Hispanic Americans are the nation’s largest minority group in the U.S., making up 15.1 percent of the U.S. population. A group of nearly 46 million, Hispanic Americans represent rapidly increasing purchasing power — $1.1 trillion with projections of $12.4 trillion by 2011 — a 287 percent growth from 1990.
For those in the home and commercial building products channel, Hispanic Americans are an emerging buying group with both population and purchasing power on their side. They are also much more likely to own a home now than at any time in the past and as a whole are less affected by the recent downturn in homeownership.
Hispanic Americans represent a significant segment of tomorrow’s consumers and are a viable target demographic for your future home and commercial building products business success. Although the Hispanic segment is smaller than the general population, the spending threshold is greater than ever before.
When marketing to Hispanic Americans, below are five proven marketing strategies to successfully target this group.
1. Know Their Backgrounds
With the increase of multicultural customers, today’s marketers and business leaders must target their messages based on national original, language, cultural traditions and more. This leads us to our first marketing strategy, where once again, knowledge is power. When marketing to Hispanics, respect their differences, formality, cooperation, dependence and their strong religious influenceii.
2. Give Them a Feeling of “Home”
It’s important that both in-store and online media conduits have a sense of “home” that includes sensibilities of Hispanics Americans’ homeland. Hispanic Americans are more inclined to shop in stores, participant in online communities, and buy from brands that they feel a nostalgic connection.
3. Build Relationships
Nielsen Homescan research across multiple product categories showed that as Hispanic Americans become more acculturated, there is less evidence of brand loyalty.
“When it comes to brand loyalty and the Hispanic consumer, the key learning for marketers is understanding the importance of building a brand relationship during the initial stages of acculturation and maintaining this connection as Hispanics’ integration to American life increases,” said Tim Kregor, president, Nielsen Consumer Panel Services, as reported by Hispanic Business iii.
4. Target Chief Household Officers
The modern-day Latina Chief Purchasing Officer of the Home is heavily influenced by — and wants to see — women in positions of power, much more so than general market women. Tap into her aspirations and find a voice that is special to her. Remember to speak to her in a way that considers her culture and isn’t merely English messages translated into Spanish. Take pointers from some of the top rated media outlets like Univision, Telemundo and Hispanic Business.
5. Consider the Generational Divide
Print, broadcast and radio are probably the best mediums to reach out to first-generation Hispanics but remember to also target this group by age, because with second and third generation Hispanic Americans, social media platforms like blogs and social networks are typically the preferred mediumsii.
For an advance, complimentary copy of K&A’s Hispanic Americans White Paper tweet Steve Kleber @stevekleber or email him at sk@kleberandassociates.com. And stayed tuned for a free download of the white paper from www.kleberandassociates.com.
Sources
i “Hispanic and Latino Americans.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org.
[ii] “New Year, New Markets: “Recession-Proof” Latino Markets, Multicultural Communications and Diversity on the Rise, Says Hispanic PR Expert Perez.” Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog. www.bulldogreporter.com. July 29, 2009.
iii “Nielsen Reveals Hispanic Consumer Shopping Behavior Insights.” Hispanic Business. www.hispanicbusiness.com. September 24, 2007.
