Hot in Auto: Targeting Hispanic American Car Shoppers with Digital
Times Inc. owned technology giant Viant, recently published a research study examining Hispanic American automotive buyers and found that this population is the most receptive to digital advertising. This is great news for automotive marketers, considering Hispanic American consumers account for $27.9 billion in registered new vehicle transactions, representing 11% of the total automotive market. According to the study backed by research group Millward Brown, top brands for the Hispanic market have included Toyota, Ford, Chevy, and Nissan. Now we’re seeing growth in the luxury car brands like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW rising 16% from 2013 to 2015. In the same luxury segment, non-Hispanics only grew 5% during that same time period.
The opportunity exists for automotive dealers in cities with a significant Hispanic population to start paying attention to this growing segment, because their buying power is on the rise. But understanding the preferred marketing channels and communication to this group is critical. The two most influential digital tools for targeting these dollars are through mobile advertising and video advertising.
Mobile Advertising: As we recently posted, the location-targeted mobile ad spend is exploding across all demographics, with BIA/Kelsey projecting location-targeted mobile ad spending is estimated to grow from $9.8 billion in 2015 to $29.5 billion in 2020, a 24.6% compound annual growth rate. The same is true with the Hispanic American automotive community, but this study finds that this demographic are not only mobile-heavy users, they also find mobile advertising persuasive to them. Cutting-edge tools like mobile conquesting with the demographic overlay of “Hispanic” is the perfect way to engage this audience.
Video Advertising: Video advertising’s impact on Hispanic American automotive shoppers is much greater than other demographics. Among self-identified Hispanic auto shoppers polled in this study, Hispanics are nearly 3x as likely to consider a brand when making a purchase, compared to non-Hispanics:
The top brands who are currently winning Hispanic Americans automotive dollars include Nissan with a 17% share and Mitsubishi with a 16% share, followed by Toyota (14%), Fiat (14%) and Dodge (13%). The takeaway? Local automotive dealers should take note of the demographic breakdown in their area to determine if there is an opportunity for growth among Hispanic Americans, and if there is, marketers should work both mobile and video into the overall marketing mix for growth opportunities.
