To reach Hispanic audiences in the U.S., marketers and agencies must strike the balance in their media strategy. TV continues to be the best brand awareness channel out there. But it’s becoming more vital to layer on a converged video strategy to capitalize on OTT, CTV, mobile, and desktop consumption to address the changing habits of the Hispanic audience.
A brief look at the data provides a general context for the fragmentation of audiences across screens. According to Nielsen, people spend on average 11 hours consuming media and, at times, do so simultaneously across screens. TV accounts for 4.2 of those hours, so striking the right balance between TV, CTV, OTT, mobile and desktop can be a challenge for reaching all audiences, but when it comes to Hispanics, several unique factors come into play.
Hispanics represent the largest and most economically significant multicultural audience with roughly 61 million Hispanics in the U.S., according to census data, and purchasing power that’s grown to $1.7 trillion dollars. In terms of scale and purchasing power, Hispanics have arguably transcended the entire multicultural segment, making Hispanic audiences relevant to virtually all advertisers.
Better Defining Hispanic Audiences
Hispanic audiences are incredibly diverse in their own right. Factors like country of origin, acculturation, language preference, age, gender, and geographic location mean that advertisers must be able to identify and target segments within the larger Hispanic audience. Even within a single household, advertisers may encounter generational differences that impact the delivery, language, and content of the ad. By layering on advanced audiences, either first- or third-party, to their TV plans, marketers can deliver a more effective message to drive ROI.
Given its scale, TV will often be the centerpiece of a media plan. Traditionally, Hispanic audiences were defined as those that watched Spanish-language television. In effect, marketers and agencies are transforming the way they target the Hispanic population to mirror the successes seen across digital and general market advanced TV for years now - targeting the right audience with the right message.
Changing consumption patterns are posing real challenges to programmers and marketers but it also affords an enormous opportunity for those willing to address it head-on. While this is true broadly of all audiences, Hispanic audiences are closer to the cutting edge of disruption. Compared to the general population, Hispanics skew younger—the median age is 29, compared to the national median age of 38. Millennials account for 28 percent of all U.S. Hispanic adults. Meanwhile, one study found that 29 percent of Hispanics are cord-cutters and three-quarters of affluent Hispanics watch TV online.
By augmenting TV with audience-based cross-screen strategies, marketers and agencies can reach cord-cutters as well as younger Hispanics whose consumption patterns are more fluid across screens, which is why it’s critical to build context. After all, a recent Nielsen report found that adult Hispanics are 9 percent more likely to own a smartphone, 11 percent more likely to own a game console, and 13 percent more likely to own a smartwatch than non-Hispanic whites.
Smart Planning Through a Multi-Pronged Approach
While it’s important for marketers and agencies to customize the balance they strike between TV and digital for Hispanic audiences, they shouldn’t overly complicate their strategy. A multi-pronged approach allows advertisers to account for all contingencies: those who remain linear-only, those who have cut the cord; and consumers who move fluidly across screens between TV, OTT, CTV, mobile and desktop. By tailoring their approach to the nuances of Hispanic audiences, advertisers can gain the reach they desire.
Finding the right balance in reaching Hispanic audiences can lend a sneak preview of what’s to come. Hispanics aren’t just ahead of the digital disruption curve, they’re likely to make up a larger segment of the overall population in the coming years. Advertisers who successfully navigate reaching Hispanic audiences across the fragmented TV and digital landscape now will be better equipped to handle the transformation in TV that will soon be upon us.
