Hispanics under the Trump Administration

 

 

Today we swear in a president that throughout his campaign has demonstrated extreme dislike  for the Hispanic population(immigrants and US born Hispanics). His rhetoric on immigrants and emphasizing the border wall was enough to make you shudder.

 

Hispanic and minorities were supposed to be the core of the election and turned out not to be true. Although the census and studies state otherwise, will the results of  the Hispanic vote on this election affect the marketing strategies? Will it be believed that it is such an influence as once thought.

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Targeting Multi- Generational Hispanics Through TV and Media

 

We have more than covered the Hispanic  millennial’s use of social media and  their hyper connectivity with the internet  and smartphones. However, traditional mediums like television and radio still remain constant with their demographics particularly station like Univision that although it is slowly changing, still have a problem connecting with the acculturated Hispanic. Catering to this group involves more than the Spanish language  .

 

II is  all about cultural relevancy.   Time and time again research has  shown  this is what this group seeks. In my earlier post , I discussed 10 of the most important factors important to this group and although they are an acculturated group, they are still proud of their heritage.

 

They still seek that connection or that identity that binds them to something that if not preserved they  lose part of themselves.

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Why Are Minorities So Misrepresented In the American Media?

 

There are many problems with misrepresentation of minorities in film and TV.  The reason behind this lack of diversity is basically that the majority of  entertainment executive and studio’s CEO are overwhelmingly white and male.  It is a very competitive field and most of the decision makers are overwhelmingly white male seeking the best profit in film.  The bottom line is that  movies are costly to produce and Hollywood is big business. It is  highly motivated by consumerism  and the marketing dollar,  and the result of the limited analytics and demographics about television media.

 

The lack of minority writers is also a factor. For the past 20 years the writer rooms have been staffed mainly with overwhelmingly white writers and if a Latino role gets written in at all it is portrayed as the stereotypical over sexualized Latina and the Latin macho.

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The Insider’s Guide to Hispanic Marketing

 

After all these years studying Hispanic marketing strategies, study after study suggest that the following factors are key to engage the Hispanic market: cultural relevancy, language, family, cultural identity and what this group bring to the marketers is possibly one of the most coveted age groups to target they are young  (average age 18) with high disposable incomes, highly savvy and active in social media . However, the reality  is that like any other ethnic group, Hispanics are sold to  or advertised as a group” Hispanic” rather than individual cultures within a larger group. Every one with different customs,tastes and different purchases priorities that have to be accentuated in order to reach them.  Therefore the “guide” if you will is just the result of several studies that have shown what is important to this group and how to target them.

 

      HOW THE HISPANIC MARKET WILL CHANGE IN 2017

                                                         

Mobile

This is the focal point of Hispanic marketing. Hispanics are extremely connected and active in social media channels, so mobile advertising and now video is imperative for the Hispanic marketing strategy. Whatsapp Messenger and Facebook Messager are widely used by Hispanics. Geo location is also a very important facet of the strategy because it keeps a tab of where and where they shop and pinpoints what they usually buy in these locations.Google is gearing up analytics that demonstrate digital to retail path purchase which give the shopper the detailed information on  and how effective mobile advertising is for this group. Therefore more than mobile advertising will be the next step to reach this vast group.  This is mobile 2.0 as such.

“English-language Hispanic-targeted content”

Cultural connection and cultural relevance go hand in hand and most often is is defined by language and customs. Cultural connection regardless of foreign born or US born Hispanics, is very important to them because of family’s connection to their homeland. This is ingrained by parents and reinforced by grandparents and although they have adapted or acculturated to US customs, they do preserve and are proud of their Latin heritage. Therefore, ads targeting the cultural relevance or that portray that specific group in a non stereotypical respond favorably to ads.


By the same token, bilingual advertising also works well with first generation Hispanics ( and do not underestimate this age group) although not as oriented towards internet or social media, they are also savvy consumers and like products that are geared toward their needs and wants.

Video/Content Marketing

Content is king for every marketing strategy today, when you deal with the Hispanic market, culture is king and so is video. These two seem to go hand in hand with the Latino group. Mobile advertising was the first strategy and culturally relevant advertising. Given their social nature and their hyper connectivity with social media sites, video sharing is what seems to be name game for mobile 2.0. So video ads catering to the needs and videos that speak generally to them seem to be the strategy for the remainder of the year.

Demographics

Demographics is a very important . Where Hispanics live and which group , depends on the state and county within the state. The  greatest growth in the  Hispanic population from 2010-2015 were  in the states of California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Arizona, New Jersey, Colorado and New Mexico  at the rate of 63% during those five years. Although the growth is a function of continued migration in the past 5 years,  it is also an  increase  of US born Hispanic population.  Because of this continued growth, Hispanics are prime targets for marketers, showing not only growth in numbers but in purchasing power.  This provides perfect opportunities for marketers and their startup businesses to reach this market.  Moreover,  demographics are important as it relates to your business and the Hispanic group you want to sell and target. At the regional level, for example, Mexicans are concentrated mainly in the West and South; Puerto Ricans are in the Northeast and South; Cubans are overwhelmingly in the South; and Dominicans reside mainly in the Northeast.

Cultural Connection

This is a big factor for Hispanics, For most Hispanics who are US born, their affinity to their culture and everything that embodies it, is very important to them. Per a study conducted by Yahoo, third generation Hispanics value their cultural heritage through food, traditions, family values, and family name. Language came in 7th most important. Remember these are third generation (Gen-Z) Hispanics that have for the most part acculturated and adapted to English.

Language/ Adwords

Language does play a factor with Hispanics, particularly for the  millennial and first generation Hispanics, because it is  still is one of the primary sources of cultural connection and identity. Given that Spanish is generally  wordier and takes up more characters  also optimized for Spanish SEO) Google has started expanded texts ads for 30 character ads .They are mobile-optimized  and will allow two line ads instead of one.

Millennial/Gen-Z (youth)

This age group is the most coveted group by advertisers and the group that has the most disposable income, are highly internet savvy and incredibly social and active in the social media platforms. It is the youngest ethnic group with at lest one third of the population under 18 (latest figures in 2014). Per Pew Research Center  Most Latino  immigrants arrive as working-age adults. Some 26% of Latino immigrants in 2014 were Millennials and a 37% of them were Gen Xers (ages 34 to 49). As such  94% of Latinos 18-29 year olds and 84 % of 30-49 use the internet on cellphones or mobile devices . There is a correlation between  higher education and income  with internet use. (91%) of higher educated Hispanics  whereas (63%) use internet in less educated households. The same applies for income levels.

Acculturation

To quote the article first hand. Acculturation is dead. Despite popular belief Hispanic immigration has decreased since the mid-2000’s and as more Hispanics are US born, the idea of acculturation has not become  a cross cultural strategy. There is nothing to acculturate to as the majority become citizens. That is not to say that  US born Hispanics are not tied to their cultural identity. (See above)

Family

In Hispanic culture, family is everything and that includes the extended family as well. All decisions are made as a unit and that most often include  (or highly influenced by) to the purchases they make. Given that many households are multi-generational, large importance is put on the elder (grandparents) to maintain  the cohesiveness of the family and its traditions, values, language, cultural connection and preservation. For this reason, preserving language and bilingual advertising are important to this group.

Growth by the Numbers

The Hispanic population by numbers is about to grow at a rate of 59% by 2040 therefore the success of tapping this group will remain in targeting  their cultural differences , their consumer orientations, customs and tastes. Using the demographics to target your specific group and using your cultural relevant marketing strategy it makes good sense to keep this ever growing group as part of  your marketing strategy.

 

WHY BRANDS STILL MISS THE MARK WITH HISPANIC    MARKETING

Despite all these studies , statistics and strategies, marketers continue to miss the mark in capturing  this large potential market. It it still a total market mentality and blanket approach to marketing, that still plagues the industry.  Too many advertises for the sake of costs, still hold that approach for this market and still believe that by only translating marketing copy will reach them.   Also, the lack of funding for multicultural campaigns , agencies are deemed to do more with less advertising dollars.     

 

No matter how much information has been written out there as to reach this market, brands will continue to regard the general rule of the mass appeal because to them Hispanic market despite the numbers represent a fraction of their general market share . We will cater to all with the same strategy across the board.

 

If we are to generate big numbers, then there are changes to make in strategy, that unfortunately will continue to be a point for discussion.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Let me reemphasize by last point on this table.

The Hispanic population by numbers is about to grow at a rate of 59% by 2040  therefore the success of tapping this group will remain in targeting  their cultural differences , their consumer orientations, customs and tastes. Using the demographics to target your specific group and using your cultural relevant marketing strategy it makes good sense to keep this ever growing group as part of  your marketing strategy.

 

Social Media Monitoring Tools That Provide Engagement for Spanish Dominant Hispanics.

 

We have discussed at length  how  Hispanics tend to be highly connected to their  mobile devices and are highly involved in social media. That behavior too is also linked to a specific age group; the younger the demographic, the more  connected and dependent they are  to their cellular devices. Furthermore,  we have also discussed that the younger the demographic the more English dominant they become as well despite the fact that they are fully bilingual but because of acculturation will prefer to engage and communicate in English. But when we turn to the older demographic and their  internet use, we see that although there are also for the most part bilingual still prefer and are largely Spanish dominant. Although their internet use is not as extensive (63%) it is directly correlated to higher education and income , the more  level of education and income level , the more they are likely (91%) to use the internet.

 

Companies like Social Compass, a Twitter engagement tool  launched in 2014, just released  its Spanish version to attract and market to its Hispanic consumers. As part of its marketing strategy, his application  searches tweets  by location, industry and keywords and whenever a customer tweets a need and is ready to buy a product, the company can reach out directly to the consumer with a promotional discount.  By  downloading the coupon, it not only provides a discount but also the ability to share the app with other consumers, generating  not only conversion rates and sales for the company  but also engagement within their customer base. Furthermore, once the discount is downloaded their information gets stored in a database and continuously  monitors the customer’s engagement. The results of this platform have been tremendous. By the end of 2014, Social Compass had a conversion rate of 34%  Another example is Brandwatch , which is another media platform that allows engagement in 44 languages including Spanish. The company allows their customers to make their own rules and change mentions whenever necessary. This  tool allows you to track and follow the clients engagement and social mentions to a product or business. Great for marketing analytics just not great for  personal privacy .    Netvibes a social media dashboard that allows full engagement of all the major platforms across the web. Although it does not provide analytics it ta a great way to monitor engagement of your business across many channels.  Although it was started in France, it was initially in French and English but have incorporated other languages as well including Spanish.  Finally, Repustate a sentiment analysis program that allows you to extract  opinions and attitudes  about a specific business .It is available in 11 languages.

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