Have you ever thought about how many Hispanics are online? If you have ever considered as reaching out to Hispanics making use of the Internet maybe you would like to learn more and consider this figures and think about it in more serious terms.
The idea of the uncultured Hispanic that keeps very reluctant to the use of technology and interracial interaction, is simply a thing of the past… think about the people in your network, how many of them are very used to technology, how much you communicate with them through technology. On top of that, if you consider that not only the second and third generation Hispanics, but the younger ones, have grown up being very familiar to technology and are the ones growing up with a considerable residual income and are used to spend more and consider more gadgets an important part of their day to day live, you have an untapped market with enormous potential and a good option to be considered in a very serious terms. Do you need to see some numbers?
- Hispanics are connecting twice as fast as the general market (14% growth vs. 7%) adding over a million users per year. In 2008 there were 23 million Hispanics online, about 52% of the Hispanic population. In 2012 more than 29 million will be online increasing Internet penetration to 58.6%. Living a connected, collective and spontaneous life is a fundamental Hispanic value and desire. Technology that facilitates connecting, sharing, entertaining and learning is rapidly becoming indispensable for the majority of Hispanics. We are referring to those that are connecting on their computers and recent figures put 57% of Hispanics going online through their mobile phones.
- The growing Hispanic middle class is super connected: 88% of Hispanics with a household income of $50,000 + are online. For categories such as technology, consumer electronics, financial services and travel, connecting with consumers where they explore your products, research options, share experiences with communities, and ultimately buy your products is not an option, it’s a necessity.
- Hispanics are early adopters of mobile technology: 31 million have a mobile phone. By the age of 15, penetration of wireless services is 64%, by 17, it rises to 78%. Hispanics have the highest proportion of “cord-cutters” (transitioning from using land line to cell phone as their primary phone line) among all segments. For the most part, mobile and internet marketing is not really on the radar as a consistent Hispanic marketing strategy. The challenge and opportunity of mobile marketing seems to lie in truly capitalizing on the relationship people have with their mobile devices. The mobile phone is not just another screen onto which ads are sent. It represents an opportunity to fundamentally change the relationship between brand and consumer.
- Hispanics will spend money on what they really want: They spend 42% more on mobile devices and 35% more on data services than the average user. Convention tells us that the Hispanic market is very value-conscious and often makes purchase decisions based on price. When it comes to technology, the opposite has proven to be true.
- Roughly half of the Hispanics online prefer Spanish, and for 66% it’s important to be recognized as Hispanic through culturally relevant content. Online Hispanics move from Spanish to English and back again in different moments of an interactive brand experience. And far from being a disadvantage, this kind of fluid activity opens up interesting opportunities that helps them to customize their online experience.
- Hispanics are dynamic content creators and consumers: Two-thirds of online Hispanics use the Web to view other consumers’ content and 40% create content and provide their opinions online. Initially generated due to a lack of relevant and in-language content, consumer-generated content in the Hispanic market has taken on a life of its own. Hispanics dramatically outpace the general market in creating and sharing content, and few brands have figured out how to be part of the process creatively. The challenge is to support consumers, provide resources and even become part of the process without imposing artificial restrictions or values.
- Entertainment content main appeal for online engagement: 37% listen to Internet radio vs. just 30% of non-Hispanics and 36% download music vs. just 29% of non-Hispanics. They represent a captive consumer that is willing to spend time, and in many cases, money for entertainment content online.
- An online collective life: 77% engage in some kind of online socializing. 40% are part of a social network. An estimated 20% of Hispanics online are considered “Hispanic-fluentials.” If word of mouth is key to any successful Hispanic marketing initiative, the online space has taken the dynamic to another level. Online, the collective hyper-social Hispanic cultural dynamic can be expressed, explored and developed without limits.
- Multi-tasking: Part of the Hispanic DNA. On average, Hispanics spend 17 hours per week online, but they spend 14 hours per day with a technology device (versus 8 hours for the general population). The big opportunity: moving focus from one screen to three, dynamically connected screens. Because of their higher propensity to use converged technology, this consumer is the perfect target for developing truly integrated multi-channel campaigns.
- Hispanic online landscape is less crowded: Interactive Advertising Media Investment represented 4.6% in 2007, while in the general market, it is around 7%. The online Hispanic opportunity is not only about a big and growing market, or about consumers that are eager to engage. Brands that go in and engage the consumer first have a unique opportunity to establish themselves as first movers and true resources for Hispanic consumers.
So what do you think? do you still believe it is hard to reach Hispanics through the web, maybe it is hard to grab their attention, but given the innate ability of Hispanics for community creation and engagement Social Media and user generated content acquires a more significant and key element to be taken very serious while planning your marketing expense, it is not enough to do “stuff” in Spanish to reach out to Hispanics, it is important to appeal to their background, heritage and emotional character and interact where they already are.
Many thanks to Liz Hernandez from http://liz101.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/realtor®-magazine-daily-news-a-historic-time-to-buy/ for sharing this amazing information.
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Yes, it is true that Latinos are a growing presence on the Worldwide Web. More and more digital marketing and advertising is the best way to tap into their growing population and purchasing power. Thanks for this smart info!
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