impreMedia Impressions: Hispanics Use Social Media More than Non-Hispanic Whites- Mary Zerafa - MediaBizBloggers

Do Hispanics use social media?

This is a question I hear quite often. Hispanics not only use social media they are more likely to use it than non-Hispanic whites and their use is growing by double digits. The 2009 Multicultural Marketing Study conducted by Dr. Felipe Korzenny at the Florida State University Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication, DMS Research and Captura Group asked a diverse group of 2,500 people if they use social media and here is what they found:

Percent of a given segment who visit a social networking site at least 2 -3 times per month:

· 62% of English-Preferring Hispanics, up from 46% in 2008

· 63% of Asian Americans, up from 42% in 2008

· 60% of African Americans, up from 33% in 2008

· 59% of Spanish-Preferring Hispanics, up from 35% in 2008

· 55% of Non-Hispanic Whites, up from 24% in 2008

Part of the reason Hispanics are more likely to use social media is because overall the Hispanic population is younger. That's only part of the story. Culture plays a big role. Hispanics in the offline world are very social, often asking family and friends for advice or opinion. Another factor is geography. Social media allows Hispanics to stay connected with family not only in the US but also in their home country. As Dr. Korzenny puts it, "Social media allows Hispanics to recreate the village where everyone knows everyone else and where interactions are spontaneous, except we don't have to be in the same place anymore."

What social media sites do they use?

By looking at data from comScore we can see the social media sites that Hispanics frequent.

Source: ComScore June 2010

However, this doesn't tell the whole story. The 2009 Multicultural Study also found that Hi5 is also quite popular among Spanish-Preferring Hispanics.

· Facebook 36%

· MySpace 41%

· Hi5: 29%

Why? Hi5 is very popular in Latin America and it makes it easy for Hispanics to connect and share with distant friends and family.

What about Latina bloggers?

The organization Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) recently released a study LATISM Bloguera Survey 2010 about Latina bloggers. They find that while the number of Latina bloggers has been growing steadily, there has been an explosion in the past year: 63% had started their blog in 2009 and that number is expected to grow.

The study found that most Latina bloggers, or blogueras as they are known, are moms and many are single moms: 94.8% are moms and 70% of blogueras are single, divorced or married.

The two most popular topics are parenting, 62.7% and Latino issues 54.4%. Other popular topics included Heritage/Culture, Cooking/Recipes, Beauty/Fashion, Art, Technology and Politics.

What language do they blog in? Both: English, 72.3% and Spanish, 69.3%.

These bloggers represent a great opportunity for marketers. Manny Ruiz is a publisher of two blogs, Hispanic PR blog and papiblogger. He has several tips for marketers reaching out to Latino bloggers.

· Know the blogger and the content they write

· Contact them before submitting a product for review

· Don't be pushy

· Keep your pitch simple and direct and personalize it

What does this mean to marketers?

Using social media to reach out to Latinos is an untapped opportunity. According to Jose Villa, President of Sensis Agency, "There's a lot of talk but very few companies are playing. There's a tremendous advantage for first movers."

Mary Zerafa is VP of Strategy and Integrated Marketing for impreMedia. Mary can be reached at Mary.Zerafa@impremedia.com. She also blogs at www.hispanicmarketinfo.com where you can learn more about the US Hispanic market.

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