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Why Marketers Should Care About Reaching Latina Bloggers

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Speaking about Latina Bloggers is Elianne Ramos is the principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of Communications and PR for LATISM.

Elianne Ramos is the principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of Communications and PR for LATISM.

The first gift of the season goes to my dear friend, Elianne Ramos.:)  Elianne is an incredibly talented, knowledgeable, and hard working human being, she is the Principal & CEO of Speak Hispanic communications and vice-chair of Communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM.) She is constantly on the go, generating great ideas and positively impacting the U.S. community. As if this wasn’t enough, she was the vice president, creative director and founder of i3 Creative Group, managing production teams working concurrently in the United States, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina. In over 15 years of  creative direction, copy writing, public speaking, public relations and TV commercial production experience, Elianne has developed broadcast, multimedia and social media campaigns for high-profile clients. Her writing has appeared in numerous books and publications including the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and now, for the first time-ever, on the Hispanic Marketing blog.

Please, enjoy Elianne’s article. Elianne, this one is with all of the Target Latino love.

Why Marketers Should Care About Reaching Latina Bloggers

Even with the well-documented explosion of the Hispanic market, Internet sources like Technorati, which by 2008 was indexing 112.8 million blogs, have never touched upon the topic of Latinas and blogging. With the release of the Latinos in Social Media’s Latina Blogger Survey, though, it is now official: Latina bloggers are increasing their numbers and spreading throughout the blogosphere.

The intrinsic characteristics of blogging, where the private becomes public and communities rally together around common interests, make it the perfect platform for Latinas to voice life from their viewpoint … in in two languages, no less!

Beyond the obviously good news that these bloggers now provide us with a new outlet for furthering our brands’ messages—what with ever-shrinking minority-outreach budgets—the implications of this Latina blogger explosion for PR and marketing professionals are many:

The Good

• In Latino culture, where word-of-mouth and group interaction are second-nature, the trustworthiness of a blog post wrapped in a culturally relevant package can certainly influence the value of a brand in the eyes of their thousands of followers.

• These bloggers provide us with micro-niche audiences and more targeted outlets for furthering our brands’ messages. Stories published and promoted online have the potential to reach a greater number of people in very little time. In this context, a Latina blogger outreach program puts us in an ideal position to secure widespread coverage for our clients.

• Most Latinas blog in English, followed closely by Spanish and peppered with Spanglish, which means that their potential reach is amplified. Their choice of language in this case may be more about connecting with their readership, not necessarily a reflection of the language they speak more fluently. The key is listening and doing your homework in order to find the perfect fit.

• Latina bloggers are actively engaged in social media, and they tend to belong to tight, supportive communities online. Besides the fact that your message will reach well beyond the scope of the blog, this also means that other influencers in their communities will help disseminate it.

• Their culture infuses their writing but does not rule it.  Contrary to expectations, Latinas blog about numerous subjects, which opens up possibilities for different types of brand engagement.

• These Latinas are at the epicenter of merging worlds: between traditional and modern roles, between English and Spanish, between American and Latino cultures. They will bring a fresh perspective to your message, one that most closely reflects the Latina experience in the US.

The Bad

• Brand credibility: With consumers now doing research online and even generating their own content, consumers are less likely to believe a product review that blatantly comes from a sponsorship.

• Relative lack of control over the message: Know that consumers will be getting and act on impressions about your brand from less than perfect sources. Bloggers are not necessarily a self-regulating bunch, at least not yet. The fact that they can and will write whatever they want in their blog might create public relations issues. Just be sure to monitor their blogs, so you can address any issues or comments and give your official brand perspective, if need be.

• Saturation: With the fast growth rate of this segment, the Latina blogger market is likely to become saturated fast, which means their individual reach will, at some point and with few exceptions, start to diminish. This being a relatively young blogging community also means that the time to reach out to them is now.

The Ugly

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on so-called “Blogola” by regulating blogger/advertiser relationships. The rules were updated December 2009.

The new rules include the fact that now bloggers must disclose material connections with a brand: whether they are receiving payment or free products and the kind of relationship they have with the company. What’s more, now both the brand and the blogger are subject to liability for misleading or unsubstantiated representations made. This means that the potential of a company being held responsible for approving unfounded claims—not rare in this realm—is a very real one. While the FTC regulations are beginning to be applied, the blogger outreach game is still an evolving one. The main things to keep in mind seem to be transparency, clear objectives and open ears: a willingness to listen and adjust, if need be.

Though a blogging campaign may be a godsend of great, relatively inexpensive publicity, remember that it is also —or should be—part of a larger communications/PR plan. Make sure all other elements of the campaign support your Latina blogging outreach and vice versa. If you do it right, Latina blogueras will rally behind your efforts with the same pasión they pour into their Web writing every day.

What has been your experience in reaching out to Latina bloggers? Please share in the comments below.

inspirational quote

inspirational quote

Target Latino gives the gift of WOM this holiday season

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We, at Target Latino, have decided to spread a little cheer this Holiday Season. And we want to give the gift of recognition and help promote our colleagues that have worked so brilliantly and hard this year to write their great articles on Hispanics / Latinos and, even better, Hispanic marketing.

So, if you would like us to give you this gift, send us your favorite article on Hispanic Marketing, Social Media, Latino life, demographics, anything related to the Latino community along with a short bio (photo, if you want) and we will do the rest!!! We’ll post it, promote it and credit you for being WHO YOU ARE!!!

Thank you for participating and allowing us to give, at least a little, on this Holiday Season!!

May the year that comes be even better than the one we are now!!!

With all the Target Latino love,

Claudia “Havi” Goffan

PS: Please, send us an email via the Target Latino page or via the contact form on the blog and we will reply so you can send us the rest of the materials!!!

never lose your sense of wonder

never lose your sense of wonder

Translate Word of Mouth With Social Media Monitoring Tools

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A comprehensive measurement plan should consist of three parts—gauging the audiences’ reactions to a brand before, during and after a campaign | Social Media Monitoring Tools

A comprehensive measurement plan should consist of three parts—gauging the audiences’ reactions to a brand before, during and after a campaign | Social Media Monitoring Tools

The abundance of content that is easy to access and consume makes launching and sustaining noteworthy online projects challenging. As social media matures, the need to measure online word of mouth and demonstrate success becomes indisputable.

A comprehensive measurement plan should consist of three parts—gauging the audiences’ reactions to a brand before, during and after a campaign. The first step in measuring online word of mouth is to listen and monitor audience chatter across blogs, forums and social networks. This effort helps uncover existing issues, attitudes and behaviors. It marks the starting point for a campaign. The second step requires tracking the campaign’s progress and studying the interaction between message senders and receivers. During this phase, marketers can take note of attitudinal and behavioral changes among their target audience. The third step involves comparing final campaign results with benchmark scores to demonstrate the momentum and change the campaign generated.

When setting benchmarks and tracking online word of mouth throughout the course of a program, marketers can use the following measures to show how their initiatives generated buzz, changed brand perceptions and led consumers to take action.

Volume of discussion: Using blog search engines such as Technorati, Google Blog or research firms’ proprietary software tools, count the number of posts that mention key words or messages related to your program. The numbers of unique Web site, blog and forum posts that reference the brand, product, service or issue indicate online word-of-mouth reach.

Influencer mentions: When writers quote and reference a source, they deem that information outlet reliable and useful. Similarly, every link that points to a social media address boosts that source’s authority. When a blogger refers to your program, enter the blog’s address into the Technorati search engine and note the authority score the search engine calculates for that blog. Some monitoring tools also measure the number of inbound links to blogs from brand sites, news sites, forums and other blogs. The higher the score, the more influential and authoritative the source will be.

Stickiness: To show the full impact of word-of-mouth programs, we must account for those who received and shared a message. Impressions and unique visitors are metrics that speak to the broad universe of people who may have been exposed to a message. However, not everyone passes along every bit of information they receive. Stickiness is based on the percentage of people who pass along a message among those who are exposed to the message.

The Echo Factor and Tone: When reviewing the overall volume of mentions, analysts often distinguish between positive and negative tone. Marketers can take this assessment a step further and measure how their messages echo through consumer conversations. They can calculate the total number of positive and negative messages generated through at least one cycle of word of mouth. Tonality Index, which is based on he ratio of positive to negative mentions, indicates the dominant tone of word of mouth and gives brands a pulse check.

Engagement: There are popular ways of quantifying engagement such as measuring the amount of time spent on a Web site and counting the number of comments online posts garner. Yet, online media engagement can be a qualitative measure that gives directional information about consumers’ online experience. To understand the nature of users’ interaction with the blog content, marketers can study comments’ tone and length. They may find a detailed, positive review more meaningful than a neutral or negative monosyllabic comment. Furthermore, they can classify the topics commentators discuss and analyze the quality of information these social media agents share.

Advocacy: Differentiate between online conversations that are descriptive and those that contain recommendations or warnings. To identify those networking agents who are advocating for a brand, product or a company, look for those who are making solid recommendations, telling others what to do, and potentially influencing others’ opinions and decisions. For instance, “online promoter score,” distinguishing between mavens who are generating much of the volume on an issue and advocates who make recommendations

User Action: Online word-of-mouth campaigns yield recommendations, votes and purchases. When organizations engage word-of-mouth agents and infuse networks with their messages, they hope to see an increase in sales and public support. To connect such outcomes with their marketing initiatives, communication professionals need to document their audiences’ online behaviors and show that online buzz can lead to posts, clicks and downloads, or offline actions such as votes, coupon redemptions and in-store purchases. Marketers can review sales trends during and after the campaign and note any increases that correspond with online buzz volume. Political strategists can explore how visits to online information hubs affect votes, signatures and donations.

the less you respond to negative people the more peaceful a life

the less you respond to negative people the more peaceful a life

Source: PR NEWS

Offline WOM More Prevalent, Positive and Credible than Online Buzz

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Word-of-mouth (WOM) conversations that take place in person and over the phone are overwhelmingly more prevalent than those online, according to research.

Also, face-to-face communication is more positive in tone, more likely to be judged highly credible and more likely to lead to strong purchase intent than online talk, the study found

Below, some of the findings issued

On average, 3.5 billion WOM conversations occur daily in the US. Offline WOM accounts for 92% of these (75% face to face; 17% by phone), and email, IM/text messaging and chatrooms/blogs account for a combined 7%:

Most Word-Of-Mouth is Offline

Most Word-Of-Mouth is Offline

Also:

  • Offline is the predominant mode of WOM across all age groups, ranging from 80% among the youngest group to 97% among the oldest
  • However, teens participate in a higher percentage of online WOM (17%) than members of other age groups.
  • Consumers under age 18 are also more likely than others to drive advice-giving in online talk. Though only 13% of offline advice-givers are age 13-17, 35% of advice givers in online conversations fall within that age bracket.
  • WOM expressed face to face and by phone also is viewed as highly “credible” more often than online talk (59% vs. 49%):
Offline WOM has more credibility

Offline WOM has more credibility

One possible explanation for the credibility gap is that online communications often occur between people who don’t know each other very well. But the study suggests that the credibility gap exists even in communications between people who are related or otherwise know each other.

Specifically, content from a spouse, relative or best friend is rated more believable when it is shared offline, either by phone or face to face, than online – via email, text messaging or blogs.

“Apparently, the value of eye contact, voice and perhaps even nonverbal communication provides a boost to credibility and to the likelihood that we’ll do something about what we’ve learned,” said Brad Fay, a coauthor of the study.

Other findings:

  • Offline communication has more purely positive content than online discussion (65% vs. 59%) and is less likely to contain negative or “mixed” content (23% vs. 30%).
  • A comparison between face-to-face communication and content on online blogs and chatrooms reveals an ever wider gap, with 66% of face-to-face communication “mostly positive” compared with 57% for blogs/chatrooms.
  • Offline WOM is more likely than its online counterpart to lead to strong purchase intent (50% vs. 43%).

About the study: Results of the Keller Fay/OMD study are based primarily on surveys of 18,486 Americans age 13-69, from late July 2007 through early February 2008.

True Indeed

True Indeed

Word-Of-Mouth Research: Moms Buzz about Brands

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New moms and pregnant women have over 109 word-of-mouth conversations per week about products, services, and brands, most of them positive and considered highly credible by other moms, according to a study and new word-of-mouth research conducted for BabyCenter.

Per day, the group engages in one-third more word-of-mouth (WOM) conversation than the total public or women in general, the word-of-mouth research study found:

Per day, the group engages in one-third more word-of-mouth (WOM) conversation than the total public or women in general

Per day, the group engages in one-third more word-of-mouth (WOM) conversation than the total public or women in general

Among other word-of-mouth research findings

  • Fully 60% of conversations among the studied group carry with them a recommendation to buy, try, or consider the brands under discussion.
    • Positive brand sentiment outweighs negative by a 10-to-1 margin.
    • In shopping, retail, and apparel, 69% of the group is likely to purchase based on what they heard.
  • The group has higher WOM credibility than the total public and total women – in various capacities (e.g., propensity to pass along info, purchase intent):
The group has higher WOM credibility than the total public and total women

The group has higher WOM credibility than the total public and total women

  • They are more likely to qualify as WOM influencers (60% more so than the total public, 45% more so than total women).
  • Close to 1 in 5 pregnant and new moms were identified as WOM leaders or Conversation Catalysts (based on their recommending behavior and size of social network).

Word-of-mouth research on Content, Sources of Online Conversations

Pregnant and new moms are talking about technology, financial services, healthcare, food/dining, media/entertainment, packaged goods, shopping and retail experiences, the study found:

  • Half or more of those surveyed said they had least one conversation per day about the above topics.
  • Retailer, consumer electronic, and soft drink brands dominated the top 10 most talked about brands:
Retailer, consumer electronic, and soft drink brands dominated the top 10 most talked about brands

Retailer, consumer electronic, and soft drink brands dominated the top 10 most talked about brands

Most discussions about brands and products occur in person; discussion content, however, is often provided by various media, especially the internet and television:

Moms have a natural desire to share ideas and information with each other. The rich content and community experience found on the internet plays a key role in driving these conversations

Moms have a natural desire to share ideas and information with each other. The rich content and community experience found on the internet plays a key role in driving these conversations

About the word-of-mouth research study: In Jan. ‘08, Keller Fay interviewed a sample of 1,721 women (18+) who were pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or have one or more children age five or under. The women, recruited through the BabyCenter 21st Century Mom Panel, BabyCenter’s website, and an external panel, completed an online survey about their face-to-face, telephone, or online conversations about brands across 14 categories during the 24 hours that immediately preceded the survey.

Interested in reaching Latina mommies? Contact Target Latino!!

Wow how true

True