Young Hispanics:
A Growing Online Demographic

Lately, Hispanics have been making major news headlines with the voter turnout in the 2012 Presidential Election, in growing population numbers, and social media usage. If one conducts a simple Google search for Hispanics and social media, the sources range from Hispanic PR Blog to Pew Hispanic and others. To make a point from the references mentioned, Hispanics are the fastest growing population in the U.S. with 50.5 million. 16 percent of the current population is Hispanic and 1 in 4 children today are of Hispanic origin. Hispanics are a growing population that has different cultural settings and age groups just like any other ethnic group. Therefore, I am focusing on young Hispanics.

Why would a company even jump at reaching out to young Hispanics as part of their target market? Young Hispanics are bilingual, bicultural, and will push forth the growing U.S. population in the coming years. Also, more than 60 percent of the Hispanic population is under 35 years old. The numbers are clear: According to a demographic study by HACU, the median age for Hispanics is 27 compared to 36 for the rest of the population. This information makes companies approach the young Hispanic market because they make up a large portion of the demographic and are dedicated consumers. In a study by Pew Research Center it was stated that of all Internet users, Hispanics use Twitter by 18 percent compared to whites at 5 percent and blacks at 13 percent.

Apart from the Internet usage, well over 57 percent of adult Hispanic Internet users are under 35 and that’s compared to 35% of total Internet users. It is also known that 61 percent of Hispanics use social media for personal purposes, business and self-promotion. Going back to the young Hispanic demographic, 85 percent of young Hispanics between the ages of 18 to 29 utilize the Internet, which makes the connection to social media and Hispanics much stronger. Also, 90 percent of young Hispanics along with the general Hispanic population have cell phones and 53 percent use smart phones to access the Internet.Businesses, non-profits and political organizations should reach the growing dynamic buying power that consists of $1.5 trillion when combining all Hispanic age groups in the U.S. When it comes to the language of outreach, there is no need to say a simple ‘Hola’ (Spanish for Hello) because 70 percent of U.S. Hispanics online users have a preference for English when they are online. All of the demographic numbers come back to one thing, that the Hispanic market, especially the young Hispanic market, is growing in numbers, spending power, and social media usage. Young Hispanics are listening, so reach out and grab a hold of this growing market.