The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) and Nielsen just released an insightful study, “America’s New Upscale Segment: Latinos!”  The research paints a compelling picture of the upscale Hispanic market and helps dispel Hispanic stereotypes.  For this post I thought it would be helpful to summarize the characteristics of the upscale Hispanic market and suggest that marketers use digital to engage with this segment.

Upscale Hispanics Have A Lot Of Spending Power

15 million Hispanics are considered upscale, that is they earn more than $50,000 annually, which is roughly the median household income in the United States.   The group represents 29% of the Hispanic population but controls 37% of U.S. Hispanic buying power of $500 million.  What’s more, the study projects that by 2050, there will be 35 million upscale Hispanic in the United States.

For marketers, upscale Hispanics represent an interesting opportunity for several reasons:

• They are young.  A full 75% of upscale Hispanics are under the age of 45 compared to only 59% of upscale non-Hispanics.
• They have large households. 77% of upscale Hispanics have households or four people more vs. 45% of upscale non-Hispanics.
• They are geo-graphically concentrated in the South Western and Western regions of the country.
• They own lots of businesses. This group is extremely entrepreneurial with upscale Hispanics owning 500,000 small businesses.
• They have high graduation rates. More education has translated into an influx of Hispanics into the white-collar work force.

Upscale Hispanics Spend More on Personal Care Products

Marketers take note: Upscale Hispanics represent a strong and growing consumer segment.  In the majority of categories, upscale Hispanics spend as much as their non-Hispanic counterparts but spend much more on personal care products.

They spend more per trip and shop more frequently for personal care items ranging from men’s grooming, women’s fragrances, hair care and cosmetics and tend to prefer premium brands vs. store brands.

Upscale Hispanics also speak Spanish.  A full 75% of this segment speaks at least some Spanish and Spanish dominant upscale Hispanics have grown 18% in the past two years.  What’s more, upscale Hispanics spend 52% of their television broadcast time viewing Spanish language programing.

Upscale Hispanics Love Technology

So how do you reach upscale Hispanics?

Although the study did not touch on the digital behavior of upscale Hispanics, plenty of other studies suggest that this segment is extremely digitally engaged, over-indexing the general market when it comes to social media and mobile penetration.  The fact that upscale Hispanic’s love technology coupled with the inherent advantages of digital including cost efficiency, measurability and quick time to market make digital the ideal medium for reaching upscale Hispanics.

Good news, the digital divide is closing for Hispanics.  The Pew Hispanic Center recently published an encouraging report that indicates that the digital divide is shrinking due in large part to rapid Hispanic mobile adoption and strong usage of social networking sites.  For marketers, the report should be another clear indication that it is time to get serious about investing in the U.S. Hispanic digital market.

Hispanic internet, smartphone and social media usage

From the highest level, the report finds that usage of the Internet among U.S. Hispanics jumped a full 14 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.  Today, a full 78% of U.S. Hispanics use the Internet compared to 87% of non-Hispanic whites.  When it comes to smartphone and social media usage, Hispanics are actually ahead of non-Hispanic whites.  Today, 49% of Hispanic adults own a smartphone vs. 46% of non-Hispanics whites.   What’s more, Hispanics’ are more active on their mobile devices with 76% of them accessing the Internet via mobile vs. 60% of non-Hispanic whites.   In terms of social media usage, 68% of Hispanics use social networking sites vs. 66% of non-Hispanic whites.

Decomposing what’s behind closing digital divide

The Pew report does a wonderful job digging deeper into the digital divide by analyzing technology usage patterns within Hispanic sub-segments.  Not surprisingly, technology usage is highest among those Hispanics that are young, affluent, educated, native-born and English-dominant.  However, growth rates are highest among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics, who tend to be older, less affluent and less educated signaling and opportunity for marketers.

Internet usage among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics jumped 18 percentage points and 27 percentage points respectively from 2009 – 2012.    During this period, Internet usage growth among U.S. born and English dominant Hispanics came in at only 5 percentage and 2 percentage points respectively.

From a mobile and social perspective 61% of native-born U.S. Hispanics have a smartphone and 73% use social networking sites.  Contrast this with 40% of native-born U.S. Hispanics who have smartphones and 63% who use social networking sites.  Although Pew does not report on mobile and social adoption growth rates by Hispanic sub-segment, my assumption is that the growth is coming from the foreign-born segment similar to what we are seeing with overall Internet usage.

How can marketers capitalize on the closing digital divide?

Simply put, this report provides more compelling data for marketers to invest in the Hispanic digital space.  Pew sums this point up well, “Latinos own smartphones, go online from a mobile device and use social networking sites at similar—and sometimes higher—rates than do other groups of Americans.”  The data also provides valuable insights into Hispanic technology usage patterns that can help prioritize Hispanic digital investments towards mobile and social tactics.

However, some marketers may look at technology adoption by native-born Hispanics vs. foreign-born Hispanics and conclude that general market digital investments are sufficient to reach Hispanics.

I disagree.

As I discussed in my last post, there are several compelling reasons marketers should focus on foreign-born Hispanics. This report provides yet another, technology adoption is growing fastest among foreign-born Hispanics making them a ripe target for marketers.

What the narrowing digital divide means for marketers

Good news, the digital divide is closing for Hispanics.  The Pew Hispanic Center recently published an encouraging report that indicates that the digital divide is shrinking due in large part to rapid Hispanic mobile adoption and strong usage of social networking sites.  For marketers, the report should be another clear indication that it is time to get serious about investing in the U.S. Hispanic digital market.

Hispanic internet, smartphone and social media usage

From the highest level, the report finds that usage of the Internet among U.S. Hispanics jumped a full 14 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.  Today, a full 78% of U.S. Hispanics use the Internet compared to 87% of non-Hispanic whites.  When it comes to smartphone and social media usage, Hispanics are actually ahead of non-Hispanic whites.  Today, 49% of Hispanic adults own a smartphone vs. 46% of non-Hispanics whites.   What’s more, Hispanics’ are more active on their mobile devices with 76% of them accessing the Internet via mobile vs. 60% of non-Hispanic whites.   In terms of social media usage, 68% of Hispanics use social networking sites vs. 66% of non-Hispanic whites.

Decomposing what’s behind closing digital divide

The Pew report does a wonderful job digging deeper into the digital divide by analyzing technology usage patterns within Hispanic sub-segments.  Not surprisingly, technology usage is highest among those Hispanics that are young, affluent, educated, native-born and English-dominant.  However, growth rates are highest among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics, who tend to be older, less affluent and less educated signaling and opportunity for marketers.

Internet usage among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics jumped 18 percentage points and 27 percentage points respectively from 2009 – 2012.    During this period, Internet usage growth among U.S. born and English dominant Hispanics came in at only 5 percentage and 2 percentage points respectively.

From a mobile and social perspective 61% of native-born U.S. Hispanics have a smartphone and 73% use social networking sites.  Contrast this with 40% of native-born U.S. Hispanics who have smartphones and 63% who use social networking sites.  Although Pew does not report on mobile and social adoption growth rates by Hispanic sub-segment, my assumption is that the growth is coming from the foreign-born segment similar to what we are seeing with overall Internet usage.

How can marketers capitalize on the closing digital divide?

Simply put, this report provides more compelling data for marketers to invest in the Hispanic digital space.  Pew sums this point up well, “Latinos own smartphones, go online from a mobile device and use social networking sites at similar—and sometimes higher—rates than do other groups of Americans.”  The data also provides valuable insights into Hispanic technology usage patterns that can help prioritize Hispanic digital investments towards mobile and social tactics.

However, some marketers may look at technology adoption by native-born Hispanics vs. foreign-born Hispanics and conclude that general market digital investments are sufficient to reach Hispanics.

I disagree.

As I discussed in my last post, there are several compelling reasons marketers should focus on foreign-born Hispanics. This report provides yet another, technology adoption is growing fastest among foreign-born Hispanics making them a ripe target for marketers.

What the narrowing digital divide means for marketers

Good news, the digital divide is closing for Hispanics.  The Pew Hispanic Center recently published an encouraging report that indicates that the digital divide is shrinking due in large part to rapid Hispanic mobile adoption and strong usage of social networking sites.  For marketers, the report should be another clear indication that it is time to get serious about investing in the U.S. Hispanic digital market.

Hispanic internet, smartphone and social media usage

From the highest level, the report finds that usage of the Internet among U.S. Hispanics jumped a full 14 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.  Today, a full 78% of U.S. Hispanics use the Internet compared to 87% of non-Hispanic whites.  When it comes to smartphone and social media usage, Hispanics are actually ahead of non-Hispanic whites.  Today, 49% of Hispanic adults own a smartphone vs. 46% of non-Hispanics whites.   What’s more, Hispanics’ are more active on their mobile devices with 76% of them accessing the Internet via mobile vs. 60% of non-Hispanic whites.   In terms of social media usage, 68% of Hispanics use social networking sites vs. 66% of non-Hispanic whites.

Decomposing what’s behind closing digital divide

The Pew report does a wonderful job digging deeper into the digital divide by analyzing technology usage patterns within Hispanic sub-segments.  Not surprisingly, technology usage is highest among those Hispanics that are young, affluent, educated, native-born and English-dominant.  However, growth rates are highest among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics, who tend to be older, less affluent and less educated signaling and opportunity for marketers.

Internet usage among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics jumped 18 percentage points and 27 percentage points respectively from 2009 – 2012.    During this period, Internet usage growth among U.S. born and English dominant Hispanics came in at only 5 percentage and 2 percentage points respectively.

From a mobile and social perspective 61% of native-born U.S. Hispanics have a smartphone and 73% use social networking sites.  Contrast this with 40% of native-born U.S. Hispanics who have smartphones and 63% who use social networking sites.  Although Pew does not report on mobile and social adoption growth rates by Hispanic sub-segment, my assumption is that the growth is coming from the foreign-born segment similar to what we are seeing with overall Internet usage.

How can marketers capitalize on the closing digital divide?

Simply put, this report provides more compelling data for marketers to invest in the Hispanic digital space.  Pew sums this point up well, “Latinos own smartphones, go online from a mobile device and use social networking sites at similar—and sometimes higher—rates than do other groups of Americans.”  The data also provides valuable insights into Hispanic technology usage patterns that can help prioritize Hispanic digital investments towards mobile and social tactics.

However, some marketers may look at technology adoption by native-born Hispanics vs. foreign-born Hispanics and conclude that general market digital investments are sufficient to reach Hispanics.

I disagree.

As I discussed in my last post, there are several compelling reasons marketers should focus on foreign-born Hispanics. This report provides yet another, technology adoption is growing fastest among foreign-born Hispanics making them a ripe target for marketers.

What the narrowing digital divide means for marketers

Good news, the digital divide is closing for Hispanics.  The Pew Hispanic Center recently published an encouraging report that indicates that the digital divide is shrinking due in large part to rapid Hispanic mobile adoption and strong usage of social networking sites.  For marketers, the report should be another clear indication that it is time to get serious about investing in the U.S. Hispanic digital market.

Hispanic internet, smartphone and social media usage

From the highest level, the report finds that usage of the Internet among U.S. Hispanics jumped a full 14 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.  Today, a full 78% of U.S. Hispanics use the Internet compared to 87% of non-Hispanic whites.  When it comes to smartphone and social media usage, Hispanics are actually ahead of non-Hispanic whites.  Today, 49% of Hispanic adults own a smartphone vs. 46% of non-Hispanics whites.   What’s more, Hispanics’ are more active on their mobile devices with 76% of them accessing the Internet via mobile vs. 60% of non-Hispanic whites.   In terms of social media usage, 68% of Hispanics use social networking sites vs. 66% of non-Hispanic whites.

Decomposing what’s behind closing digital divide

The Pew report does a wonderful job digging deeper into the digital divide by analyzing technology usage patterns within Hispanic sub-segments.  Not surprisingly, technology usage is highest among those Hispanics that are young, affluent, educated, native-born and English-dominant.  However, growth rates are highest among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics, who tend to be older, less affluent and less educated signaling and opportunity for marketers.

Internet usage among foreign-born and Spanish dominant Hispanics jumped 18 percentage points and 27 percentage points respectively from 2009 – 2012.    During this period, Internet usage growth among U.S. born and English dominant Hispanics came in at only 5 percentage and 2 percentage points respectively.

From a mobile and social perspective 61% of native-born U.S. Hispanics have a smartphone and 73% use social networking sites.  Contrast this with 40% of native-born U.S. Hispanics who have smartphones and 63% who use social networking sites.  Although Pew does not report on mobile and social adoption growth rates by Hispanic sub-segment, my assumption is that the growth is coming from the foreign-born segment similar to what we are seeing with overall Internet usage.

How can marketers capitalize on the closing digital divide?

Simply put, this report provides more compelling data for marketers to invest in the Hispanic digital space.  Pew sums this point up well, “Latinos own smartphones, go online from a mobile device and use social networking sites at similar—and sometimes higher—rates than do other groups of Americans.”  The data also provides valuable insights into Hispanic technology usage patterns that can help prioritize Hispanic digital investments towards mobile and social tactics.

However, some marketers may look at technology adoption by native-born Hispanics vs. foreign-born Hispanics and conclude that general market digital investments are sufficient to reach Hispanics.

I disagree.

As I discussed in my last post, there are several compelling reasons marketers should focus on foreign-born Hispanics. This report provides yet another, technology adoption is growing fastest among foreign-born Hispanics making them a ripe target for marketers.

It seems like these days a lot of marketers are focusing on the native-born segment of the population, and some are even questioning the role of specialized Hispanic agencies. It started shortly after the 2010 U.S. Census revealed that 62% of Hispanics are native born. Clearly the native-born segment of the U.S. Hispanic market is critical for marketers to understand and address, but foreign-born Hispanics still hold the key to the Hispanic market —and the need for marketing agencies that understand this segment is stronger than ever.

Market Size, Influence and Potential

Today there are roughly 19 million foreign-born Hispanics in the U.S., a market roughly the size of New York State. This is a large market, but it is not so much the size of the market that matters but rather the influence Hispanics have on each other, regardless of where they were born, that makes the foreign-born Hispanics so important.

Foreign-born Hispanics are the parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts of native-born Hispanics and have significant influence over them. Although native-born Hispanics are forming their own unique Hispanic-American culture, the importance of family and the role of elders remain strong. In this way, marketers who are successful in reaching foreign-born Hispanics will also be reaching native-born Hispanics, but will do so within a culturally relevant and meaningful context, the family.

What’s more, it is quite possible that we are on the verge of a period of strong immigration growth. Just as a weakening U.S. economy and tighter immigration policy in the wake of 9/11 slowed immigration, an improving economy and the increased possibility of immigration reform would drive increased immigration and, along with it, the size of the foreign-born Hispanic market. It is true that new Hispanics immigrants will likely be less affluent and less educated than native-born Hispanics. But new immigrants will be a marketer’s dream as they will not only be ambitious, hard-working and open-minded they will also have access to information and technology that past immigrant generations did not have.

The Spanish language factor

Market size, influence and potential growth are powerful reasons to invest now in the foreign-born Hispanic market. But there’s another compelling reason to invest in them: their language. Spanish represents a unique marketing channel that gives marketers a simple, quantifiable and efficient way to reach foreign-born U.S. Hispanics. (If we assume for arguments sake that foreign-born Hispanics skew Spanish-dominant).

Today there are a myriad of cost effective options for reaching Hispanics in Spanish. These options include a robust Spanish-language media market in addition to digital tactics including social and mobile. What’s more, there is relatively less competition when it comes to marketing in Spanish. By investing in Spanish-language marketing initiatives, marketers are not only assured that investments are being targeted squarely at U.S. Hispanics, but also that those investments will have a strong impact due to the relative lack of competition.

On the other hand, reaching native-born U.S. Hispanics is more complex, more expensive and not as measurable as simply targeting U.S. Hispanics in Spanish. To reach native-born Hispanics, marketers often infuse Hispanic culture into general market campaigns, partner with emerging, English language, Hispanic-centric media properties or leverage advanced consumer targeting techniques.

As the demographic makeup of the country continues to evolve and become more multi-cultural, marketers should indeed explore ways to reach native-born Hispanics and other emerging segments. But it’s important not to write off foreign-born Hispanics, both the ones currently here and the ones who will be here in the future and marketing agencies who intimately understand this segment are best suited to reach them.

There are countless brands out there asking themselves the following question?

Is it time to invest in the Hispanic online market?

The answer is a resounding YES and brands should look no further than The Social Revolución to understand why.

The Social Revolución awards recognize Hispanics utilizing digital media to create and inspire change, influence cultural shifts and trends, and drive local causes. In its second year, The Social Revolución is the official Latino event of the hugely popular South By Southwest Interactive Festival that will take place this March in Austin, Texas.

Not only is The Social Revolución an important awards program, it is a symbol for what is happening in the Hispanic online market and a great opportunity for brands to see first hand how Hispanics are using the Internet to mobilize, learn and spread their ideas.

Last year over 140 individuals were nominated for The Social Revolución awards and many more are expected this year as Latinos continue to play a significant part in the digital ecosphere.

I am proud to be one of the judges of the 2013 The Social Revolución awards and invite brands to see the Hispanic online market first hand by checking out and voting for the nominees across three categories.

• The New Americano (influencing cultural shits online)
• The Mobilizer (mobilizing causes online)
• The Innovator (leveraging new technology to drive change)

Nominees include activists who use the Internet to mobilize their communities for such causes as immigration reform, marketers who use digital media to bring brands to the Hispanic online community, in addition to some of country’s top Hispanic social media professionals.

For brands thinking about investing in the Hispanic online market, The Social Revolución will provide a tangible glimpse into what is happening every day in the Hispanic market. Millions of Latino consumers are leading a revolution, turning to the Internet to communicate, learn about brands, express their views and drive change.

Take some time to get to know the people and organizations behind The Social Revolución, the nominees, judges and allies. Look at their faces, follow the tweets, read their profiles, watch their videos and you will quickly see and feel a passionate movement, a movement that you cannot afford to ignore.

A lot has changed since I first reported on how Hispanic online publishers were using Facebook in June 2010. Back then, only a few Hispanic publishers were taking Facebook seriously, but over the past year and a half, Hispanic publishers have significantly increased their presence on Facebook and now view it as a critical channel for them to remain competitive. For Hispanic publishers, a robust Facebook presence is critical for a few key reasons:

• Facebook reaches the majority of online Hispanics. As a result, Facebook represents an ideal place for Hispanic publishers to acquire new and engage with existing users.
• Facebook’s Hispanic advertising offering is effective. Facebook allows marketers to target Hispanics on Facebook on a cost-per-like or cost-per-click basis making Hispanic user acquisition affordable and predictable.
• Facebook can help drive revenue. A large and engaged Hispanic community can effectively drive traffic to publisher’s websites, increasing advertising revenue. In addition, these communities are becoming increasingly attractive to advertisers.

So which Hispanic online publishers are winning on Facebook?

If we look back to June 2010, Hispanic media giants Telemundo and Univision clearly saw the importance of Facebook. At the time they had 138,000 and 92,000 Facebook likers, respectively. But nobody else had a strong Facebook presence. Fast forward to today and the importance of Facebook to Hispanic online publishers is quite evident.
Here is a list of the top 10 Facebook communities of Hispanic online publishers. The list includes current likers, growth rate over the past 12 months and the current engagement rate*.

1. Yahoo en Español
o 1,240,000 likers
o 675% growth
o 3.46% engagement rate

2. Univision
o 690,000 likers
o 150% growth
o 6.23% engagement rate

3. Telemundo
o 399,000 likers
o 150% growth
o 5.19% engagement rate

4. Mun2
o 274,000 likers
o 113% growth
o 2.19% engagement rate

5. People en Español
o 217,000 likers
o 99% growth
o 9.99% engagement rate

6. Despierta America
o 207,000 likers
o 250% growth
o 56.95% engagement rate

7. Latinos in Social Media
o 150,000 likers
o 17% growth
o 0.10% engagement rate

8. Club de Noveleras Telemundo
o 137,000
o 42% growth
o 1.38% engagement rate

9. Batanga
o 92,000 likers
o 56% growth
o 0.93% engagement rate

10. Latina Magazine
o 82,000 likers
o 69% growth
o 6.78% engagement rate

How long will it last?

Building and maintaining robust Facebook communities like these requires significant investment and effort. Clearly Hispanic online publishers perceive that they are generating a return on their Facebook investment today.

That said, as Facebook’s growth begins to slow among Hispanics and more publishers and advertisers jump onto the platform, it will be increasingly difficult to compete for the attention of users. To rise above the noise, publishers will need to continuously refine their targeting and content strategies in order to grow and engage their communities. This effort will likely require more time and resources.

What will happen to these Facebook communities in the future is anybody’s guess, but one thing we can bet on is that Facebook will continue to innovate so that Hispanic online publishers keep doubling down.

*Current “talking about” divided by likers.

Now that social media has become an integral part of most people’s lives, marketers are continuously looking for ways to take advantage of it to reach you with their message. Of the various tactics being employed, Content Marketing has emerged as one that marketers are increasingly focusing on.

But what exactly is content marketing?

Wikipedia broadly defines it as a “marketing format that involves the creation and sharing of content to drive profitable consumer action”. A content marketing strategy clearly defines audience and objectives and outlines content formats including social media updates, longer form articles, e-newsletters, videos, blogs and others.
Content marketing is already being used successfully at a large-scale by marketers targeting mainstream audiences. But few have ventured into Hispanic content marketing. They should. And here’s why.

There is a lack of quality Hispanic content online

It’s a fact; the 35 million online Hispanics have relatively few content options available, that is to say that there is a lack of digital content in Spanish and content in English that is tailored to the Hispanic market. A recent Nielson study says that a full 60% of Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanic consumers agree there’s a lack of Spanish digital content, and Google reports that 56% of Hispanics that are not online cite a lack of Spanish content as the primary reason for not using the Internet. This represents a sound opportunity for marketers to fill the Hispanic online content gap by developing and distributing high-quality content that provides value to Hispanics.

Hispanic Search Engine Optimization is less competitive

Each month, 86% of online Hispanics visit Google looking for products, services and content relevant to them. Marketers should know that competing for Spanish language or Hispanic themed keywords is much easier when compared to equivalent English keywords. Try searches for “computer” and “computadora” on Google. Google caches over 1.3 billion pages and displays 11 paid ads for the English version, while the Spanish version gives me 88 million pages and 6 ads. Less search engine competition is directly related to the lack of Hispanic content, and brands can rise to the top of Google search results by executing a sound Hispanic content marketing strategy.

Hispanics are very likely to share good content

Countless studies have shown that Hispanics are extremely engaged with social media and a full 70% of online Hispanics visit Facebook each month. The appetite for social media is driven by not only the relative youth of the Hispanic market, but also by their desire to consume, create and share content that is relevant to them, content that is not readily being provided by brands and publishers.

As marketers begin to think more like publishers they should take a close look at the Hispanic market. They will find a large and growing market with a thirst for high-quality, relevant content.

Done right, their message will rise to the top of search engines, Facebook news feeds and ultimately be top of mind with Hispanics.

Now that the election is over our TV, computer and mobile screens will be bombarded with holiday shopping pitches. From a digital perspective, marketers will be competing to grab a share of the $54 billion that eMarketer predicts will be spent by consumers online this holiday season. Today Hispanics make up 12% of the U.S. online market, which means they will spend approximately $6.5 billion online this holiday season.

What should marketers know about Hispanic online shopping this holiday season? Hispanics are savvy and dedicated online shoppers and few marketers are targeting them, which represents a great opportunity.

Let’s take a look at the data.

Hispanics Are More Likely to Shop Online

A recent report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) found that 46% of online Hispanics 18+ regularly shop online compared to 43% of general market online users. Hispanics also over-index when it comes to researching products online prior to purchasing offline, with 48% of online Hispanics doing so regularly vs. 40% of general market online users. Retailers should pay particular attention to this and provide a seamless experience for online researchers to buy online. This could include buy-online – pick-up-in-store functionality, printable / downloadable product information and store locaters.

So what are online Hispanics likely to buy this holiday season? The following data shows the percent of online Hispanics who researched a given category online compared to the general market.

• Electronics: 52% vs. 45%
• Apparel: 45% vs. 39%
• Shoes: 33% vs. 28%
• Appliances: 31% vs. 28%

Mobile and Social Are Key to Reaching Hispanic Shopping Carts

Hispanics are more likely than the general market to seek advice prior to making a purchase and they do so through mobile and social channels. Marketers looking to tap into Hispanic online shopping holiday season should look to mobile and social media. This is how Hispanics seek purchase advice compared to the general market:

• Face-to-Face: 75% vs. 79%
• Product Reviews: 35% vs. 34%
• Email: 25% vs. 26%
• Text: 24% vs. 21%
• Mobile Device: 23% vs. 21%
• Facebook: 20% vs. 18%
• Blogs: 16% vs. 13%

Most Retailers Ignoring Hispanic Online Shopping Opportunity
Given this research, it would seem that retailers would be proactively marketing to online Hispanics. However, that’s not the case.

Of large retailers Best Buy and Sears’s Hispanic online efforts stand out. As I mentioned in a previous post, Best Buy offers a full Spanish language version of BestBuy.com and has a strategy for supporting Hispanics who research online and purchase in store. That said, Best Buy does not offer a Spanish version of its mobile site and does not have a Spanish language social media presence.

Sears’s Hispanic online strategy is focused not only on a Spanish language version of its site, but also on social media, including the Sears Latino Facebook page (110,000 followers) and Twitter account (more than 4,000 followers.)

It seems like the door is wide open for other retailers to cash in on the $6.5 billion that Hispanics will spend this holiday season.

The recently launched new MySpace features a slick design, horizontal scrolling, and a focus on musicians, artists, celebrities and their fans. The new owners, including Justin Timberlake, who bought MySpace from News Corp for only $30 million in June 2011, are aiming to turn around the world’s first social network.

Given Facebook’s dominance in the social space, it won’t be an easy task. But one thing is clear: the success of MySpace might just depend on how it connects with acculturated Hispanics. That is, the growing number of young, upwardly mobile Hispanics who tend to use the Internet in English.

Making Some Space for Hispanics

This segment of the Hispanic online market is very attractive to MySpace for several reasons.

• It is large and growing; the 2012 Census reported that 63% of the 50 million Hispanics in the U.S. were born here
• Preference for English, 73% of Hispanics surf the web in English or in both English and Spanish
• Tech savvy, this group is extremely active with social media and are early adopters
• Younger, more educated and more affluent when compared to less-acculturated Hispanics
• Advertising budgets are increasingly being allocated to reach them
• Relatively low competition as few big media companies are paying attention to them

Given these factors, I was not surprised to see the new MySpace launch with an offering for U.S. Hispanics, they offer a U.S. Latino version of the site accessible from the bottom navigation. This coupled with the fact that MySpace has maintained a strong position in the Hispanic online market over the past few years is a good starting point.

MySpace reaches more Hispanics than Univision.com

Despite being somewhat neglected, comScore reports that MySpace received 3.7 million Hispanic visitors in August 2012, compare this to Univision.com who received 2.6 million.
Not only does MySpace compete well against Hispanics sites, it also holds a solid position among smaller social networks. MySpace currently reaches 14% of the total Hispanic online market, just behind Twitter who enjoys 16% reach and more than Tumblr and Pinterest who have 11% and 7% reach respectively. In case you’re wondering, Facebook reaches almost 70% of online Hispanics.

What Should MySpace Do?

MySpace can thank its strong position among Hispanics in large part to its focus on music and entertainment, which resonate with younger, acculturated Hispanics. In August 2012, 54% of MySpace’s Hispanic visitors were between the ages of 12-34 compared to 42% for the overall Hispanic online market. In terms of language, 56% of MySpace’s Hispanic visitors use the Internet primarily in English compared to 52% of all online Hispanics.

As MySpace reinvents itself, it is clear they should pay special attention to the acculturated segment of the Hispanic market. They have a strong Hispanic user base, a renewed content approach that will resonate with this audience and advertisers hungry to reach them. In order to succeed, MySpace should ensure that they continue to provide content that is relevant to acculturated Latinos, proactively market to them and provide targeting solutions that allow advertisers to reach them

I created an account, will you?

I spend a lot of time keeping up with the ever changing Hispanic market. Over the past ten years the Hispanic market has grown exponentially, inspired the creation of numerous companies and careers and played an important role in shaping the social and mobile industries in addition to political elections.

But keeping up with this market is no easy task because it is so dynamic.

That’s why I thought it might be helpful to share some of my go to resources for staying on top of the Hispanic market, that is, in addition to this blog.

Hispanic Macro Trends

I am a big fan of the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet & American Life Project . Pew is a non-partisan, non-profit research organization that puts out high quality studies and info-graphics that illuminate the Hispanic market, including technology adoption. I found their most recent study on Hispanic student enrollment very encouraging as Hispanics are now the largest minority in American colleges.

Another valuable resource for keeping up with the aggregate Hispanic market is Ipsos, a for-profit research firm that focuses on the marketing industry. They periodically release valuable information on the Hispanic market that is accessible by registering for a free account. One of their recent studies found that Hispanics are more optimistic than the rest of the country, a good reason for targeting this group.

Hispanic Media Habits

Understanding how Hispanics engage with media is critical in developing appropriate strategies to reach them. I frequently search for Hispanic themed content on Nielsen’s nielsenwire and find valuable articles on Hispanic media habits. Of note, their May 2012 report on Smartphone Usage shows that 57.3% of Hispanic mobile users use Smartphones compared to 44.7% of White mobile users.

When it comes to Internet usage, comScore’s subscription based Hispanic panel has emerged as the gold standard in Hispanic Internet audience measurement. If you don’t have access to the panel, comScore does publish numerous presentations and white papers on the latest trends and at times includes Hispanic-centric information. You can also check out the popularity of websites with the free versions of Quantcast and Compete . Of the two, I tend to use Quantcast more as they provide insights into the popularity of any website among Hispanics, for example they report that Hispanics over index in their usage of YouTube.

Hispanic Social Media Usage

Most of the resources listed above also provide solid insights on Hispanic social media usage. I like to supplement that information by following the non-profit organization Latinos in Social Media on Twitter via #latism. Finally, I find visiting popular Hispanic Facebook pages very useful as you can get a first-hand glimpse into the Hispanic online market and get a sense for what is on the minds of this consumer segment in real time.

So there you have it, my hand picked list of the most helpful and useful resources on the Hispanic market. Which ones am I missing? Please do share!

For this post I thought it would be interesting to provide a digital perspective on the recently published Ad Age Hispanic Fact Pack. From a high level, investment in the Hispanic digital medium continues to outpace investment in traditional mediums, however compared to the general market, we still have a long way to go.

Hispanic display advertising jumped 25% in 2011

In 2011, total investment in Hispanic measured media hit $7 billion, a jump of 4.2% over the previous year. During the same time period, advertisers invested $420 million in Hispanic display advertising, representing a solid 25% increase from 2010. At first glance these figures tell a positive story for the Hispanic digital market, but looking deeper it sheds some light on where this market really is today. According to Ad Age, total U.S. spending on display advertising reached $11 billion in 2011, which means that spending on Hispanic display represents only 3.8% of the total. With Hispanics currently making up nearly 16% of the total US market there is clearly a gap that I believe represents an opportunity for marketers looking to build long term relationships with Hispanics.

Ford prioritizing Hispanic digital

Ford is one marketer that is taking advantage of this Hispanic digital opportunity. The Fact Pack ranks the company 15th in terms of their total investment in Hispanic measured-media spending, but 2nd in when it comes to spending on digital display advertising, a clear indication that digital is a priority to them. Ford has invested in a robust Hispanic digital communication platforms that leverages digital trends highlighted by the 2012 Hispanic Fact Pack.

An overwhelming majority of Hispanics continue to use mainstream sites

The most popular web properties among online Hispanics include Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo! each reaching more than 70% of all online Hispanics. To put things in perspective, the leading Hispanic website, Univision.com reached only 17% of online Hispanics. Savvy marketers use both mainstream and Hispanic themed sites to reach the online Hispanic market.

It is not surprising that Facebook is the third most popular website among Hispanics, reaching 72% of them in May 2012. The next most popular social media site among Hispanics is Twitter with 16.5% reach, followed by MySpace, LinkedIn and Tumblr. Not only have Hispanics embraced social media in large numbers, they also have positive attitudes towards it, whether they use it in English or Spanish. Ford has taken note of the fact that Hispanics are more likely to follow brands they like and spread the word about them via social media by investing in two Facebook pages, Ford en Español and Ready Pa’ Tu Mundo.

Mobile is the next frontier in Hispanic marketing

Similar to countless other reports of the Hispanic market, the Fact Pack also confirms that Hispanics are active mobile users. Most interesting to me was findings that indicate that Hispanics, regardless of language preference, over-index the general market in their usage of smartphones.

That said, connecting with Hispanics via mobile represents a unique set of challenges that savvy marketers are thinking about today. These include traditional Hispanic marketing questions such as segmentation, coupled with fast moving technology implications from mobile optimized websites, native applications for multiple platforms, location based technologies and whatever comes next.
Ford has taken a strong first step with a mobile optimized version and it will be interesting to see how they take advantage of this trend moving forward.

I am already looking forward to the 2013 Hispanic Fact Pack!