Social media has unequivocally become an essential element in any business strategy. This especially holds true when it comes to engaging the 59 million Hispanics who live in the U.S. (representing 18% of the total population) as they are heavy social media users—over-indexing compared to non-Hispanics on their usage of Facebook (77% vs. 73%), YouTube (62% vs. 58%), Instagram (40% vs. 30%), and Snapchat (32% vs. 21%). Furthermore, Hispanics are 62% more likely than non-Hispanics to rely on social networking sites for healthcare information.
Video Key to Reaching Hispanics
As the social media landscape continues to evolve in 2018, one trend we’ll continue to see is video content becoming even more important. In fact, to quote a recent Forbes article, “it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that video is the future” and Hispanics are at the forefront of this change. U.S. Hispanics spend nearly 66% more time per week watching videos on their smartphones compared to the total market, with Facebook and YouTube being the top two digital video platforms used. The content they watch clearly reflects Hispanic values of preserving their culture and language—73% of third-generation Hispanics watch videos that speak to their heritage and two out of three bilingual Hispanics watch videos in Spanish.
But, what’s critical for marketers to understand is what they do after they watch. Hispanics share the content they consume on social five times more often than non-Hispanics, and that content is 35% more likely to be clicked on than content shared by non-Hispanics. Additionally, Hispanics are twice as likely as non-Hispanics to purchase the products they share. So, as we jump into the new year, marketers must recognize the importance of including video content in their communication strategies, especially when coupled with the additive power of TV and radio. In fact, according to the Advertising Research Foundation, adding digital to TV campaigns amplifies TV’s messaging with a 60% ROI increase when indexed to just advertising on TV. If you don’t have video in your mix, you’re missing out on the opportunity to reach these highly influential consumers.
Sources:
U.S. Census Bureau 2017 – 2027 National Projections.
Nielsen Mobile Insights 2Q 2017.
Nielsen/Univision Hispanic Healthcare Journey Study 2016.
Gfk MRI Fall 2017; Base: A18+ Used the Internet in Past 30 days.
Forbes “2018’s Biggest Social Media Trends for Business” Jan 2, 2018.
eMarketer, “U.S. Hispanics and Digital Usage: How They Differ from Non-Hispanics—and from One Another” June 2017.
Google, “New Research Shows How to Connect with U.S. Hispanics Online,” June 2015.
Facebook with LatinumNetworks, “Gains in Translation: What Your Language Choices Say to U.S. Hispanics.”
Advertising Research Foundation (1) Analytic Partners, 2016; Analysis based on over 3,200 campaigns from 2010-2015. Digital includes video and display advertising on desktop and mobile devices. Results are indexed to TV.
