eMarketer estimates that there are 18.8 million Hispanic American Internet users in 2007. That number will grow to nearly 25 million in 2011.
Language is a key issue for marketers targeting them—but it is not the only issue.
“As important as it is, the choice between communicating in Spanish or English is just one piece of the puzzle,” says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report Hispanic Americans Online: A Fragmented Population.
Hispanic marketing experts have long said that there is no “one size fits all” strategy for reaching Hispanic consumers. If anything, the larger the market gets, the more fragmented it becomes.
And the market is growing larger.
About one out of every two people added to the US population between 2005 and 2006 was of Hispanic origin. In 2006, the US Census Bureau estimated that the number of Hispanic Americans was 44.3 million, or 14.8% of the US population, growing to 47.8 million or 15.5% by 2011.
“A defining characteristic of this segment is the variety of its nationalities, languages, degrees of acculturation, income and education levels.” Ms. Williamson said.
“These factors yield a patchwork of Internet usage patterns,” she said. “The nearly 19 million Hispanic American Internet users do not constitute a homogeneous market.”
People of Hispanic origin come from nearly two dozen countries. Though nearly two-thirds of Hispanic Americans are of Mexican origin, many other nationalities are represented. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, Central America, South America and Puerto Rico make up the next largest segments of Hispanic Americans.
“The relative youth of the Hispanic population also affects marketing decisions,” says Ms. Williamson.
According to the Census Bureau, Hispanic males have a median age seven years younger than the total US population, while Hispanic females are a median of 10 years younger.
“The growing Hispanic online market will constitute an attractive audience for marketers and media companies well into the future,” Ms. Williamson said. “But the larger the population, the more diverse it becomes and thus the more challenging to reach.”