Hispanic American Internet users consume more media and spend more time with technology than the general US population, according to a new study by Yahoo! Telemundo and Experian Simmons.
Online Hispanics spend more than half of each day watching TV, listening to the radio and taking in various types of media. Mobile phone penetration among online Hispanic Americans is 90%, compared with 79% for the general US population.
"Hispanic Americans are avid consumers of both TV and Internet and demand more options in Spanish-language content," said Millie Carrasquillo of Telemundo. "The fact that TV viewership continues to grow among US Hispanics while Internet penetration has almost doubled, combined with the high penetration of broadband access in this segment, presents a unique opportunity to offer this diverse audience more choices of meaningful and relevant content."
With nearly 80% of online Hispanics using broadband, there is significant growth potential for online video advertising.
As the bilingual and Spanish-language-dominant population continues to grow at a fast pace, Spanish content and Spanish-language purchase processes make sense for online campaigns targeting this demographic.
eMarketer estimates that Hispanic online ad spending will rise faster than general market online ad spending. It was up 32% in 2006, vs. an estimated 25% for the general market.
Other studies like this one from the Pew Internet & American Life Project have noted the close relationship of language dominance to Internet usage for Latinos. This highlights the need to use multiple media in Latino-focused campaigns.
The breadth of Hispanic media and Internet usage also points to the need for ads which appear on general market sites but are targeted to Hispanic Internet users, and ads that are dynamically generated in the user's language of choice, based on his or her previous online behavior.