This past March we posted an article titled ‘Marketing to Hispanics‘ where we briefly mentioned mobile marketing. This month we would like to expand on that topic as we take a look at mobile Web sites, text messaging and mobile applications to reach the Hispanic community.

According to comScore m:metrics, 71% of Hispanics consume content on cell phones compared to the market average of 48%. Nielsen’s recent ‘Mobile Advertising Report’ highlighted that Hispanic data users are more likely to recall seeing ads on mobile phones (41% compared with 30% of non-Hispanics) and more likely to have responded (22% vs. 13%). Therefore, mobile marketing to the Hispanic demographic is an opportunity to experience growth in this slowing economy.

Having mobile capabilities like text messaging is ideal for these consumers to find you.  Especially since many Hispanics will first experience the Internet via their cell phones because of limitations of Internet on a home computer. In addition to having your Web site available on mobile devices is the need to offer a Spanish translated site. Many Hispanic consumers are bilingual, but there is a sizeable market that still communicates primarily in Spanish. To effectively target these consumers, mobile initiatives should include Spanish language media as a key component of the mobile marketing mix.

According to Jose Villa, author of MediaPost’s blog, ‘10 Things You Should Know About U.S. Hispanics‘, “Hispanics are still a part of the honeymoon phase.”  Meaning, they are not burned out and therefore, are more likely to respond to advertisements from companies on their mobile devices.  In addition to mobile Web sites, text messaging and mobile applications are essential.

“Hispanics are connecting twice as fast as the general market (14% growth versus 7%) adding over a million users per year. In 2008, 23 million Hispanics are online, about 52% of the Hispanic population.”1 Therefore, adding more technology to your business, i.e., mobile marketing, to attract the Hispanic community is very important to the survival of companies in this economy. This Hispanic market is the ideal renter because they are very brand loyal and they tend to stick with what with what is familiar to them. Just like any other consumer, they are looking for an experience.  Provide that for them and have a loyal, growing force supporting your brand. What more could you want?

¹ MediaPosts Engage:Hispanics ‘10 Things You Should Know About U.S. Hispanics’ by Alvaro Cabrera. Thursday, June 25, 2009