Ethnicity is a segmentation that people often shy away from- but in the case of the Hispanic market, this is a big mistake: it’s the fastest-growing segment in the United States, and connecting to it successfully will net you huge gains.
We’d like to share some of what we’ve learned about engaging this large and diverse population on Facebook Ads. In this post, we’ll talk about the value and demographics of this valuable market segment; in later posts, we’ll talk about how to engage it successfully. Let’s get started!
1. Understand Your Market Potential
The Hispanic market is huge. Hispanic and Latino Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, with over 50 million Hispanics currently living in the U.S. By 2050, Hispanics are expected to comprise roughly one-quarter of the U.S. population. Additionally, many Hispanic Americans have extensive family ties to extended families elsewhere in North and South America.
The Hispanic market is easy to reach. Hispanics are heavy tech users, using their phones as the primary means to access social media. They spend more time on social media than any other media outlet, using Facebook and YouTube more than any other ethnic group in the U.S. An astounding 85 percent of Hispanic internet users access Facebook and, according to Facebook, Hispanic users over-index on all key engagement metrics including comments, messages and likes compared to all other American demographics. Just as importantly, Hispanics are responsive to ad content- they report paying attention to ads online at a rate 20 percent higher than the rest of the population.
The Hispanic market has high purchasing power and high consumer spending. Almost half of Hispanic households on the internet earn over $60,000 per year. Twenty-five percent earn over $100,000. In addition to having money to spend, the Hispanic market is composed of active spenders: Hispanic-American consumer spending outpaces every other ethnic group. The individual Hispanic consumer spends more of their money on consumer goods than any other in the United States.
The Hispanic market is diverse. Americans that identify as Hispanic or Latino claim over 25 different countries of ethnic origin. Almost half of Hispanic Americans are first-generation immigrants, and most that are not are second or third-generation immigrants, who tend to maintain strong connections to their traditions of language, food, and music- which vary strongly between countries of origin. Most Hispanic consumers are at least partially bilingual, and many use Spanish and English interchangeably depending on cultural context.
Any skilled marketer should already see the tremendous benefit of courting the Hispanic market: a large population of media-friendly engaged consumers with disposable income. While the potential is great, so are the challenges: as a large and diverse group, no one message is likely to resonate with the Hispanic market as a whole, and attempts to do so will likely be viewed as disingenuous and pandering. The segments of the Hispanic market must be well understood and targeted to realize the full potential of this powerful consumer bloc.
Next time, we’ll talk about exactly how to do that- what approaches are useful in tailoring your Facebook Ads campaign for the absolute best results!