4 Effective Advertising Strategies for Connecting with Hispanic Audiences

The U.S. Hispanic population has grown rapidly over the past decade, with more than 62 million Americans now claiming this heritage and cultural identity. As Hispanics have claimed a larger share of the overall U.S. population, their significance as a key advertising demographic has also increased.

Hispanic consumers are only going to become more influential and integral to business-building in the years to come. The overall Latino population in the United States is growing six times faster than non-Latino consumers. More than 1 in 4 Americans under the age of 18 are now Hispanic. Certain industries and consumer spending categories have also seen a rapid explosion in purchases from Hispanic audiences, which in turn has shined a light on the importance of treating this audience as a highly influential consumer group.

If you want your small business to invest in today’s success while also strengthening its long-term prospects, your advertising strategy would be well-served by prioritizing Hispanic audiences in its upcoming campaigns. A nuanced understanding of Hispanic consumers—as well as a desire to emulate the brand characteristics Hispanic audiences value most—could help you expand your customer base by improving engagement and customer retention among local Hispanic residents.

Read on for four tips to help you forge a stronger connection with this powerful consumer audience.

1. Account for Distinct Language Trends Among Hispanic Audiences

The language profile of the typical Hispanic consumer is drastically different from the average U.S. consumer. Six out of 10 Hispanic consumers are bilingual and speak both English and Spanish. At the same time, 70 percent of those consumers speak Spanish in the privacy of their home—and 95 percent of Hispanic households are intent on passing on the Spanish language to future generations.

Some Hispanics have also adapted a more conversational language style known as “Spanglish,” which incorporates some of the more recognizable Spanish words and terms into English speech. By understanding these language trends among Hispanic audiences, your business might be able to tailor its messaging to be more aligned with those linguistic tendencies.

At the same time, not all Hispanic groups speak in the same way—and if you don’t have a strong familiarity with the Hispanic consumers you’re targeting, your efforts to incorporate more natural language could end up offending your target audience.

Always do your homework when using Spanglish or other cultural lingo in your advertisements—and consider having that messaging vetted by a member of your target Hispanic community before launching your ads.

2. Target Ads to Smaller Segments of a Hispanic Audience

One reason branded ad campaigns fail to connect with their audience is that the ads themselves are too broadly targeted. While Hispanic audiences generally appreciate when brands speak directly to them through their digital advertising—especially since only six percent of total advertising spending is targeted to this group—your business can push your ad ROI even higher by taking ads to specific segments of this audience.

As you seek out a Hispanic audience for your advertising, lean on your buyer personas to also target ads to consumers based on their income level, gender, age, and other key demographics. Geotargeted ads can also restrict ad delivery to Hispanic consumers within your company’s service area.

3. Serve Hispanic Audiences Throughout the Customer Journey

Creating top-of-funnel ads targeted to Hispanic audiences—or any other underserved audience you’re seeking to engage—is a great way to grab the attentions of those consumers. But your efforts to improve your outreach to these communities will be largely a waste if you don’t account for these linguistic and cultural differences throughout the customer journey.

Landing pages, related advertisements and other content supporting the customer journey all need to be aligned with the audience-specific messaging established in those top-of-funnel campaigns. The customer experience will be more seamless for those consumers, and the consistent messaging will offer proof that your business’s commitment to engagement runs more than skin deep.

4. Build a Brand Hispanic Consumers Will Be Eager and Support

Hispanic American consumers are by and large seeking brands that they trust, as well as brands that align with their values. For example, the average Hispanic consumer is invested in social issues and may be more inclined to do business with brands that demonstrate support of those same issues.