With $2.5 trillion in buying power, the Hispanic market isn't an opportunity, it's a necessity.

Hispanics make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, and the 2020 Census revealed that this group accounted for 51% of all new population growth. As one of many multicultural groups in the U.S., the Hispanic audience has quickly become one of the most influential and affluent.

However, for many advertisers, this is an untapped market. But it doesn’t have to be. There are many opportunities for advertisers to connect and engage with U.S. Hispanics once they understand the diversity of this community and what matters most to them. It is an essential strategy for brand growth.

Let’s begin with a snapshot of this group. In the U.S., the Hispanic community trends young; 58% of Hispanics in the U.S. are under age 34. More than a quarter of all multicultural people across the country are Hispanic and under the age of 18—these are individuals who are still forming their buying habits and brand affiliations.

Trending alongside its growth in numbers is the group’s economic impact. U.S. Hispanics’ annual buying power is expected to exceed $2.5 trillion in the next two years—that growth is double the rate of non-Hispanics, according to the latest census figures. And as a group, U.S. Hispanics’ GDP is expanding faster than those of Germany, U.K., France and Japan.

For Hispanics, their language and culture are embedded into their identities. Understand and respect this, and there is a golden opportunity for brands that are willing to learn how to approach and connect with this audience.

Let’s explore how to delight and forge a longstanding relationship with Hispanic consumers, tapping into the ultimate prospect for brand growth.

The first step is crafting authentic creative that resonates with the U.S. Hispanic community. This is how you will touch their hearts, showing them that the care and consideration you put into your brand and products extends all the way through how you communicate with your customers.  

To engage this audience, it’s critical that you speak to them directly by advertising in Spanish and tapping into their passions. One of the biggest misconceptions about this group is that U.S. Hispanics are speaking less Spanish and hiding their culture. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

According to the Kantar 2021 U.S. Monitor report, 88% of U.S. Hispanics say they appreciate businesses that speak to them in Spanish, and 87% feel businesses that make a sincere effort to be part of or invest in their communities deserve their loyalty.

Advertising in Spanish also makes your brand and messaging memorable and likable—even among bilinguals—and boosts your ROAS by nearly 39%, according to a Nielsen study commissioned by Univision.

But you cannot simply translate your ads en español and call it a day. U.S. Hispanics are not a monolith and should not be treated as such. This is a community that is large and varied. While they share a language that is extremely important to them, to truly connect, you need to understand and incorporate the cultural nuances into your messaging that will resonate.

Here are some cultural insights that are effective in increasing enjoyment and engagement with your ads among U.S. Hispanics.

Celebrities and influencers: Charismatic celebrities and influencers are especially appealing, and the right endorser can help you introduce your brand or products to Hispanic consumers. Work to find the right fit and forge a partnership; a familiar face can help make a lasting impression.

Music and cultural affinity: Find ways to relevantly position your brand or products in a context that fits the cultural backdrop and match that with a culturally appropriate soundtrack.

Escapism: Storytelling through a hopeful daydream, future fantasy or even nostalgia can grab Hispanic consumers’ attention and guide them into thinking about how your brand can serve their interests. 

Humor: Hispanic humor can be very broad, but when employed genuinely it can increase ad involvement and engagement scores while drawing this audience in. It’s about knowing what resonates, especially if you’re aiming to get a laugh from a specific segment, and delivering on the joke.

Family: For U.S. Hispanics, family is huge. But you cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach to family scenarios in your ads. Creative that includes a father and son playing soccer together is not going to engage this audience; however an ad that digs deep into authentic, emotional storytelling about a father-son relationship can. Look for specific moments that truly touch their hearts and you can boost ad enjoyment and persuasion scores.

Community: Showing up in the community and telling real stories that uplift and celebrate Hispanics is a true recipe for success. Brands that highlight the powerful force for good that is the U.S. Hispanic community, as well as demonstrate the meaningful role that they can play in consumers’ lives, will see results.

Well-planned creative designed to reach the U.S. Hispanic community will fall flat if it’s not served in the right place. You need to connect with this audience where they are.

Audiences of all kinds are flocking to streaming content, and U.S. Hispanics are no exception. As a group, they spend more time streaming content than non-Hispanic whites (34% vs. 25%) and spend twice as much time watching videos on their smartphones than non-Hispanics.

One of the key reasons this group turns to streaming is to find content that represents Hispanic culture and identity.

However, according to Nielsen, Hispanic representation in content is only 10% across platforms as of 2021 (up from 6% in 2020), despite this group making up nearly 20% of the total U.S. population. Univision understands this trend in increased streaming viewership and the need for representation, responding with the launch of ViX. The two-tiered global streaming service includes more than 40,000 hours of programming and over 100 channels, opening the opportunity for advertisers to reach the growing and highly engaged U.S. Hispanic audience.

As for linear, Spanish language TV continues to be an incredibly powerful platform for advertisers to connect with the U.S. Hispanic community. According to Nielsen, 24 of the top 25 entertainment shows among U.S. bilingual adults are on Spanish-language TV.

However, of the 1,900 brands that advertise on TV, only 500 advertise on Spanish-language TV. This is a costly oversight for those brands who miss reaching Hispanics on this platform.

That said, those advertisers who do run campaigns using purchase-based targeting to reach Hispanic TV audiences can earn an ROI 1.5 times greater than that of non-Hispanic audiences.

U.S. Hispanics are also highly reachable and responsive on social media. This group is 82% more likely to connect with brands on social media than non-Hispanics, according to research from MRI-Simmons. That means any Hispanic-focused campaign should have a well-crafted and engaging social advertising strategy in place to expand reach.

From streaming to linear, digital to social, there are countless opportunities for advertisers to get in front of the U.S. Hispanic audience. Deliver a relevant, entertaining and informative ad on the platforms they frequently use and you can begin to grow awareness as well as earn brand affinity and trust.

So, to hit the ground running with your campaign, you’re going to need some help in the form of partners who know the U.S. Hispanic community and how to reach them.

In an advertising world increasingly reliant on a steady stream of first-party and contextual data, you need to seek out partners that hold valuable big-picture and segment-specific data on the Hispanic community. This includes data on its various segments, individual consumers and interest trends, as well as having the technology to activate this data.

It's also vital that your partnerships empower you to reach the U.S. Hispanic community across all platforms and can target consumers across each touchpoint to maximize reach. This will make your campaign more effective at driving relevant reach and outcomes, and that efficiency will also save on ad spend.

Perhaps, most importantly, is finding a qualified partner that can help you navigate the nuances of the various cultures within the U.S. Hispanic community. The partner should also be able to help you craft your creative to resonate most strongly. The key is to authentically align your brand and products with creative storytelling and brand journalism—in culture, in language and in media.

The U.S. Hispanic community is big, powerful and the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S. Their culture is vibrant and joyous, and the opportunity to connect with them through your brand and ad creative should be seen as an exciting growth opportunity for all advertisers.

The time is now to engage with and speak to this audience in the language of their homes, their culture and their hearts.