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#Latism: In What State is the “Social” Latino?

On October 29th, together with a talented group of social and digital marketing experts, our contributor Julie Diaz Asper had the distinct pleasure to be on the Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) State of the Social Latino Panel.  Below are her perspectives on the most important takeaways and insights from the panel.

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descarga (2)On October 29th, together with a talented group of social and digital marketing experts, our contributor Julie Diaz Asper had the distinct pleasure to be on the Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) State of the Social Latino Panel.  Below are her perspectives on the most important takeaways and insights from the panel.

The Current State of the Social and Mobile Latino 

Stacie de Armas, Vice President Strategic Initiatives & Consumer Engagement at Nielsen, set the stage by sharing current data and insights on the ways Latinos are consuming both social and mobile technology.  Latinos continue to over-index on both adoption and time spent.  As early adopters and trendsetters, Latinos offer organizations a future view of where user social and mobile consumption will go.

Key Nielsen Latino data shared:

  • Mobile Adoption: 81% are smartphone users
  • Mobile Minutes: monthly, at least 100 minutes more time spent on mobile than other ethnicities
  • Social Minutes: weekly, 2 ½ hours time spent on social networking apps
  • mCommerce: 12% of mobile shoppers are Latino

“Hispanics are super consumers of smart phones and avid mobile app users”, said Stacie de Armas, Vice President Strategic Initiatives & Consumer Engagement with Nielsen. “According to Nielsen’s insights, Latinos over-index vs. the general market not only on ownership of smart phones but also usage of apps. Super social and super engaged, Latinos spend almost 2 ½ per week on social media apps on smart phones and up to 9:03 hours per week on other apps and web surfing on smartphones.”

The Importance of Micro-Moments and Authentic Content 

Eliana Murillo, Head of Multicultural at Google discussed taking advantage of micro-moments and creating authentic brand content via content creator collaboration.  Recent Google Micro-Moments research points to micro-moments when a consumer has high interest or intent as a key opportunity to reach consumers.   Consider a “I want to do” moment when users want to learn how to do something like make-up, hair, recipe or make a DIY present.  Given how much Latinos like how to videos, creating a helpful video to address that “I want to do’ moment becomes a great opportunity to engage and reach the Latino audience.  Another type of micro-moment can be a short-lived niche moment that generates intense interest among your target consumer (think soccer game, concert, even lights out during the super bowl which Oreo capitalized on).  These opportunities lend themselves to deeper engagement.

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Leading Hispanic marketers are taking advantage of these micro-moment opportunities by collaborating with content creators.  Content creators are in a good position to know their audience.  Consider that every time they put up a video on YouTube they practically receive immediate feedback.  It’s very likely that the content creators know the consumer better than the brand or agency people do.

Eliana recommends giving creators the flexibility to do something authentic that will work for their audience. One really great example is Karla Celis, a YouTube crafter with over 1 million subscribers did a DIY snack bar and drive-in movie project that featured Ford. The crafter built content that was very original, fun and relevant for her audience and has lead to over 500K views.

Eliana cautioned about doing your homework before engaging content creators to make certain that you work with a person who is a good fit for your brand.  She suggests watching their videos, reading the comments they post, and reviewing their social accounts to learn about the type of content they produce and assessing their engagement techniques.

Reaching your Audience Across Platforms with Rewarding Experiences 

Sameer Deen, SVP of Univision Digital shared how Univision is actively building cross-platform experiences, content creator relationships and new platforms to extend its reach and further engage its audience.

Sameer shared Univision’s focus on finding new and authentic ways for Univision to engage their fans.  The Conecta app available for the iPhone or Android is a fan engagement tool rolled out recently for the the wildly popular La Banda, a search for the new super boy band competition produced by Simon Cowell and Ricky Martin. The app allows fans to receive exclusive content, vote on contests, easily see and engage in show related social traffic, and even become a judge.  These steps make it easy and rewarding for fans to engage with the show on a second screen while watching the show live and staying engaged afterwards.  Sameer mentioned that the LA Banda roll-out has been an example of how brands like Verizon and Toyota can create campaigns that bridge, social, mobile and TV.

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Univision has also partnered with Snapchat to leverage live stories for major events.  One example Sameer discussed were the July 26th live soccer stories for Copa de Oro–a clever way to engage younger soccer fans on a new platform that is gaining major popularity on a topic that Univision is well-known for.  Sameer mentioned that Snapchat allows content creators to tell their story differently, in new engaging ways.

Univision recently created the Univision Creator Network to offer content from top Latino content creators on YouTube, Vine and other platforms.  The content creators, who are mostly English speaking, are creating content that appeals to younger English-dominant Latino audiences and helps brands reach these audiences.  He cautioned about making sure to create the right story for audiences along with the right message for your brand.

“Engaging our audiences is a critical part of how we evolve with media consumption habits, and most importantly how we reward that consumption. Whether it is through content created by them, with them and for them as we are doing through the Univision Creator Network and with ‎Flama, or creating experiences that easily enable their access through technology such as with La Banda via Univision Conecta, we are truly providing our audience with the content they want, wherever they are and with the talent and creators they love. Garnering this great engagement and creating exclusive opportunities allows us to also create unique experiences for our advertisers,” said Sameer Deen, SVP of Univision Digital.

All in all, my top takeaway from the session is that the fight to gain attention among Latino consumers, especially Millennials, is escalating quickly.  Organizations who are trying to reach Latinos are going to face fierce competition. The days of trying to quickly “Latinize” an ad via translations and Hispanic models are dying out. Brands will need to create compelling, unique campaigns with content that is more relevant, rewarding, useful and/or experiential in order have a competitive edge across multiple platforms.

Julie Diaz-Asper is the founder of Social Lens Research. Social Lens has a proven track record of using a mix of social marketing techniques and sound research methodologies to better engage and gain deeper insights (mobile optimized research exercises, focus groups, social contests).Julie has over two decades of experience helping large organizations to innovate and pursue new market opportunities including American Express, AARP, Google Multicultural, Univision, Consumer Reports en Español, Cabot Cheese, Mobile Future, CX Act, HITN, Immersive Youth Marketing and Inspire Agency.

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