Experts Tell How to Connect with Hispanic Audiences

National Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins on September 15^th, celebrates U.S. Hispanic culture and history. It begins in the middle of the month to coincide with the national independence days of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile and Belize.

Today, the Hispanic community makes up 18% of the U.S. population. In California, it is the state’s largest ethnic group, representing 39% of the population. According to the 2020 census, Latinos made up over 25% of the population of Texas, Florida and New Mexico, and are currently the fastest-growing segment of the overall U.S. population. Even states such as North and South Dakota have seen their Hispanic population more than double since 2010. This growth has made this market segment a key audience for marketers and fundraisers to reach.

Five Marketing Insights for Reaching Hispanic Audiences

1. Hispanics Are Active Users of Digital and Social Media
   Kantar Research found that Hispanics actively navigate life with mobile devices, with Hispanics over age 35 surpassing the general population by 5% in cell phone ownership. Blackbaud reported that 23% of Hispanics have made a donation online using an organization’s website. Nielsen found that 69% of Hispanic adults ages 18+ had the highest share of online hours spent consuming audio and video content. That was 15% higher than for the overall U.S. population, with Latinos being in the top two groups surveyed in daily usage of smartphones and social media. This group also is more likely to download content from Internet platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter than the general population.

2. Hispanics and Latinos Are More Than a Single Community
   There is a great deal of diversity within the overall Hispanic/Latino community. Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, Central Americans and other sub-groups each have unique characteristics. Though the terms Hispanic and Latino are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. Hispanic refers to people whose origins are in Spanish-speaking countries while Latino refers to men whose origins are in Latin America. Latino is a male gender-specific term

3. Hispanics Prefer Appeals Made in English
   Blackbaud found that more than half (55%) of Hispanics said they would prefer receiving fundraising appeals in English rather than Spanish. For those born outside the United States, 37% preferred Spanish, 31% English and 17% were fine with either language.  This may reflect the segment’s growing bilingual second- and third-generation members. As a result, some marketers are now trying to engage with audiences around culture rather than just language. In fact, the Hispanic Marketing Council recommends concentrating less on language-driven messaging and more on culture, lifestyle and heritage-based messages whose feminine form is Latina. ListenTrust, a bilingual marketing service, recommends using the gender-neutral term Latinx where appropriate.

4. Hispanics Are Generous
   Nielsen Research studies have found that Hispanics have a strong commitment to children’s causes and church organizations. For example, St. Jude Children’s Hospital raising $3.8 million in 2022 with a Spanish-language Univision campaign. In 2013, Telemundo and Univision raised $20 million in just 30 hours for victims of Hurricane Maria and the Mexico City earthquake. Bloomberg reported that while there is still an income gap between White Americans and Hispanic Americans, it is starting to close. Between 2014 and 2019, they found that Hispanic incomes increased by 20%, which was the fastest growth of any group measured. .

5. Hispanic Donors Tend to be More Spontaneous
   A 2015 study by Edge Research for Blackbaud found that spontaneity was a hallmark of Hispanic giving. Donors were more likely to say they made giving decisions “in the moment” based on what pulled their heartstrings, rather than doing planned giving.  They also tended to be younger and skew more male than other groups surveyed. Donors with children at home tended to donate one third more than their childless counterparts.

The continued growth of the Hispanic community, along with their increased use of different media platforms, create strong opportunities for engagement via culturally relevant campaigns. To learn how Connect360 can help you plan a successful Hispanic marketing campaign, please contact us.