Recently, many marketers have been focusing their attention on the U.S. Hispanic millennial demographic. By making Hispanic millennials their top priority, marketers may turn a blind eye to the older Hispanic generation. Given recent research, it’s clear that Hispanic marketing strategies should include older Hispanics to drive brand growth. Which is why, for this post, we wanted to go old school and illustrate why older Hispanics should not be ignored.
Fact: Adults 35 and older account for over 40% of the total U.S. Hispanic population
Older Hispanics not only represent a large portion of the total Hispanic population, they also have more disposable income than other Hispanic age groups. In 2014, Experian Marketing Services reported that the average annual income for 34- to 54-year-olds was roughly $54k; vs. 52- to 70-year-olds who make $57k. The report found that the average household annual spending on non-essentials for older generations is over $2k more than millennials. Older Hispanics also tend to be more brand loyal representing a good opportunity for brands. According to Monica Cortes Torres, VP of multicultural markets and engagement at AARP, “Older Hispanics offer advertisers brand loyalty… Even if a product has fallen in quality, they’ll ride it out with you.”
As we’ve learned, older Hispanics generate more income, are loyal customers and are also extremely active online.
Though some may believe that older Hispanics are not digitally active, it’s been noted recently that U.S. Hispanics ages 35-64 are increasing their digital activity and “adopting digital at a faster pace than the general market, especially in mobile and video” according to Terres.
A 2014 Nielsen report provides insightful information about the digital video viewing behavior of this demographic. The research indicates that although older Hispanics consume less online video compared to younger Hispanics, older Hispanics are catching up.
- U.S. Hispanics 18-34
- 35 minutes of digital video per day
- 66% growth from 2012 – 2014
- U.S. Hispanics 35-49
- 26 minutes of digital video per day
- 73.3% growth from 2012 – 2014
- U.S. Hispanics 50-64
- 24 minutes of digital video per day
- 71% growth from 2012 – 2014
Perhaps more importantly, according to eMarketer older Hispanics are also open to paying for premium video content such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime Instant Video.
TL;DR: Marketers who haven’t done so yet, start targeting older Hispanics online — they are more valuable than you think.
