On Monday, February 24th, 2020 I had the opportunity to present a workshop titled Marketing to Hispanic Consumers as part of the annual Fort Collins Startup Week, which offered over 200 great professional presentations all across Fort Collins at different locations. 

My workshop was held at the College of Business at Colorado State University (CSU), it was scheduled for 9AM on that Monday. I remember driving to CSU that day and getting an emergency alert on my phone saying "Snow Squall Warning, icy roads, slow down." I immediately thought that I would probably have 2-3 people attend my workshop, after all that work preparing for it. 

Workshop Preparation & Topics

For this workshop, I spent countless hours reading several research studies, trusted websites, and books. My workshop was based on research about Latino consumers and my experience as a market researcher. 
To my surprise, I had over 20 participants attend my workshop. I covered the topics of: ● The buying power of Latinos● The difference between Latinos and Hispanics● The values of Latino families● Latino Family buying power by country of origin or region ● General tips for marketing to Latino and Hispanic people● The importance of professional language translation

Lost in Translation

I also shared what happens when we translate something without taking into consideration the audience or how each word might or might not translate appropriately, and shared some common examples of ads gone wrong, which the audience seemed to enjoy a lot. 

Participant Evaluations

I was pleased to see positive feedback such as:● "Very well researched subject"● "Great presentation; I learned a lot."● "Lots of great information."● "Thank you for the information shared." 
A couple of the evaluations suggested that they wished I shared more about my personal experience as a Latina consumer and business owner, but 50 minutes was not enough for all of that. 
Overall, it was a nice experience, not only presenting at Fort Collins Startup Week but also attending other workshops that week. 
All the workshops at Startup Week were free and the event was run by volunteers, who did a great job putting this big event together. Even though it was my first time attending Fort Collins Startup Week, it easily exceeded any and all expectations I had before the event. 
If you would like to learn more about marketing to Hispanic and Latino customers, contact us.