The Brazilian market is large, wealthy and has a decent level of digital maturity, making it very attractive to businesses wanting to expand internationally. This guide will explore how best to approach digital marketing in Brazil. From reading this guide, you will learn the current digital landscape in the country, including internet penetration rates, online trends and behaviours, device usage, and the dominant search engines and social networks. You will also learn about the complexities of language and culture in Brazil and what this means in terms of digital marketing. Finally, you will learn how to approach e-commerce in order to achieve success in Brazil.
Table of contents
- Introduction
- The typical Brazilian internet user
- Device usage in Brazil
- Search engine marketing in Brazil
- Social media marketing in Brazil
- The local culture and language in Brazil
- E-commerce in Brazil
- Conclusion
Introduction
Brazil is an attractive prospect to many businesses looking to expand internationally, and there are several reasons why.
The first reason is its size: it is a huge country, with a large population, which means there will likely be a market for your product.
The appeal of this market only grows stronger when you realise that, according to the International Monetary Fund, Brazil is the eighth-largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, and the largest in Latin America.
It also has a decent level of digital maturity, with some room for continued growth. As of September 2024, Brazil has a population of 217.6 million people. Of these people, around 84% are currently online.
However, it can be challenging to enter a new market. Never fear, this guide is here to shed light on how best to harness the power of digital marketing to succeed in Brazil.
The typical Brazilian internet user
Let’s begin by looking at who exactly the typical internet user is in Brazil.
There is a fairly equal gender split, with 85.7% of females being internet users, along with 82.6% of males.
The table below shows internet usage by age group in Brazil. As you can see, there are high levels of internet use all the way up to the age of 24, with this starting to fall slightly in the 25 to 74 age group, and then dropping off significantly over the age of 75:
Be aware there is an urban-rural digital divide in Brazil, with poorer and more rural areas having a lower proportion of internet users compared to richer, more urban areas. To address this, the Brazilian government has vowed to improve the country’s digital infrastructure and pledged to “develop all regions of the country”.
The typical Brazilian internet user spends a whopping 9 hours and 13 minutes online every day. So, what are these people doing online? Research by Meltwater and We Are Social found that the top three reasons Brazilian users gave for using the internet were: finding information, researching how to do things, and staying in touch with friends and family.
Let’s briefly turn our attention to some key concerns of Brazilian internet users. Online privacy is important to this group. According to recent research, 50% of Brazilian internet users worry about how companies might use their online data, 47% decline cookies on websites, 33% use ad blocking tools, and 17% use a VPN to access the internet.
Device usage in Brazil
As of August 2024, 51% of internet traffic in Brazil comes from desktop computers, 48% comes from mobile phones, and 1% comes from tablets.
Given the popularity of mobile, it should come as no surprise that apps are popular in Brazil. During 2023, people in Brazil collectively downloaded around 10.3 billion apps. These app users clocked up an annual spend of USD 1.7 billion on apps and in-app purchases, up 26% on the previous year. The popularity of apps presents a big opportunity for brands wanting to target the Brazilian market. If you create an app, make sure to localise the language, especially if you are B2C. Make sure your app functions correctly and is valuable for users, otherwise your brand might suffer not only from poor return-on-investment but also negative reviews.
Internet speeds are faster than the global average. As of July 2024, Brazil ranks 24th in the world for fixed broadband speed, with a median speed of 165.59 MB per second. It ranks 39th for mobile internet speed, with a median speed of 68.72 MB per second.
Search engine marketing in Brazil
As of August 2024, Google is the most popular search engine in Brazil, with a market share of 94%. Bing comes in second place with 5%, followed by Yahoo with 1%.
Google is therefore the search engine that you must focus your SEO and PPC efforts on. If you want more in-depth information on how to succeed at search marketing on Google, we have this guide to on-page optimisation for Google and this guide to search and display advertising on Google.
However, be aware that 33% of Brazilian internet users use an ad blocking tool. This means you do not want to rely completely on search advertising. Your organic SEO and content marketing efforts must also be given the attention they deserve in order to reach those internet users who have turned on an ad blocker.
Preparing your website for Brazil
Check that your geotargeting is correctly set up for your Brazilian website. This will vary depending on how you structure your domains, but you are likely to need hreflang tags correctly implemented to ensure that your Brazil-targeted pages rank above your other country pages.
You should also check your website speed from within Brazil, and if the loading speed is slow, consider hosting your website on a local server. You do not want to go through all the effort of creating, designing and localising your website, just to have those efforts undone by poor loading speeds and high bounce rates as a result.
If you sell products on your website, make sure to display prices in the local currency, use local weights and measurements, and accept local online payment methods.
And finally, make a point of creating and displaying local content, telling stories that are relatable and relevant to the local audience. This also includes the visuals and photos that accompany your written content.
Social media marketing in Brazil
Social media is popular in Brazil. Research by Meltwater and We Are Social found that amongst its sample of Brazilian internet users, 77% were social media users. The average internet user spends 3 hours and 37 minutes on social media every day and uses an average of 8 social platforms every month. The most common reasons for using social media are keeping in touch with friends and family, reading news stories, and finding products to purchase.
So, where are Brazilian social media users spending their time? As you can see in the graph below, WhatsApp is the most popular social platform in Brazil, followed by Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Facebook Messenger and Telegram. All these platforms are used by more than half of all Brazilian internet users every month.
With 77% of Brazilian internet users being social media users, it is vitally important for brands to have a social media presence when targeting Brazil. Indeed, recent research has found that social networks are the number one main channel for online brand research in the country. You should use social media to communicate and engage with potential customers, and it is also a useful way of understanding and getting to know your target audience. You should aim to create content that triggers emotions in users by offering real value or a real connection with your brand. Although you will obviously need to post localised content on your Brazilian social media accounts that caters to your audience in the country, your social media strategy will not differ significantly for Brazil compared to how you do it for other countries. For example:
- WhatsApp is a hugely popular messaging platform and could be used by your brand as a way of providing customer service. Depending on your sector, customers may welcome this as a convenient way to communicate with your business and ask you questions. Be aware that Brazil is treated as a priority market by WhatsApp and is often amongst the first countries to see new WhatsApp functions and features being rolled out, so keep an eye out for these.
- Instagram is a great platform for B2C brands to be on, particularly if your products are in a visually-appealing sector such as fashion, design, cosmetics or travel. The way the platform is used in Brazil is very similar to other countries in the world, and the advertising options remain the same – but naturally, you would need to create a localised account that caters to your audience in the country and is relevant to them. We have an in-depth guide to marketing on Instagram, if you want more detailed information about this.
- Facebook is a great platform to be on if you are a B2C brand. By posting regular, engaging content, you have a huge opportunity to engage with potential clients and drive sales. Not only that, but Facebook’s highly specific targeting capabilities mean that you can use Facebook advertising to reach new users who fit your target audience profile perfectly. We have an in-depth guide to advertising on Facebook, if you want more detailed information about this.
- TikTok is particularly good if you are a B2C brand with a product you can show off on video. Popular industries on this short-form video platform include education, sport, fashion, beauty, food and drinks, entertainment, technology and more.
- Facebook Messenger can be used to support your Facebook marketing efforts. You can use it as a communication channel to message your prospective customers. It is also possible to run ads in Facebook Messenger, which will appear in the Chats tab of the user’s Facebook Messenger app. When a user taps on an ad, they are shown a call-to-action of your choosing, which could take them to your website, your app, or start a chat with your company within Facebook Messenger.
- Telegram is a messaging platform that you could use as a way of providing customer service. Users may appreciate being able to communicate with you directly from their phone. On Telegram, it is possible to create channels to broadcast messages to your audience, which could prove to be a good way to promote your brand and build brand awareness. It is also possible to create groups if you want to build more of a community. You can also create chat bots to help you answer any frequently asked questions in a more speedy and efficient manner.
Of course, you do not need to be on every social media platform; you only need to be where your audience is. Research your industry and your audience before entering the market, see what platforms they prefer and prioritise them. Bear in mind that your audience will most likely be present on multiple platforms and interact with you across all of them, but they will not want to see the same things from you on all of them. Your content strategy should take into consideration both who your audience is and where they are interacting with you.
And finally, let’s turn to influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is growing from strength to strength in Brazil, with “ordinary” influencers replacing celebrities and attracting large followings and audiences – and partnerships with brands by extension. Users everywhere want to see and hear people that look and sound like them, and Brazil is no exception. This, together with the fact that culturally Brazilian audiences are prone to following recommendations from people they trust or that they view as experts, means that influencer marketing should be a part of almost any social media strategy targeting Brazil. Even if your business operates in a niche B2B market, you are still likely to find a local influencer with a significant audience that trusts them. These influencers are likely to know their audiences very well and can help you to understand your local audience and communicate with them more effectively.
The local culture and language in Brazil
Culture
When entering any new market, it is very important to be aware of the local culture and to adapt your marketing collateral appropriately. One way you can examine the Brazilian culture is through the lens of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.
Brazil has a fairly high score of 69 for power distance. This means that:
- Authority is respected and hierarchies are adhered to.
- Status symbols are important as they are a way of signalling one’s position in the social hierarchy, so if applicable, you may want to promote your products in this way.
- When doing B2B marketing, you should focus on targeting the senior decision-makers. There is little point in targeting personas in more junior roles, as they do not have much input into purchasing decisions.
- It is important to highlight your own authority on your website – for example, by prominently featuring your senior management team.
Brazil has a fairly low score of 36 for individualism. This means that:
- Brazil is a collectivist society. In collectivist societies, people tend to see themselves as part of a group, rather than a standalone individual. They are loyal to their group, strive for group harmony, and value the wellbeing of the group.
- You should therefore emphasise how your product or service can benefit the group.
- Celebrity endorsements work well, since celebrities are seen as influential members of the group – and people are quick to copy their behaviours.
- Looking more at B2B, make sure to spend time nurturing a personal relationship with your prospective clients, as interpersonal relationships are seen as very important.
Brazil has a score of 49 for motivation towards achievement and success, placing it around the middle of the spectrum. This means that:
- Being successful is important, but so is having a good quality of life and having a work-life balance.
- You may therefore want to use a mix of messaging, mentioning how your products or services can help boost both success and wellbeing.
Brazil has a fairly high score of 76 for uncertainty avoidance. This means that:
- People are uncomfortable with uncertainty.
- They want to see specific statements about products and services, rather than vague generalisations.
- They want to know in-depth about your product features, and for this reason product demos are popular.
- They like to conduct in-depth research before making a purchase, so make sure to offer plenty of information about your product or service online.
- Explain your offerings in terms of their detailed processes, not their vague potential results.
Brazil has a fairly low score of 28 for long-term orientation. This means that:
- People are more focused on the present and the past than on the future.
- Change is viewed with caution, and traditions are seen as important.
- People and businesses tend to measure success in the short-term.
- You should therefore focus on how your product or service can help them in the short-term.
- Do not focus on long-term benefits, as that is not relatable. Instead, focus on how your product or service can help them get quick, instant results.
Brazil has a score of 59 for indulgence, placing it around the middle of the spectrum, although slightly on the indulgent side. This means that:
- Brazil is a slightly indulgent society.
- Value is placed on leisure time, gratification of one’s desires, and personal enjoyment.
- Do not be afraid to make bold or exciting statements that emphasise how your product or service can help the customer enjoy themselves.
Brazil is a country with an immensely rich culture – or a variety of cultures, I should say. Whilst its matrix is considered to be primarily Western and derived from Portuguese culture, Brazil is a diverse country with a unique culture that derives from its unique blend of ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. The main ethnic groups that make up modern Brazil are Portuguese, African, Italian, German, Japanese, Arab, and of course the indigenous population. Many Brazilians are of mixed heritage. Brazil is a huge country, and different states within Brazil have some cultural differences between them, as they have historically been settled and inhabited by different groups of people.
There is one thing that unites almost all Brazilians though (apart from the national football team, of course!), and that is religion – specifically Catholicism. Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world and, whilst all the other major religions are represented in the country, as well as Afro-Brazilian and indigenous religions, it is estimated that around 65% of the country identifies as Catholic, whilst a further 22% of the population identifies as Protestant. This does not necessarily mean that you need to tiptoe around certain topics, but it is important to keep in mind that religion is taken more seriously in Brazil than in most Western countries in the northern hemisphere.
Let’s turn more towards Brazilian business and consumer culture. From my experience helping global brands succeed in the Brazilian market, I can say that Brazilians are quite open to buying from international brands. Furthermore, brand loyalty is quite high, so if you manage to earn the custom of a Brazilian consumer, you may have gained a long-term customer.
However, whilst consumers are loyal to brands, they are not particularly loyal to platforms – so they will often search for their favourite brand on multiple platforms and buy from the one offering the cheapest price.
This is because Brazilian consumers are quite price sensitive. They prefer cheaper products, so you may want to offer frequent sales and special offers, as these are appealing to Brazilian shoppers. You should not compromise on quality though, as Brazilians expect products to be of a good quality.
Be aware that Brazilians value good customer support. It is advisable to have a local customer team, so that you can provide support in a timely manner and in the local language.
Whatever your target audience, before entering the Brazilian market, you should conduct comprehensive market research. This will not only give you an accurate overview of the potential size of your market and who your local competitors are, but it will also help you to identify and define your target personas, learn more about what platforms they use, what messages they respond to and what their expectations and pain points are.
Language
When targeting Brazil, make sure to create content in the local language, rather than trying to target them using English. The EF English Proficiency Index ranks Brazil as having “low” English proficiency, so any attempt to use English to reach Brazilians will not be successful. Furthermore, using English will give the impression that you do not really care about the market, since you cannot be bothered to communicate with them in their language, which would give a poor impression of your brand.
The language you should use when targeting Brazil is Brazilian Portuguese. Portuguese is a Romance language. It uses the Latin alphabet, is written from left to right and has the same 26 letters as the English alphabet, with some letters being written with diacritical marks. It has two grammatical genders (masculine and feminine).
The variety of Portuguese used in Brazil has some grammar and terminology differences compared to the version used in Portugal, so if you have content on your Portugal website, you cannot just copy this over to your Brazilian website; you must make sure to localise it for Brazil first.
The differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese are comparable to the ones you find between American English and British English. They are definitely not different languages, but they are recognisably distinct – most differences are in accents, as well as some lexicon and orthography.
Part of these differences are explained by the effect of the many waves of European immigrants that arrived in Brazil in the early 20th century, which naturally led to a bigger divergence in accent and pronunciation between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese. Likewise, until more recent times with the introduction of the Acordo Ortográfico (a 1990 treaty aimed at uniformising the orthography of the Portuguese language), there was no uniform orthography in the Portuguese language.
This means that the Portuguese used in Brazil and Portugal had already begun to diverge, especially when it came to new words. That is why a bus in Brazil is an “ônibus”, whilst in Portugal it is an “autocarro”. And if you were in Rio de Janeiro and you were looking to buy a mobile phone, you would ask the locals where to find a store that can sell you a “celular”, whilst in Lisbon, you would be looking for a “telemóvel”.
Another big difference in how the Portuguese language is used in Brazil compared to Portugal is in the use of the pronouns “você” and “tu”. Both mean “you”; however, whereas in Portugal “você” and “tu” are used to address someone more formally or more casually respectively, depending on whom you are speaking with, in Brazil the single use of “você” is pretty much the rule.
Another difference is the use of gerunds. In Brazil, the tendency to use the gerund form of verbs is almost universal. So much so, that Brazilian linguists have raised attention to the phenomenon of “gerundismo”, which is the inadequate and unnecessary use of gerund in a phrase, making them wrong from a syntax point of view. Whilst gerund does exist in Portugal, and in southern Portugal is also employed regularly when speaking, the tendency is much more towards using the infinitive form of verbs.
Due to the significant differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, translation, localisation and copywriting should always be done by a professional native Brazilian Portuguese speaker. Only a native will have a proper grasp of the local linguistic and cultural nuances and be able to create content that will truly resonate with your local Brazilian audience.
Be aware that people in Brazil will think poorly of you if you have mistakes in your written Brazilian Portuguese content. If your content contains linguistic errors or if a translation does not make sense, your brand image could be damaged, with the poor-quality content gaining you a reputation as an unprofessional company.
You should also be aware that the Portuguese language can be as much as 30% longer than English. Therefore, be prepared to provide guidance on character limits and the space available for content on your webpage, and be conscious of how this can have an impact on things like your calls-to-action and product descriptions.
Speaking of calls-to-action, do not directly translate your calls-to-action from English, as a direct translation is unlikely to resonate and work well in Brazil. Instead, do some research to find out which calls-to-action are commonly used online in Brazil in your sector. Remember that Brazilian consumers are more sensitive to price and what they perceive as value offers, so calls-to-action associated with discounts or limited offers might perform better.
Another area of digital marketing that is impacted by the Portuguese language is dynamic keyword insertion. Portuguese does not always take dynamic keyword insertion kindly, due to grammatical gender issues. Dynamic keyword insertion puts you at risk of producing copy that is faulty and off-putting. If you must use dynamic keyword insertion, make sure to use several templates to adapt to as many cases as possible and limit errors.
It is also important to think about your keywords. Keywords should never be translated; instead, you should always conduct local keyword research. This is because a translation will probably not produce keywords that have the most impact in the target market. Only fresh keyword research conducted by a native speaker will reveal the best keywords to target. The video below explains in six minutes why you should never translate keywords:
When it comes to targeting keywords in your PPC campaigns, you might have a bit of doubt when it comes to diacritics, of which Portuguese has a few (á, à, ã, â and ç are just a few examples). Of course, when it comes to your content, you should always use them and make sure they are used correctly. But when deciding which keywords to target in your paid advertising campaigns, you may want to target keywords in their diacritic and non-diacritic forms. Many times, Portuguese-speaking users will make their search queries without any diacritics just to save time, so if you do not target these keywords, you might be losing some valuable search volume.
E-commerce in Brazil
E-commerce still has plenty of growth ahead of it. 35% of Brazilians have made a purchase using a mobile phone or the internet in the past year. In 2022, online B2C sales were worth almost 170 billion Brazilian reals annually.
According to a study by Meltwater and We Are Social, the e-commerce categories which saw the highest levels of growth in 2023 compared to 2022 were: fashion with a year-on-year growth rate of 25%; furniture (spending up 22%); household essentials (up 22%); electronics (up 20%); beauty and personal care (up 9%); toys and hobby (up 6%); over-the-counter pharmaceuticals (up 3%); and beverages (up less than 1%). Spending on tobacco products remained unchanged on the previous year. All other categories saw a decrease in spending. Physical media saw the biggest reduction in spending, with spending falling 8% compared to the previous year, followed by food (spending down 4%), DIY and hardware (down 3%), luxury goods (down 3%) and eyewear (down 1%).
The main drivers of online purchases are key indicators as to what Brazilian users value most when making their online purchasing decisions, giving you an opportunity to understand what is best to highlight in your marketing collateral and calls-to-action, so that you can convert leads into customers. Free delivery is the top driver of online purchasing behaviour in Brazil, with 70% saying this would encourage them to buy. This is followed by coupons and discounts with 56% and a simple online checkout process with 45%.
Looking at e-commerce payment methods, credit cards are the most popular option, accounting for 40% of online purchases in 2023. Account-to-account payments come in second place, accounting for 30% of online purchases, followed by digital wallets (16%) and debit cards (8%). It would therefore be wise to offer multiple payment options when targeting the Brazilian market – particularly credit cards, account-to-account payments and digital wallets – since all these payment methods have significant popularity.
Another important thing to remember is to ensure you are selling in the correct currency: Brazilian reals (R$ or BRL). This may sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many businesses see poor results simply because they have neglected to localise the currency on their website.
When creating your price labels, be aware that Brazil is one of the countries that uses the comma as a decimal separator, and not the point. Furthermore, the comma is not used as a thousand separator; instead, groups of digits are typically separated by a point. This is the opposite of how numbers are written in English-speaking countries. The bullet points below illustrate this by demonstrating how to write one hundred thousand pounds/reals. When targeting Brazil, make sure that your prices follow the Brazilian standard, to ensure clarity.
- In English: £100,000.00
- In Brazilian: R$ 100.000,00
Alternatively, you could sell your products on an e-commerce marketplace. The most popular e-commerce marketplace in Brazil is Mercado Livre, followed by Amazon, Shopee, OLX and Temu. If you want to sell your items on an online marketplace, Mercado Livre should therefore be your first choice when targeting Brazil. Mercado Livre has a similar setup to Amazon, where brands can create their own online shop and sell items through the platform.
Once you have sold a product, you still need to get it to the customer. Be aware that one delivery method that is rapidly growing in popularity in Brazil is collecting goods from a warehouse or store, rather than receiving a delivery at home. There are several reasons for this, and it starts with saving on delivery costs. It also helps to reduce the time between the consumer purchasing and receiving the item by avoiding any potential delays, as well as minimising any risk of theft. If you want to sell physical products in Brazil, you should try to offer a collection option.
Be aware that there are seasonal fluctuations in the Brazilian e-commerce calendar, when people are more likely to buy. The biggest online sales that take place in Brazil are: Easter, Consumer’s Day (15 March), Mother’s Day (the second Sunday of May), Valentine’s Day (12 June), Father’s Day (the second Sunday of August), Children’s Day (12 October), Black Friday (the fourth Friday of November), Cyber Monday (the Monday after Black Friday) and Christmas (25 December). There are also other occasions that might prove to be important to build campaigns around, such as Carnival. Make sure you tap into this seasonality when selling your products and coming up with your marketing materials.
Conclusion
Brazil is a tantalising market for global brands to consider expanding to. The economic case for doing so is strong, with the country’s prosperity going from strength to strength. Not only that, but with its huge population spending on average over 9 hours online every day, you will have plenty of opportunities to get in front of your target audience and communicate with them. But it is important to research the market first, learn its limitations, understand who your audience is and where they are, and define strategies to target them effectively. Native marketing experts, whether in your in-house team or through an agency like Webcertain, who would help you create and implement your strategy, are essential for success. Their input – from a marketing, cultural and linguistic point of view – will make sure you avoid falling into any pitfalls that could potentially damage your brand, and allow you to position yourself correctly to reap the rewards of this vibrant, growing market. All I can wish you now is “boa sorte” (good luck), and may the information in this guide help you in conquering your share of the Brazilian market!
To learn more about digital marketing in Brazil, click here.