Last Thursday, over 250 agency executives, media buyers/planners and publishers came together in lower Manhattan for The First Annual Hispanic Digital and Print Media Conference.
In the first event of its kind to focus exclusively on Latino digital and print media, attendees were treated to a host of presentations covering everything from geotargeting and Spanish-language keyword search to case studies of how media companies have been merging their digital and print content. The conference also included a panel featuring media buyers, planners, and clients, all of whom cited their most important concerns. One aspect about which everyone spoke unanimously was the need to demonstrate ROI to advertisers and media buyers.
Demonstrate ROI: Far and away the most important takeaway that our media buyer panel left us with is that Hispanic publications need to clearly demonstrate ROI to their advertisers. Marketing directors are becoming more discriminating in handling their budgets, and they need numbers to justify their spends. Audited circulation was cited by many as being a deal-maker or deal-breaker:
- Ilia Leon, VP/Director of Zenith Optimedia Multicultural: “Demonstrating ROI is paramount. We need media properties to show us the user engagement that their vehicle offers, the accountability as shown by their audit, and the research that shows they are reaching who they say they are.”
- Liliana Gil, Worldwide Director of Hispanic Marketing Services & Hispanic Marketing Strategy Lead, Johnson & Johnson: “We’re past the stage of looking simply at the number of clicks. Give us the complete package with demonstrated ROI.”
- Marsha Lawrence, Senior Manager of Strategy and Analytics, Best Buy: “We look at a number of factors when deciding to place. These include ROI, household penetration, Hispanic population in the area, and distribution.”
