WHY DIRECT TO CONSUMER ADVERTISERS SHOULD CONSIDER SPANISH LANGUAGE ADS

With $2.5 trillion in buying power, the Hispanic market isn’t just an opportunity, it’s a necessity for direct to consumer (DTC) marketers.  According to the 2020 Census, Hispanics make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, and accounted for 51% of all new population growth. Additionally, Spanish is the second most common language spoken after English in the U.S., with over 41 million people speaking the language. This market is huge,  but according to the Hispanic Marketing council only 6% of the marketing industry’s investment is spent on the Hispanic community.  That leaves a large, untapped market for advertisers to connect and engage with. 

In the past, advertisers would often simply “transcreate” their English ads into Spanish. However, over the years advertisers have learned that this can appear disingenuous and may actually offend the target market.  

Today, although under invested in advertising, this market has evolved.  In recent years advertisers have found success with these tactics. 

1. Bilingual content: Marketers have Integrated Spanish into their primarily-English Hispanic advertising campaigns, by using Spanish words, phrases, and quotes that appeal to a bilingual audience. 
2. Culture: Even more important than the language is culture. According to Refuel’s Hispanic Explorer Series™ 2021, Hispanic audiences respond more to ads that reflect their culture, therefore it is important that the audience can see  themselves reflected in advertisements. It is important to ensure that their messages come across as authentic and avoid stereotypes and cliches. 
3. Spanish at all touch points: Instead of just a Spanish language DRTV ad, social media ad, email, or video ad, advertisers have created landing pages in Spanish, so that Hispanic consumers have a consistent experience across channels when they interact with the brand.
4. Social media: Social media is a powerful way to reach the Hispanic audience.  Studies indicate that Hispanic consumers are 30% more likely to use any social media than the general population. Tiktok specifically over indexes for Hispanics with 1 in every 5 regular users being a Spanish speaker.
5. Influencers: More advertisers are using Spanish speaking influencers on social media who can help promote products and services to their audiences to help conversions and sales.

So in these recessionary times of shrinking budgets, perhaps more consideration can be given to the Hispanic consumers, a neglected yet loyal demographic.