According to Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), Hispanic/Latino purchasing power is estimated to reach $992 billion dollars in 2009, more than quadruple the $221 billion reported in 1990. There are market opportunities, and also market challenges regarding the Latino population living in the U.S.



Among the market opportunities, MPA highlights the size, grow and spending power, there is a strong teen market, in relation with the rest of the U.S. population, they are located in urban populations, and they are bounded by a so-called Pan-Latino identity: bound by common language (Spanish) and common immigrant experiences.

What about the challenges? Latinos come from more than 20 different countries, each with its own cultural specific traits. On the other hand, they experience different levels of acculturation, language use and assimilation, all these influencing language preferences.

It is a matter of fact that Latinos are investing, earning and spending faster than the average American. The huge economic implications of this fact are driving business decisions at many U.S. companies.

Housing, banking, and health insurance are three very profitable niches to be offered to the Latino community. According to UCLA Today, the rate of Latino home ownership is 47%, compared with 67% for the rest of the nation. And only 51% of Latinos have bank accounts, compared with a national average of 77%.

In an interview with Dr. Robert Rodriguez, Chairman of the Board for the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, he says that companies are raising the sense of urgency regarding the acquisition of top Latino talent. Organizations are realizing that the best way to market and sell to Latinos is to have Latinos within the organization to better understand the market. This is why there is a high and growing demand for Latinos with expertise in sales and marketing.

On the marketer side, there is a great opportunity for multicultural marketing companies, in this scenario.

I encourage all internet marketers to trying hard to reach this enormous, huge and unexploited market. All the very effective tools currently used, and often abused, by the English-speaking community, such as article marketing, e-mail marketing, ebook marketing, SEO strategies, the software, all this knowledge base has to be translated or, even better, transcreated with the objective of reaching the Latino market. But do not make the mistake of using automatic translation scripts. The results are horrible, not worthy, as Spanish-speaking people will not trust someone offering bad quality products.

Do not lose money anymore. Translate, trans-create, or re-create your products or services into Spanish. This is an enormous niche-market.