5 Tips to Write Engaging Copy for Hispanics Audiences on Social Media in the U.S.

By Rossana Ulloa

In accordance with the Pew Research Center, Hispanics represent 17.3% of the US population and it is estimated that they will represent a third of the US population in 2050. This phenomenon is leading the Hispanic community to create a new type of society, permeating and changing the habits of some communities across the US. With this in mind, copy writers should be looking forward and learning about the different cultures and values of Hispanic communities in the US to strategically deliver a message that persuades them to take a particular action, rather than simply creating a demographic profile and translating content into Spanish.

This being said, here are 5 important aspects that copy writers should take into account to engage Hispanic audiences through social media in the US.

1. First Thing’s First: Hispanic’s Activity on Social Media 

Purpose of Social Media for Hispanics and Their Favorite Social Network – The main purpose of Hispanics on social media is to share their daily experiences and keep updated with events occurring on their relatives, friends, influencers and acquaintances lives. However, according to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor Study – 2016, “Hispanic consumers are outpacing non-Hispanics in their adoption of mobile, social and online sources for local shopping”. It further reported that “there are approximately 26 million Hispanics on Facebook, 12 million on Twitter, 9.6 million on Instagram and 9.5 million on You Tube that represent an opportunity of $1.5 trillion”. Celine Matthiessen, VP of analysis and insights at BIA/Kelsey assures that “an integrated social, mobile and loyalty strategy will be a necessity to attract this demographic”. 

Social Listening – People openly sharing their thoughts to the world in a relatively new singularity, which has been growing due to the development of social media. As active participants, consumers had facilitated the identification of tribes, full of insightful and inspiring thoughts. A copy writer, whose goal is to get connected with the Hispanic population, should be able to immerse in their culture and identify trends, influencers and insights to engage them beyond any other brand. As almost every human being in the world, Hispanics may be waiting for good listeners that came up with ideas they identify with. 

Prime Time – The best time to post an advertisement can dramatically vary depending on the target audience. However, there have been determined by multiple sources (Social Buffer, Huffington Post, Forbes, Hub Spot, among others) some time trends for social networks:

• Facebook: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays | at 9am, 1pm and 3pm
• Instagram: Tuesdays and Thursdays | 2am, 8am, 9am and 5pm
• Twitter: Wednesdays | 12pm, 3pm, 5pm and 6pm 

2. Understand Hispanic’s Culture 

It may not be wise to try to understand Hispanic population as a whole. In fact, Hispanic population is compound by more than 20 countries with great cultural differences between them. However, besides their language, there are characteristics that tend to bring these diverse backgrounds together. Some of them are: 

Religion – The vast majority identify themselves as Catholic and Protestant. Also, an important fact is the variation between Christmas traditions, in which they commonly celebrate the birth of baby Jesus the 24^th of December and the arrival of the Three Wise Men on the 6^th of January.

Cuisine – Some may limit the Hispanic cuisine to Mexican cuisine. However, Hispanic Cuisine has plenty of variations mainly divided into five groups: Mexican, Central America, the Caribbean, Andean Region and Southern Cone. Also, something distinctive of the Hispanic gastronomy are the wide selection of fruits and vegetables due to their agriculture. 

Family – According to Utah State University’s Cooperative Extension, “Hispanic people are historically very family oriented. The needs of the family are more important than the concerns of the individuals, and the individual’s self-esteem and identity is strongly affected by his or her relationship with family members”. In other words, family is a source of identity and security against the adversity of life. 

Sports – Differently to Non-Hispanic audiences who primarily feel attracted to Football, Basketball and Baseball, The Hispanic population is characterized for their passion towards Soccer. Classic matches such as Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Boca Junior vs. River Plate, Milan vs. Inter, among others become almost a ritual for Hispanics.

3. Learn from Hispanic’s Social Influencers 

Surely, one of the best ways to understand and reach Hispanic population is to analyze their social influencers. Hispanic Bloggers, Viners, YouTubers, and Instagrammers continue to gain engagement and influence among this population. Depending on the topic they usually talk about (food, fitness, sports, fashion, etc.), they are considered to be the “Word of God” for their followers. You name the subject! For sure, there will be a mentor speaking to your potential customers about social desirability trends. 

Identify What They Consider As Funny Daily Situations – One may say that the best way to capture someone’s attention is by making that person feel identified with an idea. A good way to deliver an idea might be by appealing to funny daily situations that generate an enjoyable distraction from the routine. However, Hispanic’s humor can be really different compared with US humor. Mainly because the Hispanic community still maintains strong ties with the traditions from their country of origin. This leads to situations where both populations get puzzled and perplexed by a joke. Despite this fact, there are also Hispanic social influencers talking about this topic. They are characterized by clearly reflecting the culture of their country. Identifying them may also be a good way to understand and address those differences. Some of them are: @lelepons, @el_mindo, @luisafernandaw @elgatales, among others.

4. Language: Not English, Nor Spanish. It’s Spanglish 

Perhaps one of the most important changes in culture that keeps a low profile for its informal character is the alteration of language. Commonly known as Spanglish, it is defined by the RAE – Real Académia de la Lengua Española as a “Speech mode of some Hispanic groups in the United States, in which lexical and grammatical elements from Spanish and English are mixed and deform”.

Spanglish has awakened numerous controversies regarding the loss of Spanish and English purity on an irremediable way and the concern of positioning Spanglish as a legitimate language. However, according to Paw Research Center, it is undeniable that around 55.3 million Hispanics in the United States (17.3% of the US population) are making use of this mean to communicate. Taking into account that the industry of advertising should use all the possible means to deliver a message to their audience, it would be a wise practice to use the Spanglish “language” in the production of any copy targeting the Hispanic population. 

5. Measure, Analyze, Adjust and Execute Again 

Nowadays, targeting the Hispanic community through social media is the key to help stimulate the growth of any business. The right amount and combination of research, planning, and partnerships with Hispanic sources of information and influencers, will help finding inspiration and insightful knowledge that may lead to a big idea. After having the marketing objectives clear and executing the campaign, the final step is to track the implementation, create and apply a measure method in order to analyze and determine the performance of the campaign, and adjust the strategy to increase the success and continuously improve the results.

To sum up, the product of the convergence of the Hispanic and US cultures is gaining weight among the country. It is important to remember that for writing engaging copy for this population, creatives should avoid overlooking and generalizing their characteristics. On the other hand, they should dig enough to find exciting information about this society. Identifying Hispanic’s trends on social media activity, understanding their culture, approaching their influencers, talking in their language and measuring the execution of any advertising campaign to improve its performance is necessary and are the key points to writing attractive copy for Hispanics.