Hispanics: Social Media Socialites
Remember your old MySpace friend, Tom?
Well, even he’s ditched MySpace for bigger and better social networks.
In a digital world full of social networks, only one stands as the social network of choice worldwide: Facebook. Eighty-one percent of American adults age 18 and up have Facebook accounts, and over half of them check/update their account daily.1 Twitter, the second most popular social network, is used by 62% of adults. Social networking influences several aspects of our lives including consumer behavior, so marketers must understand and utilize these trends to engage consumers and maximize market profitability.
What makes Facebook a “Must”?
- Size matters—after all, the ability to connect with anybody relevant is the point of the “network.” The more users, the larger the network potential.
- Unlimited word count—while average Joes, to critics and even celebrities applaud Twitter’s micro blogging platform, sometimes it takes more than 140 characters to spit out everything you need to say; and since splitting up/continuing tweets can be a risky and annoying endeavor, people turn to Facebook, where concise is out and keeping their extraneous details is in.
- Photo share—yes, other social networks allow photo sharing, but none of them are as elaborate and popular as Facebook.
- Apps such as Pinterest and Instagram—games and other applications attract wide ranges of people to Facebook. These apps conviently share your pins, photos or even game scores on your timeline.
- Keeping in touch—while almost all social networks bring people together, none is more personal than Facebook. And when people want to stay updated with information from friends and family around the world, Facebook serves as a great way to connect.
While Facebook dominates the social network preference, Hispanics rule total social network usage. Aside from Facebook, of which Hispanics are just one percentage point below the general market average, Hispanics over index on usage of every other social networking platform.1 This fact illustrates Hispanics are ahead of the game in terms of social networks. Additionally, they are open to testing out new networks. For instance, when this survey1 was distributed, Pinterest was in its first weeks; however, that did not stop Hispanics from joining. In fact, the Hispanic population was almost twice as likely as the general population to create and use a Pinterest account.
Why should advertisers take note?
Social media platforms, specifically Facebook platforms are essential to campaigns targeting the Hispanic market. Hispanics spend four more hours a day on the Internet than the average American, and at least four and a half hours are on social networking sites.1 While television campaigns drive high results from Hispanic consumers, marketers must also utilize social media campaigns to build brand awareness and brand loyalty and realize social media plays an essential role in their brand presentation. By placing interactive ads such as “like” contests and giveaways or sweepstakes on Facebook and other social networks, Hispanic advertisers reach a wide spectrum of Hispanic consumers: acculturated, unacculturated, young and old.
“In order to have a successful multicultural marketing campaign, advertisers must utilize all benchmarks, both above the line and below the line,” said George L. San Jose, president and chief creative officer at The San Jose Group. “Social media campaigns are becoming a must when advertising to the Hispanic Market.”
Certainly, balancing budgets between print, television and the Internet is vital to reaching the vast Hispanic Market, but social media campaigns must not be over looked. Every time companies update their statuses or tweet, they not only expose their brands to their consumers, but also begin building relationships with those consumers. The more they see a brand on social media and interact with them, the more likely consumers will remember that brand when the time comes to make a purchase.
Sources:
1. BIGinsight. (2012, Feb.) “Hispanics Log in to Social Media More Often than Other Ethnic Groups.” The American Pulse Survey. Prosper Business Development Corp.
Cover Photo Source: scyther5 / Shutterstock.com
