Latest / Marketing Automation with Fexingo: HubSpot, Marketo, and Automated Customer Journeys / Why Marketing Automation Forgets First-Generation Immigrants
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk about a blind spot in marketing automation that most brands don't even realize they have. It's about first-generation immigrants. Luna: You mean the assumption that everyone celebrates the same holidays or speaks English as a first language? Lucas: Exactly. According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are roughly 46 million foreign-born people living in the United States. That's about 14 percent of the population. And yet, when you look at most automated customer journeys, they're built around a default cultural calendar — Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day — and a default language: English. Luna: And the purchasing power behind that segment is enormous. I've seen estimates that Hispanic and Asian American consumers alone control well over a trillion dollars. Lucas: More like one point six trillion, combined. And a lot of that is concentrated in first-generation households. But the automation systems treat them like everyone else. So you get a welcome email in English with a coupon for a Fourth of July sale — which might be meaningless to someone who just moved here from Vietnam. Luna: Right. Or worse, you get a Cinco de Mayo promotion from a bank sent to a Mexican-American customer — in April. That actually happened. A national bank sent a 'celebrate early' email, and the customer was confused because Cinco de Mayo isn't widely celebrated in Mexico. It's more of a U.S. thing. Lucas: I remember that. And the same bank completely ignored Día de los Muertos, which is actually a significant cultural touchpoint. That's a failure of two things: data and workflow design. The automation system probably just had a field for 'Hispanic' and a generic 'Hispanic holiday' trigger. Luna: So what's the fix? Do you need a machine learning model to detect someone's cultural background from their browsing behavior? Lucas: You could, but I think the simpler and more respectful solution is to just ask. When a customer signs up — whether it's for a bank account, a streaming service, or an e-commerce site — include optional fields for preferred language and cultural heritage. Not mandatory, but opt-in. Luna: But a lot of companies are afraid that asking about ethnicity or language will creep people out. They worry about privacy. Lucas: That's a valid concern, but the data shows that when you explain why you're asking — 'We want to send you relevant offers for holidays you celebrate' — opt-in rates are actually pretty high. A fintech I looked at, called Nivelo — not a household name — added a simple question during onboarding: 'Which of these cultural celebrations are important to you?' They listed Lunar New Year, Diwali, Eid, Hanukkah, Christmas, and a few others. About 78 percent of new users selected at least one. Luna: And then they built automation workflows around that? Lucas: Exactly. If you select Lunar New Year, you get a triggered email two weeks before with relevant content — maybe a red envelope graphic, a promotion on gifts, or a reminder to send money to family. That last one is key: remittances are a huge financial behavior for first-generation immigrants. The World Bank says global remittances hit $860 billion last year, and a big chunk goes through traditional banks and services like Western Union. Luna: So if you're a bank and you know a customer celebrates Eid, you could trigger a workflow about sending money to relatives in Pakistan or Bangladesh around that time. Lucas: Right. And that's not just a nice gesture — it's a revenue opportunity. But most banks don't do it because their CRM doesn't have that data, and their automation platform doesn't have a 'cultural events' calendar built in. They're stuck with the default U.S. holiday feed from some vendor. Luna: This reminds me of something we talked about a few episodes ago — the idea that automation often mirrors the biases of the people who set it up. If the marketing team is all native-born, they might not think about Diwali or Nowruz. Lucas: That's a really important point. And it's not just holidays. Language is a huge one. About 22 percent of U.S. households speak a language other than English at home. But most automated email flows are English-only. You can set up a secondary version in Spanish, but that's often just a translation of the same message — not a culturally adapted one. Luna: And if someone's primary language is Mandarin, they're probably not getting any automated communication in their language at all. Lucas: Right. And that's a missed trust signal. A study by Common Sense Advisory found that 76 percent of consumers prefer to buy products with information in their native language. For first-gen immigrants, that number is even higher. So if your automation workflow only speaks English, you're essentially telling a huge segment that you don't see them. Luna: Let's talk about a concrete fix. Say I'm a mid-market brand using HubSpot or Marketo. I don't have a million-dollar budget. What's the first step? Lucas: I'd start with your sign-up form. Add one optional question: 'What language would you like to receive communications in?' And another: 'Are there any cultural holidays you celebrate? Check all that apply.' Then create a custom property in your CRM. From there, you can build simple branches in your workflows. If language equals Spanish, route to the Spanish-language email template. If cultural holidays includes Lunar New Year, add a trigger date. Luna: That sounds doable. But what about timing? A lot of automation platforms don't let you set recurring annual dates based on a lunar calendar. Lucas: That's a real technical hurdle. Lunar New Year changes date every year. So does Eid. You can't just set an anniversary date in the system. Some platforms have tried to solve this with custom date fields and annual workflows, but it's clunky. The better approach is to use an external cultural calendar API that feeds into your automation platform. There are services that provide holiday data for dozens of countries and religions. Luna: So you're saying the automation itself isn't the problem — it's the data model and the workflow logic that needs to account for non-standard calendars. Lucas: Exactly. The technology can handle it. The issue is that most companies haven't prioritized it because they don't see the ROI. But the ROI is there. Nielsen data from last year showed that multicultural consumers account for nearly 40 percent of overall buying power in the U.S. That's about $4.5 trillion. Ignoring that segment because your automation is too rigid is just leaving money on the table. Luna: And it's not just about revenue. It's about building long-term relationships. If you welcome someone in their language on their holiday, they remember that. Lucas: And that kind of thinking is exactly why we keep these conversations ad-free. We want to talk about what actually works, not sell you a platform. If these discussions have sparked something you've actually used, and you want to support the show staying independent, there's a link: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just an option. Luna: Yeah, that's a nice way to put it. And I think it aligns with what we're saying — respect the listener enough to not interrupt with ads. Lucas: So back to the workflow. Another angle is what I call 'remittance triggers.' If a customer sends money abroad regularly, that's a signal. You can use transaction data to infer that they might have family in another country. Then you can trigger a message around major holidays in that country. Luna: But you have to be careful with inference. Just because someone sends money to Mexico doesn't mean they want marketing about Cinco de Mayo. Lucas: Exactly. That's why explicit data is better. But if you don't have explicit data, you can make a gentle ask: 'We noticed you send money to India. Would you like to receive updates about Indian holidays?' That's permission-based and respectful. Luna: I like that. It turns a data point into a conversation starter rather than a presumption. Lucas: Let me give you one more example. A credit union in California, called Patelco, started offering a 'cultural calendar' opt-in a few years ago. Members could select from dozens of holidays. The automation team then set up email workflows that sent a simple 'We're thinking of you' message a week before the holiday, along with a link to relevant financial tips — like budgeting for gifts or travel. They saw a 12 percent increase in engagement rates among members who opted in, and a 3 percent reduction in churn. Luna: Those are real numbers. And it probably didn't require a massive tech overhaul. Lucas: Not at all. It was mostly workflow logic and a few custom properties. The hard part was getting the marketing team to think about it in the first place. Luna: So what's the one takeaway for someone listening who manages a marketing automation platform? Lucas: Look at your sign-up form today. Does it ask about language or cultural preferences? If not, that's your starting point. Add one question, build one workflow for the most common holiday in your customer base, and measure the response. You might be surprised at how much impact a small change can have. Luna: I think that's a great challenge to leave listeners with. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. See you next time.