned businesses are thriving, but we could do so much more if we just expanded our business’ reach. Keep these marketing challenges in mind. Watch out for modern trends, name your business appropriately, and cater to a broader demographic so that the Latino influence can reach others around the globe. 

How to Make Your Marketing Work for You

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According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, around 1.8 million of the 12.2 million small business owners in the United States are Latinos. Despite the well-documented opportunity gaps, Latinos have become the fastest-growing small business owners in the country. That’s more than enough inspiration to start, but how do you keep a Latino-owned business going? The answer is in your marketing approach. 

Finding the Right Marketing Approach for You

Starting a small business can take a lot of energy, time, and effort, but getting it off the ground is only the first step. Making sure that you’re profitable and sustainable is bound to take up most of your time, and can be especially difficult if you’re an entrepreneur on a budget. For Latina entrepreneurs especially, it’s important to find a marketing approach that’s highly effective, relevant, but still affordable. 

We’ve previously talked about unconventional approaches to this, such as in our article ‘Build an Employee Branding Strategy in 5 Steps’. Marketing through your employees is one option, but there are tons of other techniques that have surprisingly beneficial returns.

Reach Your Clients via Direct Mail

Direct mail marketing, surprisingly, is one of them. Triadex Services outlines that direct mail is still one of the most reliably efficient marketing methods around, offering a high ROI with a low cost per lead. While direct mail may often seem like a relic from times past, it’s actually a pretty great way to get in touch with your market.

This is especially true if you’re trying to reach out to your local community. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or are just trying to expand your business beyond your own home, connecting with your market is essential. Even the simplest direct mail material can make a huge impact on your engagement and sales when used correctly. You don’t even need to go all out— a simple yet engaging photocopied flyer or postcard mailed out to people in your area might net you huge returns, for example.

Tracking Your Results

Interested but not sure how you’ll be able to reliably track the results of a traditional marketing method, especially when compared with the straightforward hit counter on your blog? Don’t worry about it. Direct mail is actually one of the few traditional marketing methods that are easily trackable. All you need to do is keep a tally of who responds and compare it with your mailing list and you’re all set. You can even use this data to further refine and improve further marketing efforts, all without needing to invest in expensive data analysis tools. 

Want to focus on getting online engagement on your website or blog instead? Direct mail can help with that too. Providing links to your online portals in your direct mail pieces is one way to link your online and offline marketing strategies, especially if your attempts at digital marketing aren’t working. You can even make it easier for your customers by providing a QR code that they can scan, making the connection to your online materials quicker and more convenient than ever.

You might be interested: Best use of PPP and other financing strategies for Latina business owners

These are only a few of the ways you can make direct mail marketing work for you, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With direct mail, you can be as creative, memorable, and engaging as you want, and you can always rely on it to pull in results.