Capturing the Hearts and Ears of Hispanic Consumers With Music

Hispanic consumers know when brands and agencies are checking the multicultural box. Authentic connections happen when marketers begin by asking how they can better understand their audiences.

A recent meeting with a brand marketer drove this question home for me. What began as a conversation about multicultural marketing became an opportunity to discuss the critical role music plays in understanding Hispanic consumers. As a Nielsen report made clear, music is a passion point for Hispanic audiences.

Here’s how marketers can ensure that they’re speaking the same language as the audiences they’re trying to reach.

Understand how Hispanics consume music

How consumers access music is just as important as the kind of music they listen to. According to Nielsen, Hispanics spend 32 hours a week with music overall. Just under half of that time is spent streaming, while 14% of listening happens via digital libraries. Furthermore, Hispanics are likely listening on mobile. A recent eMarketer report found that Hispanics average three hours per day on smartphones, which is an hour more, on average, than non-Hispanic audiences.

Brands and agencies can demonstrate that they value a community by engaging in an ongoing dialogue rather than only doing one-off campaigns.

For marketers, understanding the mobile music context is key because mobile overlaps with social. According to the 2018 Multicultural Digital Report,70% of Hispanics in the $75,000-plus income bracket are on social nightly, compared to just 55% of non-Hispanics in the same earnings segment. At the same time, Nielsen found that one-quarter of Hispanics share music video links with family and friends. Meanwhile, a Viant study found that Hispanics are three times more likely to consider a brand after seeing a video, and half of Hispanic shoppers reported discussing a brand online or using a brand’s hashtag.

Add this all up, and you can see why it’s so important for marketers to incorporate music when they engage Hispanics on mobile/social.

Understand the consumer/community you want to reach

Music says something very specific about who we are and how we identify. For brands, music can alienate audiences if done poorly, and it can be incredibly powerful if done well. The key is that marketers have to go beyond the broad category of Hispanics to understand their audiences.

By working with specialists, marketers can take a deep dive into data sets around age, country of origin and acculturation. Those insights will help marketers zero in on appropriate musical genres and identify partnerships with artists who already speak to the community that the brand wants to reach. After all, artists like Luis Fonsi’s Despacito, Karol G and Beatriz Luengo all fall under the “Latin” music label, but each speaks to a different audience.

Commit to consistency

Hispanic audiences appreciate Hispanic heritage campaigns, but if it’s the only time you’re reaching out, then the message won’t get through. Of course, that’s true of any audience, regardless of heritage.

Brands and agencies can demonstrate that they value a community by engaging in an ongoing dialogue rather than only doing one-off campaigns. Consumers,especially Hispanics, will support a brand that they truly connect with and that shares their values.

Work with artists that love your brand

One powerful way to reach consumers is to work with an artist they love. The challenge is that working with an artist is about aligning values between the brand, the artist and the audience. It’s a three-way value exchange where artists gain exposure, consumers engage with compelling content (like new music) and brands benefit by facilitating a powerful cultural connection.

Marketers can make that connection happen with any audience, but the choices are incredibly rich when it comes to Hispanics. That’s because 70% of Hispanics follow musicians they love, according to one study, and 78% of Hispanics take a more favorable view of a brand that sponsors music.

But the connection has to be real. By working with an artist that has a genuine love for your brand and its values, marketers ensure that their connection to Hispanic audiences is as authentic as the bond between artist and fan. Because if a brand licenses my favorite song, they might get my attention. But if that same brand helps me discover my favorite artist, they’ll have my heart.

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