Less than half social media programs target Hispanics

Hispanic Social Media Programs are lagging, but are poised for growth, results of a national survey show.

NEW YORK, NY -- Hispanic social media programs lag social media programs for non-Hispanic audiences by a two to one margin but are poised for growth, according to the 2011 TeleNoticias-LatinoWire Hispanic Social Media Survey released today.  Results showed that while 92% of those surveyed have social media programs, less than half (45%) have programs specifically targeting the Hispanic market. 

"The survey results are not surprising and are in line with our initial hypothesis" said David Henry, president and CEO of TeleNoticias. "Like other areas of Hispanic marketing, social media targeting Latinos is said to be important, but that importance doesn’t translate to actual work being conducted and dollars being spent." 

The survey, conducted by Survey.com in conjunction with a coalition of partners that also included the Hispanic Public Relations Association and HispanicAd.com was executed between March 22, 2011 and April 3, 2011. A total of 202 survey responses were collected. 

The most common response when asked about the planning process for social media programs was that there was "No annual plan … most components are defined as the year unfolds." This was the case for programs targeting both the mainstream and Hispanic markets. 

"What can be derived from the survey is that social media is still very much in the formative state at most companies and hasn’t yet become a part of the strategic communications plan," said Tom Mulgrew, Vice President of LatinoWire, a service of Business Wire. "I think we can expect that to change in the coming years." 

The survey also found that, overall, social media continues to be a growing sector and most participants anticipate an increase in the use of Social media for Hispanic markets in the next fiscal year. The majority survey indicated that they expect budgets for social media programs in the next fiscal year will increase.

Some of the key findings are:

• Social media has emerged as a tool used by nearly all companies to interact with their customers/clients (92%).
• Hispanic social media programs were viewed equally as important as mainstream social media programs (69% for each).
• While most respondents felt their social media programs are effective, Hispanic social media programs were noted as slightly less effective than mainstream social media programs (56% vs. 64% effective respectively).
• The same social media tools are used to target both the mainstream and Hispanic markets—though use in the Hispanic market is comparatively less in all areas except mobile, where use was higher in Hispanic programs.
• For the mainstream market, respondents indicated their companies predominantly communicate with their customers/clients through Facebook (92%), Twitter (83%), Blogs (58%), and YouTube (56%). Companies use these same social media tools to communicate with their Hispanic market customers and clients; Facebook (84%), Twitter (62%), YouTube (42%), and Blogs (40%).
• Use of social media tailored to the Hispanic market remains an area for improvement. While 67% of respondents indicated their company has an ongoing Hispanic Public Relations Program, less than half (45%) of companies surveyed use a Hispanic social media program tailored to the Hispanic market.
• Most company’s social media programs are not formally defined at the beginning of the fiscal year; either for the mainstream market or Hispanic market.
• Social media continues to be a growing sector with increases anticipated for the next fiscal year.
• 58% of respondents anticipate their company or business unit's budget for social media will increase for the mainstream market in the next fiscal year; 60% anticipate a budget increase for social media for the Hispanic market.
• Most respondents anticipated increases in the next fiscal year in their company or business unit's use of Social media in several areas including:
• Use of social media as a component of their marketing and communications program: 88%
• Use of social media as a component in their Hispanic marketing and communications program: 81%
• Outreach to Hispanic market bloggers: 68%
• Outreach to mainstream/general market bloggers: 64%
• Recruiting/hiring new talent to work as employees in social media: 56%

Research Methodology:

Survey.com conducted an online survey to collect data for this study. An email invitation with an embedded survey link was sent to prospective participants. Data was collected from March 22, 2011, to April 3, 2011. A total of 202 survey responses have been collected to date.

See the survey here: