360i POV: Hispanic Digital Influencers

Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results. January 2012 360i Hispanic POV Series Hispanic Digital InfluencersExecutive SummaryThis is the first in a series of reports that explore the role social media plays in the lives of Hispanicsliving in the United States. For marketers, the growth of the US Hispanic population presents both thepromise of reaching a dynamic and engaged audience – armed with ever-increasing purchasing power– and the challenge of understanding the cultural nuances of a demographic with unique digitalbehaviors. The goal of the series is to shed light on this vibrant and growing demographic and provideguidance on best practices when engaging Hispanics.For this report, 360i collected and analyzed the activity of 150 Hispanic digital influencers tounderstand the role these individuals play in leading conversations among their constituents. Thisanalysis can help marketers better tailor their Digital Word of Mouth (DWOM®) campaigns to motivatethese influencers.Key Takeaways: 1. Hispanics view the Internet as a virtual “Plaza del Pueblo,” or town square - an environment in which they are inspired and motivated to join the conversation. Given this view, Hispanics are 37 percent more likely than the general population to publish a blog and 12 percent more likely to visit other blogs, per Nielsen. Brands that give this population the opportunity to become a part of their story in digital – to create and share – will have the most success when it comes creating meaningful relationships with people. 2. Hispanic influencers who communicate exclusively in Spanish tend to share more promotional and equity content than those who prefer to communicate in English, and even more still than general population influencers. This presents an opportunity for marketers to utilize Spanish- language influencers to communicate brand messages in an authentic way. 3. General population influencers demonstrate much more diversity in what motivates the types of content they share, while Hispanic influencers are primarily motivated by their shared cultural ties. Understanding the various mindsets of Hispanic influencers will help marketers frame the right approach, especially when developing DWOM® programs.Brands who invest in truly understanding the unique passions, behaviors and motivations of Hispanicinfluencers will find the most success in reaching them in online spaces. NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630 © 2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved

Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results. January 2012 360i Hispanic POV Series Hispanic Digital InfluencersHispanic Influencers & the BlogosphereHispanics view the digital landscape as a “Plaza del Pueblo” (town square) – a central place for thecommunity to come together, talk, gossip, connect with like-minded people and share informationand important content. Within traditional Plaza del Pueblo gatherings, the emergence of a person orgroup of people who are seen as conversation leaders is inevitable - the masses look to them tosteer the discussion. This occurs in the digital space as well, where influencers take to theblogosphere to voice their opinions and lead conversation.Hispanics are 37 percent more likely than thegeneral population to publish a blog on ablogging platform or a social networking site,and 12 percent more likely to visit other blogs(Nielsen). Although still a smaller percentage ofactive online users as compared to the generalpopulation (due to the smaller population sizeoverall), they are more likely than their generalpopulation counterparts to be creators, as wellas avid consumers of user-generated content(Forrester). Brands will want to take note of thispopulation and its eagerness to engage andcreate in online spaces.While the Hispanic online influencer communityis still in its infancy and comprises a relativelysmall portion of the overall influencer landscape, sites such as Spanglishbaby, Latinaonamission andPapiblogger enjoy a robust following of active readers. This might be attributed to there beingsignificantly fewer online outlets that Hispanics find culturally relevant.Conversational MotivatorsAlthough general population influencers show a tremendous level of diversity in motivators, Hispanicinfluencers are primarily motivated by their shared cultural ties. Through our study, we found thatHispanic influencers express culture in four distinct ways — unique from general market influencers— which influence the kind of content they share and type of audience they attract.Informative: The most prevalent motivator for Hispanic influencers to create and share content isto inform and educate their readers about their area of expertise (often focused on Hispanicthemes), reflecting a sense of responsibility towards their audience. Hispanic influencers differ fromgeneral population influencers in the informative tone they take when offering guidance on topicsthat help reconcile the duality of a Hispanic-American’s bicultural lifestyle. Topics in this area tend toaddress issues like cuisine, child raising techniques, language and even beauty rituals. NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630 © 2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved

Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results. January 2012 360i Hispanic POV Series Hispanic Digital InfluencersCreative: Similar to their general populationcounterparts, Hispanic influencers in a creativemindset are learning while they are blogging; theyare improving their skills with cultural influences,past experiences and tips from other Hispanicbloggers and friends. The tone is lighter, more open,always evolving and somewhat uncertain whencompared to the informative standpoint.Personal: Influencers communicating from apersonal, vulnerable perspective are usually seekingcompanionship from their readers by detailing theirown life journey and struggles, in which assimilationand acculturation are often central components.Private lives are exposed, thus there is much talk offamily and nostalgia. While many general populationinfluencers also blog due to these types ofmotivations, Hispanic influencers’ areas ofvulnerability are often tied to their experience as Hispanics, more so than their experiences asmoms, cooks, husbands, professionals, etc.Awareness: Influencers who are blogging in the “awareness” state of mind recognize social andcultural problems, breakthroughs and accomplishments of the Hispanic community and seek tospread awareness of these issues to their readers.Understanding Hispanic influencers’ mindsets will help frame the right approach to engage them, asmany marketers seek to do through Digital Word of Mouth (DWOM®) programs. For example, thecombination of a Creative and Informative voice is particularly common in food bloggers becausethey seek to educate the readers about Hispanic heritage through food, but are also personallytrying to balance Hispanic culture and American lifestyle.Language PreferencesAn important aspect of Hispanic culture involves the conflict of linguistic duality. The differencesbetween those who communicate in Spanish or in English are important to note when trying to reachthis audience. Per our research, seventy-two percent of Hispanic influencers choose to communicatein English, as it has the potential to reach a greater audience. Not surprisingly, Hispanic audiencesoften choose to consume content in English, as they perceive it to be more robust and theinformation more regularly updated. A report from Advertising Age corroborates this statistic, findingthat 71 percent of US Hispanics prefer to use English online. NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630 © 2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved

Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results. January 2012 360i Hispanic POV Series Hispanic Digital InfluencersInterestingly, Hispanic influencers who communicate exclusively in Spanish tend to share morepromotional content and equity content, rather than intimately driven personal anecdotes, ascompared to those who prefer English. Bloggers writing in Spanish feel less of a need to emphasizeconnections with their Hispanic heritage by focusing on purely personal posts, leaving greateropportunity to incorporate promotional and equity content.Brands can play an active role in Hispanic conversations online regardless of the language, butmarketers should be mindful of the difference in the cultural perspective and the type of valueexchange consumers are seeking relative to the language of the post.Content SharedConversational motivators and language areimportant factors in determining how tocommunicate with Hispanic influencers and forunderstanding the content produced and the valueexpected by the Hispanic population. This audiencepredominately shares content that is highly personalin nature, centered on stories of their own familiesand spoken with a distinctly individual perspective.Promotional brand-sponsored content is alsoprevalent, which diverges from the tendencies ofgeneral population influencers who shy away frombrand-sponsored content.Equity posts – or posts created to engage readersand inspire interactions with content (polls, questionsetc.) – are less common. Corporate content, addressing the larger entity of the blog/platform itself, isnot prevalent. NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630 © 2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved

Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results. January 2012 360i Hispanic POV Series Hispanic Digital InfluencersFurthermore, Hispanic influencers include photos in more than 54 percent of their posts and links innearly 65 percent of their posts. Nearly a quarter of all posts include at least one photo or link that isbrand-provided and/or drives back to a brand page. Roughly 33 percent of all images posted tie backto recipe creations, food in general and the ritual of a meal. This coincides with the culturalimportance of meals, especially considering 22 percent of recipe photos come from influencer blogsand platforms where cooking and food are not the main topical focus.A quarter of all links shared are of promotional nature, driving back to brand websites or specificproducts sites. Hispanic influencers also tend to link back to each other’s pages, which demonstratesthe collegial nature of the community.When it comes to content, Hispanic influencers find most inspiration in writing about topics such asfamily and parenting (specifically raising bicultural children) and cooking, which makes any CPG brandpotentially relevant, valuable and easily incorporated into content. Ultimately, however, all of thetopics are informed by the Hispanic culture and serve as a reflection of a constant need to resolvetheir dual identity, which spans across a multitude of product verticals, from fashion to finance.Marketer ImplicationsAs the Hispanic population continues to grow, marketers who pay more attention to cultural nuancesand motivational drivers will have the most success in reaching them. Because it is a relatively smallcommunity, finding Hispanic influencers to work with can be challenging. This is true especially whennarrowing the criteria further by content posted, language use, and readership size. However, becausethe number of brands that currently work with Hispanic influencers is still small, a clear opportunityexists to form strong and lasting relationships with them that can benefit your brand in both the shortand long term.Marketers who wish to capitalize on the growing power of Hispanic influencers should considerDWOM® outreach, involving influencers in content creation, and/or inviting them to participate inbrand campaigns in some other meaningful way. NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630 © 2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved

Integrated Solutions. Measurable Results. January 2012 360i Hispanic POV Series Hispanic Digital InfluencersAbout 360i360i is an award-winning digital marketing agency that drives results for Fortune 500 marketers through insights, ideasand technologies. 360i helps its clients think differently about their online presence and evolve their strategies to takeadvantage of the new world of marketing communications – one where brands and consumers engage in interactiveand multi-directional conversations. In 2010, Ad Age named 360i to its prestigious Agency A-List. Current clientsinclude Kraft Foods, JCPenney, Coca-Cola, NBC Universal and Diageo, among others. For more information, please visitwww.360i.com or follow us on Twitter @360i.Methodology360i compiled a list of 150 Hispanic Influencers generated through tools such as Cision, Radian 6 and Sysomos, as wellas the leveraging of existing contacts to find established and emerging influencers onlinehe influence of each bloggerwas determined using tools such as Alexa.com, Quantcast.com, Compete.com, and Klout.com based on 360i’s acceptedstandards of online influence.Analysts within 360i’s Insights and Planning group analyzed each influencer’s monthly content (avg. 10 posts perinfluencer). Within each post, the voice of the influencer and the type of content (such as specific photos and/or links)shared were qualified and analyzed.The analysis consists of: • 150 influencers o 19% male, 81% female o 20% Spanish-dominant, 72% English- dominant, 8% Bi-lingual • 1,500 total posts analyzed NEW YORK | ATLANTA | CHICAGO | DETROIT | SAN FRANCISCO | LONDON | info@360i.com | 888.360.9630 © 2012 360i LLC. All Rights Reserved

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360i POV: Hispanic Digital Influencers

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360i POV: Hispanic Digital Influencers — Document Transcript