The opportunity you’ve been missing

Last week I attended a webinar on the 2010 U.S Census. Exciting, huh? Actually it was very interesting because it was about numbers that are shaping a new demographic reality and a growing market that many industries are failing to tap into: Hispanics.

There are some myths about the Hispanic market. Let’s have a look.

The Hispanic market is very small.

There are over 50 million Hispanics in the U.S. and this number is growing every day. That’s one out of every six people, one out of every four babies born. More than 60% percent of Hispanics were born in the U.S. and 91% of them are under 18. Hispanics account for 95% of the teen population growth through 2020.

Hispanics are poor.

The median household income for Hispanics is $39,923. Last year, it grew by 45% and the number of Hispanic homes with an income of over $100,000 has doubled. The U.S. Hispanic market is the 15th largest consumer market in the world with over a trillion in purchasing power.

Hispanics are not online.

In 1996, 75% of all web searches were conducted in English. Today, English searches account for only 25%. Hispanic Facebook users grew 167 percent last year (versus 21 percent for non-Hispanics). Hispanics are among those playing Facebook games, visiting forums, and exploring virtual worlds.

Hispanics are not a trend; they are a part of the multicultural American landscape and should be integrated into marketing and engagement rather than seen as a flavor of the week. The single most important thing you can do to reach Hispanics online is to overcome the language and cultural barrier. Add Spanish-speaking members to your team. Provide a high-quality Spanish language experience online. Hispanics are not homogenous and neither is the Spanish language. Forget machine translations and hire professional translators and bilingual moderators. Then you can start learning about what Hispanics care about, what they’re doing, and what they want.

Hispanics are online and, having strong spending power, they are eager and ready to purchase. It’s time to interact with them, engage them, and earn the loyalty of the largest growing demographic market.

-Cosette Paneque