Latino Rebranded: Latinos and Social Media

Only two in 10 engage Hispanics on the social Web

The majority of US companies recognize that Hispanics, who make up about 15% of the country’s population, will have an effect on industry trends in the next five years. But few are marketing directly to them, according to the “2010 Hispanic Marketing Trends Survey” from Orcí.

Still fewer are marketing to them on social networking sites: 78% of US companies said they had not used any social media to engage Hispanics. Those marketers that had done so primarily used Facebook and Twitter.

“Hispanics are tech-savvy, young trendsetters with incredible spending power,” said Hector Orci, co-founder and chairman of the agency, in a statement. Nearly four in five socialize online, the study found.

Summer 2009 research from AOL Advertising indicated that Hispanic users were more likely than average to go online at nearly every stage in the purchase cycle and considered the Internet a vital source of information on a variety of topics.

Still, the vast majority of marketers surveyed by Orcí simply did not know whether social media was a good way to engage the Hispanic population, though they were more likely to say yes than no.

Overall, just 18% of respondents planned to increase their Hispanic marketing spending in the next year. The primary reason companies said they did not market to Hispanics more was that the return on investment would not be justified (38%), followed by the opinion that their current marketing was sufficient for the Hispanic market (29%). Budget was also an issue for 21% of companies surveyed.

“For the last 30 years a minority of companies that have been smart enough to take advantage of engaging Hispanic consumers have seen their efforts make a difference to their bottom line,” said Mr. Orci. “Now more than ever, businesses need to think about how to tap into the opportunity the Hispanic market presents.”

(source: emarketer.com)

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Subtitle:  Waxing Data Visually

Data visualization (DV) has been with us for a little while now.  DV frees us from standard pie charts and bar graphs that are prevalent these days.  By representing data in new ways, we stimulate a means for which new ideas and conclusions can occur.

One of the first visual representation was done by Martin Wattenberg, who represented the stock market on the web in a ground breaking manner. Go to Jeff Clark’s site who continues to present data in innovative new ways.

Twitter Venn

The below picture captures the terms ‘Latino’ + ‘Hispanic’ + ‘Mexican.’  I’ve done this for self-amusement several times and the results are always the same:  Latino is always present double or more than Hispanic, and the term Mexican surpasses both terms on Twitter.

More interesting are the most used terms associated with each labeled sphere.  If you click each sphere, the bottom left  presents  common terms.  You can get a feel for some of the conversations that may be occurring – you’ll be surprised by what you see.

Twitter Spectrum

Twitter Spectrum compares the relationship between two terms and how they are associated with one another.

I’ve plugged in the terms ‘Latino’ and ‘Hispanic.’  It’s a little funny to see the term ‘lol’ fall right between them…’health,’ ‘census’ and ‘marketing’ are other notables.

With no doubt, I am sure many of you have already seen these technologies.  What I wanted to accomplish in this post is one of the ways I use these techniques to challenge some of my ideas, as well as look for new trends.  If you use data visualization in any way (or now start using it) I’d be curious to hear about it.

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Subtitle: Are there Latinas in social media? You betcha!

I am driven by We-media – content produced by the public – and am inspired when others share the same drive. A few of my online-cohorts are proposed speakers for a panel at the Blogher conference here in NYC.

Latinas are one of the fastest growing segment of bloggers. In this session, you can understand who we are, why we blog, where we are coming from and where we’re going…Our session will focus on Latinas as a group and how we are using social media to develop relationships and promote our businesses with a distinct flavor. Each of the panel speakers has effectively used social media to promote either her blog, home business, or herself as a brand.

Please take the time to go over and vote for their panel.

Hint: If you want to find engaged mommy bloggers, go follow #BlogHer on Twitter.

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As it turns out, they are everywhere that everyone else is and more.

Hispanics are going to websites that the rest of the world are using which are Yahoo, Google and Microsoft but at the same time there are niche websites that allow Hispanics to socialize within their own communities as well as to search for information such as news, sports and entertainment within Latin America.

Social media, in the same stride is a great place to find ‘real-time’ Hispanics.

Go over and read my friend Frankie’s blog – a contributing voice to the online Hispanic dialogue (the post is a few months old, but still relevant because people ask me this all the time).

Update: Related – Breakdown of Hispanics online.

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To continue on the Hispanic Media Conferences 2010 post, I’ve become aware of two more:

NAHJ, has ten multimedia journalism training sessions in Texas, Feb 20. Blogging, social media and content creation will rule these workshops.

Very innovative and keeping in pace of a trend in the Latino sphere – from their website: The New Generation Latino Consortium (NGLC), the only professional organization of its kind dedicated to the enhancement of the New Generation Latino audience, is proud to announce ‘The NGLC Media, Marketing & Entertainment Conference’ taking place in New York City on April 5, 2010.

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There are a couple of  posts on the chopping board right now, but they are in draft stages at the moment.  In my effort to give quality content I cannot ‘push-button-publish’ them just yet.

Against my better judgment,  I’ll share a post that has not quite made it to a draft just yet…it concerns a Hispanic man, or woman who defines themselves as a man…or woman, and not a ‘Hispanic’ man/woman.

This thought recalls the line made by the famous black actor, Sidney Poitier, in the 1960’s movie, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” – “Dad, the difference between you and me is that you see yourself as a colored man, and I see myself as a man.”

Of course, the context is quite different here than from the movie, but the statement is relevant and profound.

More later…

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While social media is undeniably hot, without evidence of burning out, many established organizations and businesses have been exceedingly slow in accepting social media as the new engagement platform.  In the face of prudence, speculation and convention, enthusiasts – evangelists – have pressed forward with a new and unpredictable, yet powerful and stable form of communication that has haulted an entire industry and forced it look over its shoulders.

In many ways, social media has just begun – 2010, will be its pivot.  Pre-2010 will be looked back as social media being considered only an addition to already established marketing tools, but post-2010 social media will be viewed as a major factor, even replacing traditional media.

Hispanic organizations will be on the far end of the tail, as Hispanics are mostly a conservative population.  To the older generation, social media represents…is, change.  However, the younger generation is embracing new media in droves.  Somewhere in the near future – post 2011? – there will be a huge explosion of Hispanic based industries and organizations in social media.

These are my observations, not my judgments.  I think social media will continue to influence its way into every business sector and will be the fast track to Hispanic related communications.  The fact that Hispanics are the quickest and most abundant adopters of new technologies and media, should move every decision-maker toward the promised land of social media.  Will you be joining me?

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In 2010 into 2011, we’ll see more Hispanic based media seminars and conferences nationwide.  It’s a personal pleasure to be a part of these exciting times.

What’s interesting in this short round up are the new players making their entrance as a result of a changing industry.  Also of note is the inclusion of new media within the agendas of established organizations.

This list is far from complete, as there are smaller seminars going on, as well as some larger that I’ve not added – it’s a start.  If you have any suggestions please feel free to add them to the comment’s section and we can create an ongoing list.

• One exciting first, is Manny’s HispanicPR Conference that includes social media.  It’s a 3 day event in Texas, May 10-12. I think we’ll see this as an annual event for years to come.

• Another ‘first’, is the Latino2 event in LA powered by Latinos In Social Media (LATISM) on April 30-May 2. This event will solidify the LATISM footprint in marketing and social media on the West Coast.To keep abreast of what is going on in LA you can follow these Tweeps and their daily discourse:  @giorodriguez @antonio @davidvallejo @laurag

• LatinVision in NY has it’s annual Convergence conference Oct 4, that will discuss the future of Hispanic media.  This even bring in the major networks and agencies in NYC and beyond.

• In Hispanic print and digital media is Portada’s event Sept. 23.
  

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AOL just release their Hispanic Cyberstudy, packed with the habits of Hispanics online.  The study is based on a question – Why and how are Hispanics using the internet in their daily lives?

For years, marketers have struggled with the complexities of the Hispanic market. Given the blistering growth of their population and subsequent rise in purchasing power, AOL wants to help marketers and agencies understand the changing Hispanic market, and improve their advertising performance with this segment.

Not widely known are that Hispanics online are very different from the general Hispanic population.  They are so different in fact, that personally I use the term Latino to differentiate the online counterparts.

Online vs. Offline

Online, 46% of Hispanics prefer English media and speak it at home, compared to only 23% Spanish language dominant.  Interestingly, offline this fact is reversed – 52% prefer Spanish, and 28% are English dominant.  This shows us that the  majority of Latinos online are well acculturated, young and early adapters.

Online Hispanic households are much younger than the general population.  Almost half are under 35 years old, compared with only 28% across the nation.

Hispanic-Fluential

One fifth of the Hispanic online population are exceedingly influential and are termed as Power Users.  They share maven-like characteristics and are the sweethearts if not the key-holders to the Hispanic online population.

They spend over 24 hours online per week, half of that time connected via mobile device.  They are highly innovative, thus are early adapters.

These are the influential leaders in their respective category , that shape and direct what is hot and what’s not.  They are what my friend Lori Gama talks about as Hispanic-fluentials.

Online Hispanics, prefer it in English

Marketers – even Hispanics! – have a misconception that in order to reach Hispanics online one must do it in Spanish.  However, the opposite is true.

As much as Hispanics themselves would like to see more Spanish online, truth is the audience is a yet a smaller subcategory of the already mulit-faceted Spanish population.  Brands as well need to note this.

Mi Gente

Studies like this give me pause to reflect not only on social media/marketing, but society.  If you look below the surface marketing is 100% about business – it’s about people and what is going on in our culture.

Beyond buying and selling, you can appreciate the subtle cultural dynamics.  Once a shrug of the shoulder, the Hispanics market is hitting the industry with a sledge hammer.

Salsa outsells ketchup. In some places in the US, Hispanics are the dominant population.  Yes, these types of  trends will continue, but behind the numbers is a vibrant culture filled with smiles, laughter, celebration – culture.  Let’s not forget that…

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Subtitle:  Upward and Cross Connections

As you may know, my roots are in the blogsophere, so it’s great to see continuing progression.  Latino blogs moving in upper and cross-lateral directions is great stuff.

BlogWorld 2009 had the innovative idea of hosting a multicultural panel.  A clear sign of vision and pulse of the current situation in the U.S.A.  I had the honor to be invited by Jose Villa from Sensis to represent the fastest growing group both online and offline: The Latino(a)s!

Popularity: 23% [?]