COMMENTARY

U.S. Hispanic Population Growth Means More Spending

• by Karla Fernandez Parker , Columnist, 47 minutes ago

The U.S. Hispanic population has grown by 83% since 2000, making it the second-fastest growth segment according to a Claritas Report, The Hispanic American Market Report. That means that almost one in five Americans are Hispanic.

While growth occurred in some of the expected major Hispanic markets like Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Miami, Dallas and Chicago, the southeastern U.S. saw sizable increases in places like Atlanta, Washington D.C.,  Tampa and Orlando.

The report goes on to describe what this means in household spending and how Hispanics spend differently. Hispanics spend 15% more on meat and eggs and 9% more on fruits and vegetables than the average U.S. household. With larger families and more children in the household,  Hispanics also outspend in the following categories:

— 21% more on men’s and boy’s apparel

— 28% more on apparel for children (under 2 years old)

— 28% more on all footwear

— 17% more on soap and cleaning products

Advertisers can capitalize on these trends and target Hispanics knowing they have the intent to spend in these categories. 

Hispanics are also heavy smartphone users who over-index on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, giving advertisers the ability to geotarget in these key Hispanic markets.

In fact, digital ads that specifically target Hispanics do very well. We’ve seen higher click-through rates for Hispanic-targeted campaigns across all digital tactics.

An eMarketer report from 2017 cites that Hispanics are more interested — 30% — and somewhat more interested — 48% — in brands that advertise on Facebook versus non-Hispanics, whose percentages for those  categories are 17% and 46%, respectively.

The profit potential is clear-cut. The ability to target by language usage, geography, income, and interests makes Hispanic marketing more of a possibility than ever — and a necessity for all marketers who want to harness this huge buying segment.