Reaching the Hispanic Market Online

Hispanics have recently become the largest minority in the United States, and a lot of businesses are now trying to tap into this growing market. While many of these businesses now publish their information in Spanish and advertise in Hispanic print media and TV, relatively few are considering the Internet as a medium for reaching Hispanic consumers.

Traditionally, Hispanics are perceived by the mainstream as low-paid workers who are new to the country. The assumption has always been that most Hispanics have neither the technological savvy nor the means to afford luxuries like computers with internet connection. While this might or might not have been true in the past, it certainly is not the case at present.

A March 2004 study by AOL / Roper ASW shows that 14 million Hispanics in the U.S. are online today. While this is already an impressive number, the growth is even more impressive. According to the study, 20% of online Hispanics have connected their households to the Internet less than six months ago. It is also said that more than half of the Hispanics who are not yet online expect to get a connection within the next two years. These numbers suggests that a significant number of Hispanics are now joining the online community. 

How are businesses serving this increasing demand online?

Thus far, Hispanics feel there is a lack of online content and advertising available in Spanish. Although it is true that a lot of Hispanics speak English fluently, at least half of them prefer to read content in their native language, according to a 2003 report by com Score Media Metrix. 

Hispanics are said to be more at ease with material in Spanish and that they  tend to pay more attention to Spanish-language advertising. While there is no doubt that English content does reach large numbers of Latinos, marketers who want to target this market in full are now learning that it is advantageous on a business standpoint to also provide content in Spanish.

Meanwhile, a 2003 report from Univision Communications states that the more Latinos connect online the less time they spend with other Spanish media such as print or TV. Thus, marketers will be forced to look into this shift in media consumption in their advertising budgets.

How can marketers reach Hispanics on the web?

Having understood the significance of the emerging Hispanic online community, three core elements are of crucial importance when building a strategy. These are the below mentioned.

1. Language translation
2. Cultural adaptation
3. Understanding the Hispanic online marketplace

In order to achieve significant results, marketers will need to build know-how or work with competent partners in all three areas. 

An in-depth discussion of these are discussed in the succeeding articles.