When it comes to marketing and advertising, the clear trend is budgets shifting toward digital platforms at the expense of traditional media outlets.
Whether targeting consumers through mobile devices, social media, paid search or other means, the Internet’s projected share of U.S. ad spending in 2014 is about 25 percent, according to AdAge. This is a nearly 20 percent increase from 2013, and is expected to top 30 percent of ad spending in less than two years.
Another clear trend is the rapid growth of the Hispanic market in both population and purchasing power. One out of every two people added to the U.S. population in the latest census was Hispanic and Hispanics account for more than $1.3 billion in purchasing power.
In Connecticut, the state’s total population increase was 168,532 people. The Hispanic growth was 158,764, or about 94 percent of the total growth, and now tops more than 500,000.
Yet, there is little evidence of the convergence between the allocation of marketing dollars toward tapping into this lucrative population, whether through digital or more traditional means.
Companies shifting advertising budgets toward digital marketing are wise to seek ways to ensure these two trends align.
Why?
Let’s begin with the fact that Hispanics are the most active group on social media sites, according to Pew.
Eighty percent of Hispanic adults use social media, a rate higher than that of whites and African Americans, which are at 70 and 75 percent respectfully.
When it comes to mobile, 60 percent of Hispanics use their phones as their primary way to access the internet compared to 27 percent of whites, according to eMarketer. Further, a June report by the Centers for Disease Control pointed out that 50 percent of Hispanic adults live in a household with only wireless telephones. That number was 35 percent for African Americans and 39 percent for whites.
Age might account for some of these digital trends — in Connecticut, the average age for Hispanics is 27; it’s 40 for non-Hispanics — but it’s not the only reason.
How then can companies, especially those with smaller budgets, effectively target Hispanic consumers via digital advertising?
Here are some recommendations:
• Social Media — While Instagram has a higher percentage of Hispanics, look to Facebook as a primary social media platform. Facebook allows for targetting via specific demographical profiles and in Spanish, if that’s the preference, and great tracking.
• Pay Per Click — The large bidding wars being played for ownership of specific key words are not apparent in Spanish. Spanish key words are available at a fraction of the cost of English key words and with minimal-to-no competition.
• Good Content — When it comes to connecting credibly with Hispanics, look beyond language. Whether a message should be in English or Spanish is secondary to whether the message is culturally-relevant to the Hispanic market. Messages must resonate with Hispanic consumers, which is why translations don’t work even when grammatically correct. Spanish content does help tremendously, however, in establishing credibility with Hispanics and with Spanish-language search engine optimization.
• Mobile — Ensure your website is mobile responsive and Spanish-language content, again, will support Spanish-language mobile search engine strategies.
The most important recommendation, however, is to at least take the first step. Make 2014 the year you take Hispanic marketing off the back burner and begin a program.
Wilson Camelo is president and chief marketing officer of Camelo Communication in Glastonbury, a marketing agency specializing in helping brands to connect with Hispanic and multicultural markets.
