Sep 16, 2009 02:51 PM

Celebrating National Hispanic Hertiage Month: Recognizing the Power of a Population

By Building Experts Team

Yesterday marked the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanics, referring to Spanish-speaking people in the United States of any race, are the fastest growing and largest minority group in the U.S. representing $1.1 trillion in purchasing power. Currently 14% (44 million) of the U.S. population, the Census bureau projects that the U.S. Hispanic population will reach 102.6 million by 2050. It’s time to pay attention to this under served and influential demographic. In this economy you can’t afford to lose another sale, or in this case, an opportunity to gain more.

For those in the building products channel, Hispanic Americans continue to be an emerging buying group with both population and purchasing power on their side (Hispanic homeownership rates have steadily risen since 1995, reducing the gap between whites and all racial and ethnic minority groups) – more so than any other minority group in the U.S. including Asian, East Indian and Italian Americans, according to a new white paper from Kleber & Associates.

Pew Hispanic Center

Sure, it’s easy to translate your next press release, but first you need to learn how to adapt your marketing strategy to the needs and wants of the growing Hispanic demographic. Consider these insightful tips from HispanicMarket.net:

If the Hispanic market in your city is 50 percent of the population, then allocate 50 percent of your marketing budget towards it. If it’s 30 percent of the market, then allocate 30 percent of your marketing budget towards it, and so forth.
Don’t just join your local Latin Chamber of Commerce, get involved by participating in luncheons, fairs, expos, festivals, educational/scholarships and other community activities! In other words, get involved with your Hispanic community.
Provide bilingual signage — especially if you want to communicate with your customers about retail specials and other in-store promotions and services.
Hispanics have long relied on the basic word-of-mouth tactics in their everyday culture. In today’s digital society, it’s only natural that the Hispanic population is turning to online social media outlets not only to keep in touch with family at a distance but also to do business.

As it stands now, more and more marketing budgets have added earmarks for the purpose of Hispanic outreach. They’ve clearly recognized the potential. Stay a step ahead of your competion. Chances are if you’re first, mind share will translate to market share.