The ongoing pandemic continues to change how brands reach their consumers. Online internet traffic is up across the board and with most of the country under stay-at-home orders, consumers are spending more time than ever in front of screens. The Hispanic market is no different. Already considered heavy consumers of digital content, Hispanic consumers in the COVID-19 era are finding themselves online for longer and across a wide variety of channels.
As brands look for opportunities to stay in front of their Hispanic consumers, we thought we would share some insights into where we’re finding success in reaching Hispanic consumers who are increasingly home-bound and digital-facing during the pandemic.
We should note that these recommendations will be better informed by gaining insights into the demographic and psychographic segmentation of your target Hispanic consumer. The media mix you should use varies significantly between a bicultural Hispanic in Los Angeles and a first-generation Hispanic living in Georgia, for instance.
Music Streaming
Platforms like Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and TuneIn consistently score high index metrics among most segments of the Hispanic market. In fact, according to a recent Nielsen study, Hispanics listen to 32 hours of music each week and almost 50% of that time is spent streaming music online.
Radio is Still Important
Don’t neglect radio. While the Hispanic consumer is highly connected to digital channels, radio still rules the day among older Hispanics and semi-acculturated Hispanics. Radio plays an important role in the media consumption habits of the Hispanic consumer both as a source of nostalgia but also a value-friendly way to consume local content. Of course, given that traditional radio stations are typically genre-specific, it’s particularly important to know your target consumer’s music preferences, especially as they evolve from a language, cultural, and socioeconomic perspective.
Esports and Game Streams
72% of US Hispanics age 13+ consider themselves gamers, according to Nielsen data. A popular destination for finding community and social interactions, the gaming space is becoming a major channel for reaching the younger, increasingly bicultural Hispanic market. The Latinx gaming community is also highly engaged in gaming news with 44% of Latinx gamers saying they “keep up with recent gaming news” compared with 32% for total gamers. As far as online game streaming platforms, Latinx gamers are preferring YouTube and Twitch as their platforms of choice, according to Nielsen.
OTT Platforms
Increasingly, Latinx consumers are interested in consumer TV content online, but especially on their mobile (overindexing by 59% according to recent Nielsen data). Paired with the ease of subscribing to services like Hulu with the deep penetration of mobile Internet usage among Hispanic consumers, OTT is a strong channel to use in reaching Hispanic consumers.
Social
Social media platforms are strong plays for reaching Hispanic consumers. Hispanics regularly look to these platforms for community and connection to family, and content in these platforms should be geared towards shareability, especially among the target consumer’s circle of influence online.
Action Items
Using the channel insights we’ve provided, you can make initial assessments in your current marketing program to prepare your brand to reach home-bound Latinx consumers. We recommend the following:
- Analyze your current social media audience to see if there are any Hispanic followers or fans. This initial data may help inform you as to what segment of the Hispanic market is already engaged with you. You can use that data to start communicating with an already-engaged audience and use that audience as an opportunity to further grow your presence in the market.
- Use your first-party database to identify Hispanic customers and create look-a-like audiences to target more Hispanic potential customers. Whether you have data on actual transactions or loyalty programs, the customers in these databases can help you zero in on what your ideal Hispanic customer looks like.
- Using the social media and/or first-party data you have, identify the media, programming, and influencers your target customers follow.
- Create culturally relevant content that is consumable and shareable by your target customer, including timely content like how your brand is helping the community during this pandemic.
As brands adjust to the temporary reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, online channels have become more important than ever. The same is true for reaching Hispanic consumers. These insights should provide a strong starting point as you build a successful Hispanic market media mix. Interested in a deeper dive into how you can build a successful Hispanic market strategy? Let’s chat.