3 Tips for Connecting With the Growing U.S. Hispanic Market

If you follow the marketing trades, you know that there is a big opportunity in the U.S. Hispanic market. Some of the largest brands in the country are projecting huge growth from this segment, and there is much debate on how to reach them. To learn more, I spoke to a number of experts on the topic, looked at data, and I saw what brands were doing on Google’s platforms. One thing became very clear: These consumers are on the web, and they’re setting trends in digital. The stats speak for themselves:

• Among smartphone owners, Hispanics are 17% more likely than non-Hispanics to access the web more through their phone than through a computer.

• The average Hispanic spends more than eight hours watching online video each month. That’s more than 90 minutes longer than the U.S. average. Across YouTube, we’ve seen views of top U.S. Hispanic channels grow by 1.25x year over year.

• A lot of that video watching happens on mobile, as smartphones are becoming the “first screen.” Nielsen states that 10 million Hispanics watch mobile video for an average of more than six hours per month.

• Hispanics are 1.5x more likely to buy mobile apps and digital media than non-Hispanics, according to a Google Consumer Survey we conducted in July.

What do these numbers mean? That brands can reach this audience through digital. What surprised me most, though, was that few actually do so. I spoke to marketers who’ve been seeing great success through digital and asked them to share their secrets. Here are the three biggest lessons for marketers to know:

1. Be where they are—that’s on video and mobile

Two brands that have taken this lesson to heart are Universal Pictures and CoverGirl. Universal Pictures has a dedicated Latino channel on YouTube where it distributes custom spots, featurettes, clips and content. CoverGirl sponsors Becky G, a Mexican-American singer/dancer who has a huge following on YouTube among U.S. Hispanics.

When it comes to mobile, figure out your mobile-centric use cases, create mobile-first destinations, drive ROI and branding in mobile-specific ways and integrate mobile prominently into multi-screen campaigns.

2. Give them options

Through digital, marketers don’t need to take a one-language-fits-all approach—and they shouldn't, because there is a big opportunity to reach these consumers in both languages. “It’s about ‘and’ not ‘or,’” says Marla Skiko, senior vice president and director of digital innovation at SMG Multicultural. Mattel is adopting this approach, creating bilingual versions of its campaigns.

The targeting capabilities of digital can also help marketers reach the right audience with the right messaging. “Behavioral targeting, language targeting, geo targeting and so on are incredible,” says Fabian Castro, senior vice president of multicultural marketing for Universal Pictures. “[They] allow us an opportunity to reach even hard-to-get Latinos across all levels of acculturation.”

3. Speak their culture

Whether promoting in Spanish or English, go beyond translation to find cultural nuances. “When promoting on Spanish media we find ways to extract storylines, show relevant talent and use music and Spanish when appropriate—all ways to help make the film attractive and culturally relevant to this audience,” explains Castro.

For more examples, check out the full article on Think with Google.