Nearly 8% of the world population speaks Spanish, and this language is the third most used one online. With these numbers in mind you’ve probably realised by now the power of promoting your business digitally in this language; not only can it give you access to a big piece of the pie but also help you take your brand globally quite quickly.
However, do the Hispanic population across the world have the same way of accessing and utilising the digital world?
In this article, we tell you the main trends to bear in mind when planning a social media campaign in Spanish.
Location, location, location
As with every good multilingual marketing campaign, planning accordingly to the location and the context of the users is key. Trends are different when looking at South America, Central America or Spain. One of the main points to consider when planning your social media strategy is to think of how the population is distributed in these areas.
Central America, for instance, is highly urbanised, and access to the internet is not a problem for the majority of the people here. In South America, rural areas are more common, which makes mobile a very popular device when accessing the internet. In this part of the world, there are more mobile devices than people themselves!
In Spain, mobile is the most common device for accessing social media (95%) followed very closely by desktop (92%). The usage of tablets is on the rise but still well behind these two giants (54%).
How do they use Social Media?
Times of the day in which each channel is more popular, what kind of content is posted, how long people spend on the internet per day, are equally important when planning a successful campaign on social media.
Mexico and Argentina are among the biggest 40 economies in the world that most use the internet - with an average of over 8 hours per day. Spain is well behind with about 5 and a half hours – very close to the UK mark of 6 hours per day on average.
Latin Americans just love using social media, and these channels have become a very important part of their lives. They spend about 1/3 of their time on the internet chatting with friends, posting pictures and commenting on people’s feeds. Digital is their second world, and they are similarly active when it comes to interacting with brands, looking for recommendations or products and services to buy.
These are the 5 key trends for both Spain and Latin America to consider when planning a killing social media campaign.
5 Key social media trends for Spain
- Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are the most popular channels in Spain.
- Mobile leads the way, but Facebook and YouTube are normally more used on desktop.
- About 72% of users follow brands on Social Media. 31% of people are more willing to trust a brand that has social media profiles.
- Social media advertising does not bother people. Personalised advertising is well received and gets good interaction rates.
- 7 out of 10 users follow any kind of influencer. They consider them a reliable source of information when looking for reviews or recommendations.
Source: IAB Spain.
5 Key social media trends for Latin America
- Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are the most popular channels across Latin America, but this trend can vary when looking at specific countries.
- Mobile penetration is huge, especially in rural areas (South America).
- Video is widely consumed. More than half of the users play YouTube daily to watch their favourite artists, funny cat videos, or tutorials.
- Organic Facebook reach is significantly lower than in other areas, (14% in Spain and 7% in Mexico on average). Having social paid campaigns will be vital to conquer this market and reach new audiences.
- M-commerce is the driving force in LATAM (27.5% of all online purchases were done via mobile).
Wondering if you should be advertising on Social Media in Spanish speaking countries?
Contact ExtraDigital today and we'd be happy to have a chat, offering advice on whether or not Spanish Social Media Advertising is right for your business. Give us a call on +44 (0)1227 68 68 98 or fill in the contact form below for a callback.
