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Lawyer Marketing Insights | 3 min read

Marketing to Spanish speakers: Your questions answered

Posted by FindLaw
December 2, 2020

Across the United States, Spanish-speaking consumers are fast becoming a vital and vibrant part of society. However, before you can properly market your law firm to the flourishing Spanish-speaking population, you have to understand how Spanish-speaking consumers behave when looking for legal help.

In our recent webcast, A growing opportunity: Marketing your law firm to the Hispanic audience, our esteemed panel shared insights on marketing to the Spanish-speaking legal consumer and how you can better understand, and thus serve, their specific needs.

Below are four questions submitted by attendees that we were unable to address during the webcast.

Abogado.com is the premier online Spanish legal directory. Others in the marketplace include, but are not limited to listalegal.com and www.hispaniclawyersnetwork.com.

Question: You mentioned tailoring the dialect depending on your audience. Can you explain further? How do we know the dominant dialect in our area?

Understanding and knowing your audience is one of the most important pieces of a marketing campaign. First off, native Spanish-speakers can understand any/all dialects of Spanish. So, having native-written Spanish language legal marketing to serve Spanish-speaking legal consumers is a fantastic first step.

That being said, if the majority of the Spanish-speaking community near your firm speaks a particular dialect, you could tailor your marketing materials even further, using language and style that resonates even more with your local Spanish-speaking community. This sometimes takes a little research by getting to know the makeup of your local Spanish community.

Question: I am a family law attorney in North Carolina, and also speak Spanish. My concern is knowing what Spanish-speaking and/or Hispanic audiences need from a family law firm. Where might you recommend I start in understanding my community's needs and advertising my services in compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct?

Spanish-speaking legal consumers’ needs, at a high level, generally dove-tail with the needs of English-speaking legal consumers. However, you may see greater needs around some legal specialties as compared to others. There are a number of ways to better understand the specific needs of your local community, but a good (and relatively easy) start would be to reach out to the community and make yourself available.

Nowadays, one effective, safe way to approach this is by establishing and fostering your Spanish-language social media presence. There are also many local Hispanic community groups within which to build relationships and get a better understanding of your local community’s needs. From a compliance standpoint, as with any legal marketing campaigns you’d want to be sure that all your marketing efforts are in compliance with local rules. This may mean you need to reach out to your bar association, conduct legal research on compliance requirements, or consult with counsel for assistance.

Question: I was under the impression that to say "se habla espanol" the actual attorney needs to speak Spanish. Is this correct?

Requirements can vary by jurisdiction and local rules around advertising and firm marketing. A law firm advertising that they speak Spanish (se habla español) should ensure that their Spanish language capabilities and services meet their local rules and requirements.

In some jurisdictions, this can mean that an attorney at the firm must speak Spanish, while in others bilingual staff or translators may suffice (please check your local rules). One important thing to note with regards to the Hispanic market is that the large majority speak both English and Spanish. There’s plenty of opportunity to make a connection and reach out in Spanish while performing legal work in English as would be expected. Little steps can go a long way in this regard.

Interested in learning more about a sound strategy to market to Spanish-speakers? Click here to view the on-demand recording of our webcast event.

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