The Online Immigration: U.S. Hispanics Are Biggest Share of Spanish-speakers Online
By David Duckenfield Public Relations Manager U.S. Hispanic and Latin America Yahoo! en español

Chalk it up to Ricky Martin's shaking bon-bon at the 1999 Grammy Awards, or perhaps to Crest's Spanish-language ad during the last Super Bowl, one thing's for certain - the U.S. is standing up and taking notice of its Latino cousins. But even though Shakira and dulce de leche have quickly become household names, the learning curve has been large and, at times, the process has been slow.

In the past decade it was no secret that the U.S. Hispanic market was growing. The latter end of the 1990's showed us more and more corporations using translated marketing materials to reach diverse audiences. But only in the more recent past has Corporate America realized that translation is not enough nor are traditional marketing techniques.

It is the company that can produce a relevant product and message; the company that truly understands the wants and needs of its Latino consumers - this is the company that wins. This is the company that gets the bigger piece of the $580 billion purchasing power pie. Increasingly, slices of that pie are going onlin

The growth of the Latino population has been mirrored online. Hispanics are turning on their PCs and getting connected faster than any other groupÉand the industry has responded accordingly. As technology advances, corporations are turning to the Internet to connect with Hispanics in their own homes and places of businesses.

In October 2002, comScore Networks launched the industry's first Hispanic audience measurement service, leveraging a panel of more than 50,000 U.S. Hispanic Internet users. The launch of this service marked a milestone with all the major Spanish-language portals (including Yahoo! en español, YupiMSN, Terra, AOL, StarMedia and La Opinion) coming together to support a credible third-party ratings system

In March 2003, comScore released an analysis of U.S. Hispanic Internet usage, which found that approximately one-third of the country's Latino population was online - nearly 12.4 million people. The study also found that online Hispanics are younger (60% are under the age of 34), live in larger households and have larger household incomes than their offline counterparts. comScore has found that the U.S. Hispanic Internet population is on track to grow 5-10 percent annually, more than double that of 2-4 percent growth rate witnessed in the total U.S. Internet population.

National corporations like Bank of America have heard and answered the call. With financial topics being one of the most popular search terms, Bank of America partnered with Yahoo! en espa–ol, to create Centro Bancario. Centro Bancario provides in-language general banking information on the Yahoo! Finanzas section of Yahoo! en español. Other companies are quickly following suit and developing relevant content for their own sites, as well as creating strategic alliances with high-traffic Spanish-language sites.

Traditional companies from packaged goods' companies to sports leagues are learning that they have to follow their fan base to the online arena. For this reason, groups like Major League Soccer and the NBA are looking to the Internet to help increase their Latino fan base, generate support for, and, in some cases, generate awareness of the brand. New interactive branding technologies have allowed corporations to more easily make the direct link between their products and the consumers who stand to benefit from them.

As the market continues to grow and develop, we will continue to see the evolution of industry as it works to better address the wants and needs of Hispanics in America. The melting pot theory has all but dissolved while the cultural stew is taking over the kitchen. Those who are hungry had better have the right utensils.