Spanish Facts

Hispanics in the USAs

The explosive increase in the U.S. Hispanic population coupled with its increasing purchasing power has companies competing for a larger market share of his largely untapped market. Advertisers will spent an estimated $3.8 billion in 2008 to market their products to U.S. Hispanics. What role does the internet play in Hispanic’s daily lives? How can you improve your Marketing Strategies to this market? This market not just big, its complex and constantly changing. Understanding these facts and developing strategies to address complexity and change will give you a winning approach to the Hispanic Market. We hope this report will offer you alternative solutions to help you grow with the right focus on the U.S. Online Hispanic Market.

The Growing Hispanic Market

The U.S. Hispanic population, which officially became the largest minority in the United States in 2002, will continue in this position through 2050. Today, goverment census reports over 43.5 million U.S. Hispanics make up almost 15% of the U.S. population and growing 5 times faster than the general population which is more that a 70% increase in the last 10 years.

There are many companies that have tracked and researched the Hispanic Market for over 20 years; however, it is now evident that the Hispanic market needs more than just accurate demographics and consumer data. If you can know who they are today and can predict where they will go in the future, then you can guarantee to take the lead in this market.

The Hispanic population in the U.S. continues to increase at a 5.4% annual rate. According to researchs it is estimated that in 2007,net natural growth of the Hispanic population (births minus deaths) surpassed immigration as the main source of population growth. This means that each year over 1 million children will be born to Hispanic mothers. Also keep in mind that 35% of all Hispanics are under the age 18 and 32% are between 18 and 35 years old. Therefore, you are looking at a very young market with the median age of 25.

Buying Power

The immense buying power to the nation's Hispanic consumers will energize the U.S. consumer market as never before, accurate statistic reveal that this group alone will control over $700 billion in spending power in 2008. Of the many forces supporting this substantial and continued growth, the most important is favorable demographics. However, better employment opportunities also help to increase the group's financial capabilities, which compute to an average household annual buying power of approximately $52,700 with an average size of 3.5 members per household, while the average for the overall U.S. population is slightly fewer than 2.7 members. Hispanics of Mexican and Central American origin have the largest household size with 3.7.

Because of differences in per capita income, wealth, demographics, and culture, the spending habits of Hispanics are not the same as those of the average U.S. consumer. The most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey indicates the Hispanic consumers spent in total only about 87 percent as much as the average non-Hispanic household and spent a higher proportion on their income on goods and services

Despite their lower average income levels, Hispanics spent more on groceries, phone services, furniture, small appliances and house wares, children's apparel, and footwear. Also, a higher proportion of the Hispanics' total spending was concentrated on restaurants, housing, vehicle purchases, and gasoline and motor oil. Compared to the total population, Hispanics spent about the same proportion of their total outlays on alcoholic beverages, utilities, housekeeping supplies, household textiles, floor coverings, major appliances, men and boy's clothing, public transportation, and personal care products and services

Segmentation

Segmenting is an extremely valuable research tool for marketers. As with any population, Hispanics can be divided into various different segments depending on the interests and goals of the marketer. The reasons marketers segment consumers are varied, but mostly segmentation helps in identifying who will be a good target for your marketing initiative and helps you position your product or service in the a way that makes since to the target consumer.

In today's market, it is not good enough just to say: "we are going to target the Hispanic market." A more analytical approach is usually needed. The Hispanic market is composed of immigrants and 3rd generation Americans: Spanish dominant Hispanics and those who only speak English; not to mention 74% are Mexicans, 9% Puerto Ricans, 3% Cubans-22 different countries of origin with different values, customs, behaviors, attitudes, and maybe have pre-conceived notions of your brand.

Because marketing to Hispanics can seem difficult - 2 languages, 22 country of origins, immigrants vs. U.S. born Hispanics - Hispanic marketers have relied on Acculturation Models in order to paint a clearer picture of the makeup of the Hispanic market. The main focus is to market Hispanics into groups that make sense from a strategic marketing perspective and develop groups that inherently different from each other in the way they perceive and interact with the world, and because of the difference, differ in ways they respond to your communications and brand.

U.S. Hispanics are not a homogenous group of consumers and competitors are already marketing to specific segments. Marketing to the right group of Hispanic consumers will build effectiveness and efficiency of efforts in all your Marketing campaigns.

The Online Hispanic Market

According to goverment census studies conducted with users at home, work and university, the U.S. has over 22.9 million Hispanic users Internet with a 60% penetration. To put that in perspective, that’s more that the entire online population of Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile. If U.S. Hispanics are growing by 15-20% annually, then It's definitely a market you must include in your global strategy.

Other studies shows that Hispanic internet users spend more time online than Internet users in general. Among Hispanics online 82 percent use the Internet to communicate with family and friends; 71 percent use it to swap photos; 68 percent use it to zap instant messages. It also shows that Hispanics also like to use the Internet for entertainment purposes, buying concert and movie tickets, watching video clips and downloading music in greater proportions that overall Internet users. According to this same report, there will be over 23 million Hispanic internet users in the US by 2010, where they will represent over 11% of all U.S. web users.

"As more and more Hispanic consumers go online, marketers using Internet advertising can better target them and measure their actions, compared with what is allowed by traditional ad media, nevertheless in combination is a golden punch. In fact, a great way to start marketing to Hispanics online, going beyond the obvious demographic targeting is to use paid search since it allows you to reach Hispanics who are already expressing an interest in your product or service category."

Major shopping online surveys determined that U.S. Internet users have spent an average of $64 online more than Hispanics over a past-three month period. However, evaluating specific items bought online, it is reported that Hispanics are more likely than the general Internet population to buy consumer electronics, even tickets, CD's or DVDs and groceries online.

"It's more likely that the percentage of going online has risen because of more college students, that is 91% of Hispanic college students had been online before, which compares to just 82% of the general Hispanic population.

It's true that the general Hispanic population has a relatively lower rate of credit card ownership, however, it is also believed that the more time Hispanics spend online the more comfortable they will be shopping on the Internet. Paying online is probably less likely an issue today as debit cards and other alternative payment systems can be used instead of credit cards. Keep in mind that those Hispanics that are online today are more educated and receive higher incomes.

Still one of the most significant facts presented by the Census Bureau was the Internet purchasing behavior among the U.S. Hispanics is reflected in the increase in spending which grew from $13.2 billion in 2006 to $16.9 billion in 2007.

10 Golden points to remember when targeting the Hispanic Market

1. Have a realistic objective strategy and do not always compare the Hispanic Market with that done for the general market. Remember, this market is unique and responds in its distinctive ways.
2. Top executives and marketing managers must be committed to the market, not just for a test here and there. You need at least 12 months to measure real results and adjust campaigns to be in maximum efficiency.
3. Pre-targeting the Hispanic market needs readiness assessment. Marketers need the right front and back-end processes, as well as be advised to have third – party audits from specialists.
4. Your organization must set aside enough resources: people, time, money and systems. The reason many CEOs do not move into Hispanic marketing is they are unsure how it will change their organization. They want the option to retain, up sell and cross-sell. The right strategy can be very rewarding.
5. Should website be in Spanish or in both languages? This really depends to your unique case. Sometimes companies need to have a fully translated website. Other times it can be enough to just implement bilingual webpage’s. In the past, usually portals with heavy content need full translation and ecommerce websites can get away with just adding product descriptions in Spanish. Now websites are more competitive with the market, therefore the right decision for language use can be one of the more important point of consideration in your overall strategy.
6. Other issues to consider on the content are not just simple translations from English, proper production standards and effective creative for correct imagery must be ser to achieve high conversions on the landing pages.
7. Start with paid programs, Cost per Click campaigns are must less expensive, and you could be getting very high traffic volume keywords for just fractions of the cost compared to English terms. Organic results on search engines are much less competed, so be the first to set foot on solid top rankings through Search Engine Optimization efforts.
8. Anticipate additional marketing efforts designing your advertisements and optimized pages. Copy is longer in Spanish and you will need to translate keywords that need to be carefully researched so that it can receive the highest traffic volume through correctly chosen keywords and phrases that might not be your original translation.
9. Apply the same analytical metrics to Hispanic campaigns as to general market efforts; be doing not expect the same results. Test, measure results and make adjustments until you have reached maximum efficiency on your Hispanic Marketing campaigns.
10. Most important of all, the Hispanic market is not a “One-Size fits all”, proper segmentation is the key is to reaching the right Hispanic consumer for your product or service. There are different acculturation segments, countries of origin, education levels, financial status, geographical and demographic characteristics among many other factors that play important roles finding your targeted online Hispanic consumer.

Conclusions

Having U.S. Hispanics be the largest minority and one of the most powerful Spanish speaking communities in the world with more than $700 Billion dollars in buying power, it is very evident that companies need more than just accurate demographics and consumer data to build their Marketing campaigns. It takes a lot more than just correct usage of the Spanish language to take a piece of the $16.9 billion spent online by U.S. Hispanics in 2003. There must be a realistic overall strategy from Marketers and commitment to achieve measurable results.