Are U.S. Hispanics Buying Your Ads?
If you're not already thinking about how to best market your brands to U.S. Hispanics, then you better get started. Not only does this rapidly growing consumer segment make up 14% of total online users, but U.S. Hispanic buying power is growing dynamically as well. 42 million Hispanics are expected to be online in 2015 — which is 73% of the Hispanic population and a 35% growth rate. In addition, Latino buying power will increase from $1 trillion in 2010 to $1.5 trillion in 2015, representing nearly 11% of the nation's total buying power. These trends clearly suggest that the Internet is a strong medium for marketers to reach this thriving segment.
Dynamic Logic's MarketNorms® ad effectiveness database suggests that the average performance of online display ads on Hispanic/Latino sites is similar or above par for all brand metrics compared to overall online advertising norms. Furthermore, respondents exposed on Hispanic/Latino sites also display stronger impact on Brand Favorability, a finding which strongly supports the idea that Hispanics are more receptive to online ads than non-Hispanic audiences.
As is the case for online advertising in general, campaign performance on Hispanic/Latino sites can vary greatly. Although not specific to online, best practices for Hispanic marketing have been identified through Millward Brown's Link copy-testing database, showing that Hispanic targeted advertising tends to be more effective at impacting ad breakthrough (i.e., ad enjoyment, branding), message communication (i.e., believability, relevance, differentiation) and motivation (i.e., persuasion) compared to non-targeted, general market ads.
Ads adapted for the Hispanic audience are more widely received and often, general market ads (i.e., dubbed TV ads) may not suffice. Hispanic respondents may outwardly reject ads that are mere translations of English-language advertising, however, it should be noted that engagement and message understanding scores can tend to be lower for Hispanic targeted ads than general market ads. Marketers tend to be overly cautious and less creative with their cultural content and this can result in bringing down involvement and engagement scores. Another point to keep in mind is that targeted ads do not always guarantee success among the Hispanic audience. Millward Brown research shows that there is variation in the performance of targeted ads among Hispanic audiences and some have the potential to score below par on ad enjoyment.
Insights can be gleaned from current creative best practices derived from Millward Brown's Link copy testing database. In analyzing the top-rated, most enjoyable Hispanic targeted ads within the Hispanic Link database, the following ad characteristics were most effective:
- Use of genuine humor
- Music with cultural affinity
- Appealing celebrities/ role models
- Family/children scenarios
- Latin American scenery
- Elements of escapism
Additionally, not to be overlooked is that basic advertising principles that guide the development of mainstream communication are equally valid for multicultural audiences such as the Hispanic consumer segment. Your ad must be memorable and engaging to build brand and ad awareness, as well as relevant and believable to persuade consumers to take action.
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article originally published in MediaPost. For further insight into the opportunities and challenges of marketing to the new mainstream, pick up the new game-changing book "Marketing to the New Majority," authored by two of our marketing experts, David Burgos and Ola Mobolade.
www.marketingtothenewmajority.com Amy Fayer is Director of Research for Dynamic Logic in New York, NY. Rill Hodari of Millward Brown also contributed to this article.