Generally, cultures can be divided into two types: high context and low context. High-context cultures are relational, and low-context cultures are task-driven. In high-context cultures, people receive their greatest sense of identity from group activities and relationships; conversely, in low-context cultures, people gain their greatest sense of self-worth and identity based on personal achievements.
The Latino culture is high-context and highly social in nature, so it stands to reason social media is an effective form of communication that, if properly approached and administered toward Latinos, can pay huge dividends for your roofing company.
Facts
Social media use is higher among Latinos than among the rest of the U.S. population. According to a Pew Research Center snapshot of social media usage from March 17, 2015, to April 12, 2015, 72 percent of all U.S. adults who use the internet use Facebook. The study also found 75 percent of Latinos, 70 percent of Caucasians and 67 percent of African-Americans who use the internet use Facebook.
According to the same snapshot, 28 percent of adults used Instagram, but of those, 38 percent were Latino. And 23 percent of adults used Twitter; of those, 28 percent were Latino.
According to Statista.com, about 46.5 percent of all WhatsApp users in the U.S. are Latino. LinkedIn use by Latinos is about 4 percent less than Caucasians and runs even with African-Americans.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the term "Latino" "refers to persons who identified themselves in the enumeration process as being Spanish, Hispanic or Latino. Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race."
Many companies want to use social media as a recruiting tool, but this should not be your immediate focus. Remember, the Latino culture is high-context and relationships, not processes, drive business. It would be better to use social media to present your company as one that is concerned with the overall good of the Latino community and your employees. If you do this, it is more likely your company will be seen in a positive light.
To keep your social media strategy engaging and manageable initially, I suggest you limit yourself to three main areas of focus: community engagement, employee recognition and staff development.
Community engagement
Historically, Latinos have strong brand loyalty, and once your company has developed a trusted brand in the Latino community, you're set up for success as long as you stay culturally relevant and maintain trust.
If you omit the community from your Latino social media strategy, you leave out the heart and soul of the average Latino person. You must engage at this level to truly gain market share whether from a recruiting or sales perspective.
For example, you could reach out to Latino community leaders, such as church leaders, community activists and business leaders. You can reach these people either through Facebook or LinkedIn. Simply let them know you work in their community and are interested in helping Latinos grow and prosper locally. Ask them to help you better understand the Latino community. Be open to learning, engage with them and help them promote what matters to them via social media.
Also, it is important to promote Latino events in your area through social media. Latinos will see this and correctly assume you and your organization are sincerely interested in their community. You may even want to consider holding a social media raffle and provide tickets to a soccer event or concert as a prize. One of my company's clients in Dallas purchased 16 tickets to a soccer match between Mexico and Argentina. To be included in the raffle, a person had to "like" the company's social media post. Within 15 minutes, the post had more than 600 "likes"!
Finally, post significant and positive news about Latinos. This may be something from within your company or something external. The point is you are putting the Latino community in a positive light. This is meaningful to people who many times believe they are not valued.
Employee recognition
Anytime you have a Latino in your organization who receives a promotion, certification or award, recognize him or her publicly. Employee-recognition posts usually get shared and reposted throughout social media, and your brand will be seen in a positive light. Publically recognizing an employee clearly shows you appreciate what your employees do and who they are.
Staff development
You also should be regularly posting growth and development opportunities for your employees. There are many helpful articles, videos, etc., in Spanish and English posted by business people or motivational speakers that easily can be shared on social media.
Another idea is to package a series of videos or articles by topic and link to them on social media weekly. Your Latino employees will come to expect these types of growth opportunities, and this will set your company apart from almost all your competitors.
In 2015, my company conducted an in-depth study of 75 Latino foremen and supervisors in the roofing industry. We found 58 percent of all participants had not read a book during the previous year and 27 percent had read only one book. Eighty-seven percent said they had not attended an educational course or seminar during the previous year. Of those who had received some formal training, only 5 percent of the training was focused on leadership and professional growth. In addition, 80 percent of survey participants said they had never attended a roofing industry event though many of the participants have been in the industry for more than 10 years. When asked why they don't attend such events, the most common answer was they didn't know the events existed.
Through social media, you can post alerts about regional and local educational and industry events. However, be prepared that posting the events implies you will allow your employees to attend the events. Although the events will cost money, they also will serve to help your employees grow professionally, which is good for your company.
One of the best things that came out of the study was 93 percent of the Latinos who participated said they aspire to higher levels of leadership and professional growth. Through your social media platforms, you can begin to provide them with opportunities to benefit from valuable training and content.
The reality
Steve Jobs famously wouldn't allow his children to use an iPad because he didn't want his children addicted to the technology. But the fact is we live in a distracted social media world—a world Jobs helped create. Social media is where people spend their time and where Latinos spend time in even higher numbers than the general populace.
Properly leveraging social media requires commitment. My company's experience with roofing industry clients has been mixed. If your company has not yet used social media, it can be a difficult transition. Not only are you attempting to leverage a new technology, but you also are targeting another culture. To reap the true benefits of social media, try a one-year commitment to the process. If you get it right, social media may be the biggest return on investment you'll ever enjoy with Latinos.
Ricardo González is founder and CEO of Bilingual America, Atlanta.
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