Three Things You Need to Know Before Testing Advertising with Hispanic Audiences

While working on Hispanic social media strategies with a major beverage company, I realized vast differences between first, second, and generations beyond. Knowing how to engage Hispanics in a meaningful way is a critical skill to master for brands looking to grow with these audiences. Note the use of the plural in audiences, as Hispanics are not one culture, one language, or one group. Instead, Hispanics are many groups of people who share Spanish as a native or secondary language and have Hispanic American descent and cultures.

To capture the interest of these audiences, you must know how to approach what message, language, and cultural nuances to employ creatively. I hope the following tips help start the process of understanding what it takes to deliver a meaningful message to these audiences.

Know Your Generations

First-generation migrants are considered those born or had their formative years outside the country they now reside. Those born in their country of residence or who spent their formative years there are considered second-generation. First-generation Hispanics will understand Spanish content and ads. Second-generation varies enormously depending on how much Spanish and cultural context has been passed on. They will respond to both Hispanic and general market messaging. Don’t be surprised if a general market creative resonates better. Combining Hispanic nuances might be your best way to move forward. The question here is how specific regarding targeting are the advertising channels letting us go? Privacy concerns are making it more difficult and expensive to pinpoint audiences. Once you know how much targeting specificity you have to work with, then that will set the stage to build creative messaging. 

Consider the following experiments:

1. Bilingual Ads vs. Full Spanish (or English)
2. Subtle Cultural References vs. Heavier Cultural References (careful with appropriation!)
3. Mixed Crowd vs. Hispanic Crowd (remember Hispanics come in all colors!)

Know Your Themes

Hispanics move to the United States in search of better wages, health services, and security, among others. Making it in the United States is their aspirational goal. First-generation Hispanics know the struggle of the immigration legal process, cultural adaptation, and learning a new language, thus placing more value on the aspirational goal. Second generations face different issues and struggles, such as defining their own cultural identity, being accepted by family abroad, and succeeding as a minority. Cultural cues can also be tricky, as traditions and customs can vary from one country or group to the next.

Consider the following experiments:

1. Aspirational Cues vs. None
2. Country/Group Specific Cultural Cues vs. Widely Accepted or Celebrated Traditions

Know Your Spanish

Spanish varies by country, region, and demographic. There is no standard form of Spanish. Some words that are normal in one country can be offensive in another. Each Hispanic country has unique words, expressions, and cultural experiences. The central and western United States has a Mexican and Central American Hispanic majority. The northeast is mixed with higher concentrations of Caribbean Hispanics.

Consider the following experiments:

1. Regional Ad Adaptations vs. Generic Spanish
2. Regional or Country Visual Cues (food, traditions, etc.) vs. No Adaptations

Conclusion

Try to localize and adapt advertising to increase relevancy. Don’t be afraid to try bilingual advertising as long as it flows naturally and it is not forced or “trying too hard.” Test often! Best practices suggest running an ad for 48 hours to gather learnings and further optimize an ad. Be okay with the fact that you won’t deliver the perfect message. Aim to provide messages that are culturally relevant and as genuine as possible. Be wary of particular celebrations as not all countries might celebrate them.