Your Digital Marketing Isn’t Reaching Hispanics

By Karla Fernandez Parker

Since the dawn of digital, those of us in multicultural marketing have watched general market agencies take over budgets once aligned to specific target markets, such as Hispanic, only to be put in the ubiquitous bucket called “total market approach”. If you are one of these marketers let me point out a few observations of why it’s not working.

Your ads don’t have people who look like us. That means that your ads don’t connect with Hispanics which means they don’t resonate, which means they are passed over or ignored. Hispanics run the gamut in hair texture, skin tones, and eye color – so even if you do depict someone of Hispanic origin there are nuances to getting it right.

Your Spanish is off. If your agency is using a translation service and doesn’t understand the Hispanic target you want to reach, then it falls flat even though you’re using Spanish. While a portion of Hispanics prefer Spanish there are also segments who are bilingual or English-dominant. It’s important to understand the target you want to reach to craft appropriate word choice including understanding country of origin, education level, language proficiency, and colloquialisms. Food is one of the hardest categories to get right so it’s best left up to Hispanic experts.

Do you know what your Hispanic target is interested in? Digital marketing is not one size fits all and much more so when trying to reach Hispanics. Understanding cultural differences, likes and dislikes, and interests is what the platform has to offer. Not getting the contextual parameters right is another area that marketers miss.

Did you get the data right? Targeting by language is not enough. Research your target and leverage the power of first party data. Leverage the power of publishers who bring the Hispanic market through culturally relevant content.

Your ad isn’t really personal, is it? If you truly understand your Hispanic target, getting personal should be easy. Too many marketers are under the false impression that they have developed a personal touch without doing the research. Doing Hispanic customer journey mapping is a critical step.

Hispanic platforms are overlooked. Going with what the general market agency picks for their total market approach is lacking the display partners who specialize in Hispanic audiences including interests and demographics. These partners will have the first party data to make your marketing a success.

Choosing channels that work. Savvy marketers are using the right channels that Hispanics over-index on including audio streaming, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and Snapchat. These channels allow for targeting the Hispanic market by interests and cultural cues. Video has to be a key component in your campaign as well with an understanding that the Hispanic market does more mobile viewing.

Hispanic marketing requires the same level of research you’ve done for your general market campaign. If you haven’t done it you’re missing out on the $1.9 trillion in spending this market has to offer.

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