Is Your Small Business Marketing to Hispanic Consumers?


Did you know that:

  • If the U.S. Hispanic market were its own country, its buying power would make it one of the world’s top 20 economies?
  • Recession or no recession, U.S. Latino households earning $50,000 or more annually, are growing at a faster rate than total households?
  • The U.S. Hispanic market is projected to account for $1.5 trillion in purchasing power by 2015?

hispanic family

The stats above are from a recent Nielsen report on Hispanic households in America. And I sure hope they whet your appetite to cater to this important and growing consumer group.

There are more than 52 million U.S. Hispanics, Nielsen says, and they are the fastest- growing ethnic group in the country. By 2050, the Hispanic population in the U.S. will grow by 167 percent, compared to just 42 percent for the overall population.

One thing that makes Latinos a particularly profitable market for small businesses is their youth. While the U.S. as a whole is graying, the median age of Hispanics in the U.S. is just 28 (almost 10 years younger than the overall median age of 37). More than half the U.S. Latino population is under 35 years old.

That means Hispanics are in the market for:

  • New homes and everything that goes with them (appliances, furniture, décor, home services).
  • Weddings and everything that goes with them (flowers, catering, honeymoons and travel).
  • Children and everything that goes with them (clothing, accessories, toys, education and tutoring, extracurricular activities).

MediaPost reports that research firm IBISWorld has identified seven industries that will benefit most from the growing Hispanic population:

  1. Residential buying, food (grocery and restaurants)
  2. Retail (especially clothing and electronics)
  3. Education (higher education and technical schools)
  4. Financial services
  5. Transportation (automotive and airline)
  6. Entertainment
  7. Media

If you’re in one of these areas and want to reach Hispanic consumers, you’d best get active on social media. MediaPost says Hispanics are avid social media users and that trend is likely to grow.

As of February 2012, Hispanic Internet users’ visits to social networking sites rose 14 percent year-over-year. Hispanics are the fastest-growing U.S. ethnic group on Facebook and WordPress, and Hispanics over age 18 are 25 percent more likely to fan or follow brands on social media than the general population.

Are you targeting Hispanic customers in your marketing tactics and how is it working for your business?

Hispanic Family Photo via Shutterstock

6 Comments ▼

Rieva Lesonsky Rieva Lesonsky is a Columnist for Small Business Trends covering employment, retail trends and women in business. She is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Visit her blog, SmallBizDaily, to get the scoop on business trends and free TrendCast reports.

6 Reactions
  1. Great article Rieva, Felicitaciones!

    Many of the businesses that we meet are indeed interested in reaching Hispanics but A) don’t realize how online savvy we Hispanics are and B) don’t know where to start. YaSabe has provided a measurable way for them to create simple online presence for Hispanics searching for businesses like theirs or even more sophisticated offerings in terms of Spanish language websites and more.

  2. As a marketing manager who is not fluent in the Spanish language would find it difficult to market to the Hispanic communities unless I hire someone who speaks Spanish, not only that I agree with the comment that most Hispanics search for Hispanic owned businesses.

  3. Hi Rieva,

    Great article! i thought you would be interested in learning about the new and first of its kind on-line Hispanic Training Center(HTC). HTC offers a curriculum package titled, Selling to Hispanic Consumers. It also serves as a professional development tool for Hispanic to advance in their careers and as leaders. To learn more please visit, http://www.HispanicTrainingCenter.com

    Have a great Labor Day weekend! Annette

  4. Thanks YaSabe and Annette for the information on the additional resources.