Marketing to Hispanic Consumers: What Brands Get Wrong and How to Bridge the Gap

Today, consumers are more likely to discover new brands and complete a purchase on a social platform like TikTok. And one in five TikTok users is Hispanic, with 48% of Latinx TikTok users using the app every single day and #LatinoTikTok racking up over 3.9B views. Hispanic consumers are a cultural powerhouse on social media, wielding significant influence to shape trends.

As a consumer sector, the Hispanic community cannot be ignored, and woe to the brands that neglect them in social strategies or multicultural representation initiatives. Yet, despite all the prominent data around the growth of the Hispanic community and its impact, brands continue to miss opportunities to resonate with and convert this important consumer base through Hispanic marketing strategies.

The connecting point between the statistical juggernaut of the Hispanic population as a consumer segment and a brand’s resonance in that cultural space is authentic representation and community engagement. In this article, we’ve gathered insights from Viral Nation’s strategy, creative, and community experts to delve into community-centric social media marketing. Here’s everything you need to know to achieve brand resonance with Hispanic consumers through fostering trust.

What brands need to know about the Hispanic community

The Hispanic community is not only the fastest-growing community in terms of population and buying power — 19% of the US population and projected to account for 12% of its buying power by 2025 — but they’re also the youngest. With a median age of 30, digitally connected Millennials and Gen Z make up the majority of this group, and they base their purchase decisions on what influences them on social media.

A pan-ethnic umbrella term, “Latinx” refers to all people of Latin American heritage (over 20 diverse countries including Mexico, the Caribbeans, and Brazil) living in the US. Don’t confuse this phrase with “Hispanic”, which refers to the Spanish-speaking population of the Latin Americas, along with Spain. A content creator from Portuguese-speaking Brazil is Latinx but not Hispanic, and a creator from Spain is Hispanic but not Latinx.

Authentic and humanized engagement aren’t just buzzwords. To build successful relationships, brands must begin by understanding the nuances of the cultural communities they’re trying to connect with.

Highlighting Hispanic heritage

To hit the right note with Spanish-speaking audiences across social media, brands must understand the nuance of a community that’s digitally connected while also respecting the diaspora and smaller cultural niches within the group. It calls for research and time dedicated to building an intentional and inclusive social strategy. For most brands, this means scaling community management efforts for an end-to-end approach that’s responsive, agile, and always on.

Here are a handful of elements to take into account:

Spanglish

It’s a common brand misconception that Hispanic people born in the US have abandoned their linguistic heritage. On the flip side, don’t overlook that most of the Hispanic community in the US speaks English perfectly well and connects on some level with Anglicized culture.

The answer? Engage with bilingual content. It’s common practice for Hispanic creators to post in Spanish with English subtitles, or vice versa, and even more to post in Spanglish.

Latin music

The universal appeal of Latin music speaks for itself: it shapes fashion, dance, and lifestyle, and it continues to evolve. Reggaeton’s journey from the streets of Puerto Rico to the world stage, with artists like Bad Bunny, KAROL G, and J Alvin at the forefront, has solidified its place in global pop culture.

Integrating Latin music into campaigns and leveraging music-centric partnerships is a direct way for brands to speak to the values of a Gen Z Hispanic consumers.

In this Vivid Seats post for last year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, the leading online ticket marketplace seamlessly connected celebrating Hispanic culture with its core brand persona:

Say no to one-size-fits-all

Cultural values impact the way consumers shop for products and services: It’s not enough to account for your Hispanic audience and other ethnic minorities in your general marketing strategy. 80% of multicultural consumers seek out content that makes them feel connected with their community. Failing to speak directly to Hispanic consumers not only creates a gap in potential reach, it’s a missed opportunity for brand loyalty:

“The brands that are killing it on social media are going above and beyond just offering their product or their services,” Viral Nation Head of Creative, Content, and Experiential, Brandon Lentino, told Ad Age at their Gen Z summit earlier this year. “They’re figuring out a way to engage and entertain communities through different angles. What is that extra step they’re taking to engage with these communities? It’s about creating value.”

Given the complexity and nuance within Hispanic marketing, it’s not enough to add a “cultural minorities” section to your strategy, show people of color in an ad, and call it a day. Strategies aimed generically at “ethnic groups” will land as tone-deaf, ultimately failing to deliver.

We understand the complexity of marketing to specific cultural niches — here’s what our community management experts suggest:

• Show up where existing communities are active in a real way
• Participate in microtrends that are actually relevant to your target niche and that your brand can authentically speak to
• Empower the voices that exist in the space, uplifting authentic voices through creator partnerships to build trust and positive brand sentiment with your target demographic.

Hispanic community marketing done right

With that said, it’s also a mistake to jump on the bandwagon for the sake of trends. When building an inclusive strategy, there’s a greater need for intentionality. Specific cultural spaces hold a higher level of influence with their niche social media audiences and answer to a higher degree of trust. These are not the spaces to engage in half measures — a marketing strategy to reach Hispanic audiences must be rooted authentically in your brand’s message.

In other words, walk the walk. Your Hispanic marketing social strategy should be 365: consistently connecting in a culturally informed way and highlighting the community throughout the year. If it doesn’t ladder up to your larger business and social strategy, don’t just tag along for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Sporty success stories

For inspiration, look no further than your favorite sports team.

The Dallas Cowboys have a significant Hispanic fan base. It’s reflective of the broader demographics of Texas, where roughly 28.5% of the population speaks Spanish at home (that’s about 7.8 million people).

The Texas team engages with its Hispanic fans through several initiatives, including Spanish-language broadcasts. Notably, the Cowboys have a Spanish-only Instagram account where they share all of their updates year-round with their Spanish fans.

Here’s how the Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami fosters community with a focus on their Hispanic players and fan base:

1. Partnership with Univision: Inter Miami’s Spanish broadcasting partnership with Univision includes well-known commentators and analysts like Diego Balado and Nicolás Cantor.
2. Spanish content creation: Across YouTube and TikTok, the Miami team strengthens their identity while creating an inclusive space for their fan base with bilingual original content, descriptions, and captions.

Celebrating community: Inter Miami fosters a stronger connection with their fans by engaging in both Spanish and English, in ways that celebrate the community:

Social-first Hispanic community engagement

Beyond empowering cultural voices in the space, brands can reach their Hispanic consumer segments through social-first community engagement. The key to authentic and impactful community building is showing up and engaging where the conversation is already happening, in ways that are true to your brand. Here’s how the Viral Nation community management team has found success connecting brands with cultural communities:

• Social listening: To understand the Hispanic community’s needs, tastes, and preferences, practice active social listening. Social-first community engagement means putting your target community at the center of your strategy. And doing it right means taking the necessary steps to keep up with who your community is and what’s most important to them.
• Right place, right time: Social listening informs how, when, and where you join conversations. To engage with the Hispanic community, you’ll have to consider not only what value you bring to the table, but also where it’s most appropriate for your brand to show up authentically. As with all things social media, timing comes into play, too — agility and responsiveness can make all the difference when it comes to community engagement.
• Relationship-forward: An engagement strategy is about forging an emotional bond with your target audience. Actions that deprioritize promotions and instead spotlight opportunities to connect make all the difference. This might mean giving back to the community with philanthropy, offering a gifting experience, a surprise and delight strategy, or uplifting and empowering the voices of the community by building relationships with Hispanic creators.
• Stay true: To foster lasting engagement, keep all community engagement efforts anchored in the truth of your brand identity. When you connect proactive and reactive community management with your broader brand story, your efforts resonate beyond the isolated social strategy: they ladder up to positive brand sentiment and overall higher brand loyalty

A 360 approach to Hispanic heritage

Community-centric and creator-led social media marketing to the Hispanic community is not just a strategic move to be checked off once a year. It’s a necessity for brands aiming to stay relevant and inclusive in today’s diverse market. The influence, demographic growth, and buying power of the Hispanic community all point to a wider truth for brands to take note of: authentic engagement, cultural resonance, and sustainable brand growth go hand in hand.

By engaging with Hispanic audiences where their communities organically thrive, brands can build trust, increase positive sentiment, and foster long-term loyalty. Ultimately, bridging the cultural gap between brand marketing and the under-represented Hispanic community will lead to greater brand resonance, period.