Marketing to Diverse Audiences for a Happy Holiday Retail Season

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Every consumer loves a good deal - almost 300 million combined shoppers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending $11 billion don't lie - but still, not every consumer shops the same way, or even at the same time during the holiday retail season. Sure, the last Friday of November and first Monday of December bring huge sales for retailers due to slashed prices and door busters, but what about the remaining 23 shopping days before Christmas?

The one-size-fits-all marketing strategy of "Sale! Sale! Sale!" can't sustain past the luster of the initial kickoff of holiday shopping season, mostly because all consumers have varied shopping habits and prefer to be touched by brands in different ways. One key group that retailers should be focusing on through targeted marketing efforts is the Hispanic demographic.

Hispanic consumers are projected to spend $1.5 trillion on retail and CPG products in 2015, and will represent 19 percent of the total U.S. population by 2020. A recent survey reported that Hispanics will be spending 28 percent more on holiday shopping this year than in 2014, representing a tremendous opportunity for retailers if they can successfully market to this group. So what tactics are best for brands to reach Hispanic consumers?

Mobile. Mobile phone penetration among Hispanics will be just less than 80 percent this year, an important statistic considering a recent report found that 18.7 percent of Hispanics age 18-34 are interested in receiving ads on their mobile devices. Only 8.5 percent of their non-Hispanic counterparts felt the same way.

Out of those surveyed, 77 percent said that mobile ads provided useful information about new products and services, and 40 percent were consuming media in both English and Spanish equally. But most importantly, 22.7 percent of Hispanic millennials said they were more likely to buy something they found through a mobile ad. Only 14 percent of non-Hispanics felt the same.

Social Media. Hispanic consumers are more likely to use social media for local shopping than non-Hispanic consumers, with 80 percent of Hispanic adults using social media compared to 72 percent for non-Hispanic adults. Hispanic consumers are sharing more content on social media as well - five times more than non-Hispanics - and are twice as likely to purchase the kinds of products they are sharing about. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the top three preferred social networks for Hispanics - all platforms that allow brands to touch consumers with dynamic content that is engaging and shareable.

Don't Stop Marketing after Cyber Monday. Hispanic consumers are later shoppers than non-Hispanic consumers, with 26 percent finishing their shopping between December 1-25, and 11 percent finishing between the third week of December and Christmas. Comparatively, only four percent of non-Hispanic shoppers wait until the third week to finish buying their gifts, leaving ample opportunity for retailers to continue marketing to Hispanic shoppers late into the month.

The fact is, Hispanic shoppers will be looking for deals all the way up until Christmas Eve, so retailers need to be sure their various campaigns aren't solely focused on early December shopping.

It may seem like a no-brainer to suggest utilizing mobile and social to target consumers in today's digitally connected age, but the statistics clearly show that Hispanic consumers are more likely to have their path to purchase positively affected by content consumed through these channels. Retailers that put an emphasis on these channels should see optimal success throughout the holiday season and beyond when targeting this demographic. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












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