Powerful Latinas Remain Ignored by Marketers
June 8, 2010 :: Posted by: Daniel Dahlman
Reports on the strength and vibrancy of the Hispanic market have become omnipresent. A recent report by the Selig Center for Economic Grow predicts that Hispanic buying power will reach 1,333 billion by 2014, representing 10.2% of the nation’s total buying power. The upcoming release of U.S. Census data will reconfirm what we already know: Hispanics are the nations largest minority group, show no signs of slowing down, and own an increasingly large percentage of the nation’s wealth.
The implications for marketers are clear: engage Hispanics or get left behind. In the face of all this data, innovative marketers have made efforts to engage Hispanics through multilingual websites and other marketing initiatives. However, few marketers consider further honing their efforts to target different segments within this increasingly powerful group. One segment brimming with potential is the U.S. Latina.
U.S Latinas are extremely entrepreneurial. The numbers on Latina-owned businesses are staggering:
- Sixty-two percent of new business owners in the United States are Latinas. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
- Latina-owned businesses represent about 37 percent of all Latino businesses in the United States. (Source: Center for Women's Business Research)
- Latina workers comprise the fastest-growing small-business sector in the United States, with an annual growth rate of 114 percent. (Source: Center for Women's Business Research)
In addition to incredible business achievements, Latinas are connecting to the Internet and using social networks in record numbers. Last month, research firm Sophia Mind released a study entitled, “The Use of Social Networks by Latin Women” after surveying more than 3,000 Latinas in the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. The study found that although Latina women in the U.S. are one of the fastest-growing online demographics, they remain frustrated by a lack of quality online content. The study revealed that although 85% of U.S. Latinas use social networks on a regular basis, only 21% of surveyed women find that social networks meet their needs as Latina women and 38% of U.S. women surveyed stated that social networks today “lack both a sense of Latina community and content created especially for their unique interests.”
Studies have also shown that Latinas wield incredible household decision-making power, from finances to food. Meredith Hispanic Ventures and NBC Universal's Telemundo Group surveyed more than 1,000 Latinas in four states and found that 81% of respondents said they are either the main decision-maker or make decisions with their spouse. Interestingly, the survey also found that Latinas are more confident, with 66% describing themselves as "someone who can do it all," compared to 53% of non-Hispanic women.
In spite of all the indicators of their wealth, online access, and decision-making power, marketers continue to drag their feet in engaging Latina audiences. Hispanic ad agency Orci recently surveyed 9,300 senior marketers at Fortune 1000 companies to discover how much of their marketing was focused on the U.S. Hispanic population. Althougha significant number of marketers believe that Americans' taste in Latina-driven categories like food (89%) and fashion and beauty (87%) will be impacted by the growing Hispanic population, over 80% of marketers have no plans to begin or increase efforts in this arena in the coming year.
As Latinas are increasingly running their own businesses, earning their own money, using social networks, and making household decisions, there has never been a better time to engage this severely underserved segment of the U.S. online Hispanic market. The clear need for better Latina-focused online content is a golden opportunity for marketers. Who’s up for the challenge?
Comments
Susan A said on Thu July 22 at 02:19
We thought the study by Sophia Mind was interesting, and confirms what we already suspected: Latinas engage in social networks to a large degree, and the news is that they trust these networks more for purchasing info than other sources. The lack of quality online content for Latinas is a bit disheartening as well. We think things are looking up, though. Poco a poco.
http://www.reachhispanic.com/2010/07/08/most-latinastrust-social-networks-more-than-ads-sophia-mind/