How to reach Hispanic Consumers Through Social Media

"[The] best way to sell something - don't sell anything. Earn the awareness, respect, and trust of those who might buy." - Rand Fishkin

This approach has become prevalent in digital media and is especially pertinent when considering marketing to the Hispanic population.  There are several things to be aware of when developing any social media campaign. However, the most important thing to keep in mind is the essential role that social media plays in the first place. That is, that people turn to social media to be entertained, informed, and educated. Therefore, when formulating a brand message, these key factors need to be incorporated if your business wishes to have a successful marketing campaign. Another critical component to keep in mind is knowing who your target audience is. There is no bigger demographic group in the U.S. that consumes media like the Hispanic population. This means that your business must have the necessary up-to-date information to successfully engage and connect with the target audience.

Social media was once deemed as a "free marketing" tool and the concept was simple… post your content and get seen. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case as market saturation and innovative changes to social media platforms have made it difficult to reach audiences.

For example, organic reach (people who see your post without a paid ad) has been declining since 2012 as marketers were reporting that only 16% of their fans were able to view their social media posts. Today, things have only gotten worse and more difficult. Social@Ogilvy has reported that business profiles with 500,000 likes have only been able to gain 2% of organic reach.

So, today’s big question… how can you overcome these limitations? Well, for starters, by utilizing selective posts and social media ads that engage your audience. Many companies have now increased their marketing budgets to incorporate digital ad spend. In 2015, advertisers spent $23.68 billion on paid media to reach consumers on social platforms. Here are some other details that show just how powerful social media has become in the advertising realm:

• Mobile ad revenue will bring in a projected $595 million in 2016 and $2.81 billion by 2017.

• Say goodbye to banner ads because promoted tweets are now outperforming traditional banners with one in three higher engagement rates.

• In 2015, Facebook advertising accounted for $4.3 billion in advertising revenue.

Social media is now entering a new frontier and your campaign is going to require a targeted strategy to reach your audience. What better approach than integrating your own speciality into the mix?  Below we’ve put together a guide that will help you reach the coveted Hispanic target segment on social media.

How can you tap into the Hispanic population?

Building a Buyers’ Persona

First off, Hispanics have over-indexed on use of mobile and social media networks all across the board so this definitely helps in your targeting efforts. Using Facebook insights is a powerful tool that will allow you to get an overview of your target audience.

(Via Facebook Insights)

Here are some of the valuable details you can find about your intended target audience:

• Personal Background information

• Demographics

• Level of education

• Job title

• Interests

• Languages spoken

• What type of technology do they adopt?

• What type of behavior does your customer have while online?

By researching your Hispanic audience, you can locate areas that align with your marketing objectives. For instance, you can narrow down your key audience to: Bilingual Hispanic Men that are frequent travelers.

Understanding Your Data and Competitors

Breaking down audiences into subsegments is easy with Facebook Insights. You can develop a strategy that further breaks down the Hispanic market to granular data. In it, you can find out the behavior and interest of your target audience. For instance, Hispanic males that are frequent travelers who also favor Fifa World Cup.

Once you understand your audience and have produced targetted content, your next step is to publish your message. Scheduling your content to post at optimal times can help increase your organic reach.

A great way for you to further amplify your posts is to connect with influencers in your industry. A favorite tool that I like to use is Ahrefs or Buzzsumo. These tools help me find content that is engaging and helps me find influencers within a certain market.

Connecting with these influencers can help your content reach a larger audience. Another reason I use Ahrefs is to see what type of content does well on all social media platforms. I can also segment the type of format that did well on a specific network.

Choosing the Right Social Media Platform

Where is the Hispanic audience hanging out? According to a recent Pew Research study, Hispanics are more likely to be using Instagram. Out of all internet users, it found that 34% of Hispanics use Instagram. However, Facebook still remains popular regardless of race or ethnicity. Close to 71% of adult internet users still use Facebook.

Getting started on Instagram:

• Begin using the built-in Instagram tools

• Connect with followers with “Instagram Direct”

• Using Hyperlapse will help create engaging content

• #Use #hashtags #correctly and #sparingly

• Widen your reach by limiting the amount of hashtags and be sure to use popular tags #donthashtagnonsense

• Build your brand with unique hashtags

• Join in conversations with popular tags

• Find niche audiences

• Find similar accounts that are marketing to Hispanics and test out content that engages their followers

• Develop an editorial calendar to schedule posts

• Reach out to influencers or you can pay for branded content

Getting Started On Facebook:

Facebook has followed Google in filtering out spam with their own set of algorithms. This has limited the reach for all business profiles.

The amount of content is increasing and users are now liking more pages. On average 15,000 stories could get plastered on your newsfeed. Facebook has been working to only provide the user with the best engaging experience. This means more stories from friends, family and high quality content from business pages.

Click bait has infiltrated Facebook and publishers have been using this tactic to gain organic reach. Yet, Facebook and its users are now aware of these types of posts which are now leading to a site filled with ads & spam.

Building Your Tribe & Listening

Address your audience's main points with content that entertains, educates, and informs. 

Listen to conversations (both English & Spanish) on all social platforms. You can do this by utilizing their search capabilities. Look for content that is contextually and culturally relevant to your audience's interests.

Refer back to your influencers and take note at the information they are creating. Pick up on trends through hashtags or through the search bars on Facebook and Twitter.

A balanced news feed needs social media posts to be both promotional and non-promotional. With this much data, you can now understand the best format that your audience enjoys. Video is now leading with 78% of all web traffic and native video (those placed on social media feeds) has become the dominant force with content consumption.

Measure, Analyze, and Repeat As Needed

With social media taking the lead with referral traffic, understanding your analytics is vital.

There are many tools available to help you understand the many variables that are affecting your social media efforts.

It is essential to maintain constant engagement with your influencers and keep listening to your community.  Is your audience speaking Spanish, English or both?

Understanding these patterns within your social media marketing efforts will help you fine tune your message and decide whether a transcreated message is needed. Your segmented efforts within your niche audience [Hispanic population] will help you focus on platforms that are more profitable. The Hispanic population is becoming the key target audience for many brands, and having a culturally relevant brand message will be the determining factor that captures the attention of a passionate following.

If you want your brand to be marketed correctly to Hispanics, give us a call at (915) 581-7900
or contact Gabe Acuña.