4 Keys To Latina Brand Loyalty

The Latina market is built upon truly engaging her and he network

Latinas now have $1.3 trillion of annual buying power, which is equal to that of Mexico! Eighty-six percent of Latinas say they are the primary household purchase decision maker. With 63 percent of Latinas having children under the age of 18, they have a strong focus on family wellness. For example, 82 percent choose fresh food, rather than packaged, and 63 percent buy organic.

• Latinas are also embracing education and technologies. They are now exceeding non-Hispanic women in college attendance. A record 73 percent of Latina high school graduates are attending college.
• And Latinas are leaders in embracing smartphones. Fifty percent of Hispanic adults own a smartphone. Importantly, they use their smartphones more than other demographic groups to access the Internet.
• They are using social networking apps to build affinity groups that influence their purchase decisions. Almost 70 percent of Hispanic smartphone owners access Facebook and Twitter from their smartphones.
• Latinas are also creating their own self-definitions. Eighty-seven percent define themselves equally as American and Hispanic. They are holding on to their Spanish language while also demonstrating proficiency in English. Millennial generation Hispanics are not shifting to English but, rather, holding on to Spanish while also using English. Using Spanish in your campaigns is not a magic bullet for engaging Hispanics. Aligning with their culture is the communication path to the Hispanic consumer.

4 Keys to Building Brand Loyalty and Sales With Latinas

The $1.3 trillion Latina market is now an obvious business opportunity. But previous attempts at building Hispanic brand loyalty have generated mixed results for businesses. The following are four lessons learned in building Latina brand loyalty and sales:

1. Respect

It begins here. Latinas have earned, and are earning, respect. Respect for them is the willingness of a company to engage, rather than tell. The budget investment needed to build respect with Latinas can be a challenge for companies that allocate marketing dollars to programs using quantitative metrics that heavily weigh least cost per customer contact. These metrics will miss the mark for Latinas who place importance on relationships and the views held by their influence leaders. The path to winning Latina brand loyalty is to respect her family and community by developing a relationship with her and those who influence her. The good news is that more companies are recognizing the growing commercial opportunity of the Hispanic community. Their challenge is that few are succeeding in building personal connections.

2. Family wellness

Family wellness is core to Hispanic decision making and building brand loyalty. For example, there is growing Latina concern over the link between obesity and dollar menu items. Air quality and related health impacts are of concern for Hispanic families that often live in more polluted industrial/agricultural locations. Conservation of resources is both a financially prudent action taken by Hispanic families and a path for recognizing the legacy of parents and grandparents. For these reasons, the Hispanic community has the highest affinity for going green among all American demographic groups.

3. Not Just Business

There is also a highly personal side to Hispanic entrepreneurship. Nine in ten Latino business owners say they started their business to help provide for their family. About 70 percent of Hispanic entrepreneurs plan to turn over the business to a relative, citing the desire to maintain a family legacy. These research findings were confirmed from my Green Builds Business experience. About half of the attendees were millennial generation sons and daughters attending this program on behalf of their family. They were highly motivated by Green Builds Business’ potential for growing the family business while also honoring their parents’ and grandparents’ legacy of conserving resources and preserving the environment. Senior business owners were the other half of attendees. They were motivated to find best practices that could grow their ability to provide opportunities for their family members and support the wellness of their Hispanic community.

4. The Path

The marketing path to the $1.3 trillion Latina market is built upon truly engaging her and her network. Her respect cannot be bought. It must be earned by demonstrating an alignment with her strong family and community values. The marketing focus cannot be just on her. It must also engage her influence leaders. Marketing to the Hispanic community is not about the quantity of marketing dollars. It is about using marketing dollars to generate feelings of respect, engagement and alignment.

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