• by Lee Vann , Columnist, September 13, 2012

I spend a lot of time keeping up with the ever-changing Hispanic market. Over the past 10 years, the Hispanic market has grown exponentially, inspired the creation of numerous companies and careers, and played an important role in shaping the social and mobile industries in addition to political elections.

But keeping up with this market is no easy task because it is so dynamic.

That’s why I thought it might be helpful to share some of my go-to resources for staying on top of the Hispanic market; that is, in addition to this blog.

Hispanic Macro Trends 

I am a big fan of the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew is a non-partisan, non-profit research organization that puts out high-quality studies and info-graphics that illuminate the Hispanic market, including technology adoption. I found its most recent study on Hispanic student enrollment very encouraging, as Hispanics are now the largest minority in American colleges.

Another valuable resource for keeping up with the aggregate Hispanic market is Ipsos, a for-profit research firm that focuses on the marketing industry. It periodically releases valuable information on the Hispanic market that is accessible by registering for a free account. One of its recent studies found that Hispanics are more optimistic than the rest of the country, a good reason for targeting this group.

Hispanic Media Habits

Understanding how Hispanics engage with media is critical in developing appropriate strategies to reach them. I frequently search for Hispanic-themed content on Nielsen’s nielsenwire, and find valuable articles on Hispanic media habits. Of note, its May 2012 report on Smartphone Usage shows that 57.3% of Hispanic mobile users use smartphones compared to 44.7% of white mobile users.

When it comes to Internet usage, comScore’s subscription-based Hispanic panel has emerged as the gold standard in Hispanic Internet audience measurement. If you don’t have access to the panel, comScore does publish numerous presentations and white papers on the latest trends and, at times, includes Hispanic-centric information. You can also check out the popularity of websites with the free versions of Quantcast and Compete . Of the two, I tend to use Quantcast more as it provides insights into the popularity of any website among Hispanics; for example, it reports that Hispanics over-index in their usage of YouTube.

Hispanic Social Media Usage

Most of the resources listed above also provide solid insights on Hispanic social media usage. I like to supplement that information by following the non-profit organization Latinos in Social Media on Twitter via #latism. Finally, I find visiting popular Hispanic Facebook pages very useful as you can get a first-hand glimpse into the Hispanic online market and get a sense for what is on the minds of this consumer segment in real time.

So there you have it, my hand-picked list of the most helpful and useful resources on the Hispanic market. Which ones am I missing? Please do share!