In many communities, the Hispanic (and Latino) market is growing rapidly, and this presents both challenges and opportunities for real estate investors. One challenge is language, in that there is a significant portion of the Hispanic market segment that either speaks Spanish only or prefers to speak Spanish (i.e., it’s their “first” language). The second challenge is cultural, in that many Hispanics prefer to deal with Hispanic-owned businesses.
So, the opportunity here is to address both these challenges with a professional approach that includes marketing materials in Spanish and the ability to answer the phone in Spanish and to conduct business in that language. In markets such as California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and even New York, the ability to conduct business in Spanish could increase your revenue potential by 20% or more.
Bilingual Marketing Strategy
To address this opportunity, we’ve developed a bilingual postcard that goes well beyond the old approach of simply tacking “Hablamos Español” at the bottom of your English-language material. We call this strategy “2 cards in 1” ~
One side of the card is entirely in English and the other is entirely in Spanish. In a top corner on both sides, it says “Flip It Over!” in the language of the opposite side, so the recipient is encouraged to look at the side that is in the appropriate language for them.
This strategy includes a using a special phone number on the Spanish side that will be answered ONLY in Spanish. So, in order to use this strategy, you’ll need to have someone on your team that speaks fluent Spanish, or a call center that can can handle these calls. If you already have a phone number that can be used, that’s great. If you need an additional local phone number, we can provide another “virtual local number” for this purpose.
When Spanish-speaking people see the card above, they will be presented with a solution that is completely in their language (challenge/opportunity #1), and when they call the number you provide and get a Spanish-speaking person, they will feel that affinity that they have toward business owners that cater specifically to them (challenge/opportunity #2).
At the core of this is the idea that dealing with Hispanics and Latinos in Spanish should not be an afterthought. By providing them with marketing and services in Spanish, you give them the respect and attention that this growing market segment deserves.
How to Do It
This bilingual postcard is available via the We Buy Houses® Online Fulfillment Center at GoBig Printing.
You can also request the graphic files from dev[at]webuyhouses{dot}com so that you can upload them to another vendor (such as imageMEDIA) for the the printing & mailing.
P.S. – Handling Calls in Spanish
Don’t lose the lead just because you don’t speak Spanish! Here is an easy dialogue that you can learn to use to get the caller information and property address, so that someone who speaks fluent Spanish can call them back. We use this script at the We Buy Houses corporate office.
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