Hop Group Blog

HOP Group recently attended the Culture Marketing Council’s 2019 Annual Summit in Dallas, TX. The idea-driven conference brought together some of the best strategic and creative minds in the multicultural marketing industry to discuss trends and share best practices. Representatives from some of the most successful brands, agencies, media companies and content creators discussed cultural shifts, projections on where the market is heading and how advertisers can stay ahead to continue to tap into and resonate with this ever-growing segment of the population. It was an extremely productive event featuring topics that included:

Social media is a crowded place -- an endless traffic jam of personal posts, videos, news stories and advertisements. Businesses understand the importance of being on social media to grow their customer base, but where many companies are lacking is in the “how to.” Simply being present on all of the major platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram is a start, but the challenge lies in standing out among the noise to make sure your brand is the one that’s heard. And the same holds true when targeting the U.S. Hispanic market; you have to incorporate a strategy specific to their cultural needs if you’re going to reach your engagement goals.

Businesses and marketers in the United States are taking notice, as Hispanics continue to be the fastest growing segment of the population. Knowing that this opportunity exists is great but learning how to seize it is what will determine your company’s success. What good is being aware that droves of potential customers are out there if you don’t know how to find them? Whether you’re looking to get better results in the Hispanic market or still in the discovery stage to determine if pursuing this segment is right for your business, it’s important to understand the route to getting there.

As we’ve discussed in detail throughout this series, the Hispanic population in the United States is growing at a higher rate than any other segment in the country. Businesses need to devote a significant amount of their advertising efforts to this burgeoning market or they will have difficulty in reaching their sales goals and be in danger of drastically falling behind their competition. Sheer population numbers in themselves are not enough to warrant altering marketing budgets if they don’t contain viable prospects. However, in this case, Hispanics are not only a sizeable segment, but they also have the discretionary spend needed to command your attention.

There are numerous ways businesses can generate more interest and revenue from the Hispanic market in the United States. But to get the most bang for your buck, the key is tapping into Hispanic culture so you can focus on what matters to this segment the most. Hispanics living in the United States predominantly come from 21 different countries with a diverse set of backgrounds. Appealing to this wide range of people through your various campaigns is a daunting task. However, it can be done by concentrating on the handful of values that unite most Hispanics, no matter their country of origin: music, food and family.

When marketing to any potential customer, it’s important to determine what they truly value. Failing to do so will result in campaigns that fall short in grabbing attention or motivating the desired behavior. When it comes to the Hispanic market living in the United States, there are several common characteristics that your business should take into consideration when fashioning its advertising campaigns. If you want your product to be top of mind in the Hispanic community, it’s crucial that you integrate these commonalities to create the emotional connection needed to produce long-term loyalty to your brand.

There is no blanketed marketing approach that can fully connect with every segment of a diverse population. And nowhere is this more evident than when advertising to Hispanics. A lot of companies think that you can just translate your current campaign into Spanish and yippee, you’re done. However, your campaigns need to be strategically adapted to the Hispanic audience in order to align with your sales and marketing goals. Hispanics have very specific and unique characteristics in how they communicate. They want to feel connected to your messaging which goes well beyond a business merely employing translation. Here are three keys to consider:

The one thing that almost every business has in common with each other is that they’re constantly looking for ways to grow. Ways to beat last year’s numbers. And blow past the aggressive forecast. With each passing year it becomes exceedingly difficult to reach these growth goals, calling for companies to get more and more creative. But what if the answer to expanding your customer-base was simple? What if it was right under your nose? Well, it is. It’s the Hispanic market. Countless U.S. companies are neglecting this enormous portion of the populace when they set sail with their strategic marketing plan.

Marketers are spending most of their time discussing the importance of Hispanic millennial consumers more than any other thing. The focus on this group is meaningful since the Hispanic millennials are just about to unlock their purchasing power. In the wake of this revelation, marketers of various brands are forced to come up with appealing marketing strategies to attract a chunk of these super consumers.

Most English-speaking U.S Hispanics are bilingual. They often switch between languages or borrow English words and put them into Spanish, making Spanglish language. Hispanic communication is changing and with the growing number of speakers, they can no longer be ignored by marketers.