There’s one word that makes every marketer across sectors hold their breath: Recession. The word may as well be synonymous with “The Unknown”, as no two downturns are exactly alike, and it can be very challenging to prepare ahead of time and recession-proof your marketing.
As scary as a potential recession may be, however, there is data to work with and tried-and-true strategies for weathering the storm. And one of our favorites? Advertising your brand in the Latino market to recession-proof your marketing.
We’ll explain.
Related reading: 3 Examples of Successful Hispanic Marketing Campaigns That Hit the Mark
Read next: The Importance of Focusing on the Hispanic Demographic for Your Marketing Efforts
Why it can be challenging to advertise during a recession…
During recessions, consumers naturally tighten their wallets and reduce their spending to more necessity-based purchases. In response, businesses usually reduce prices, cut costs, and postpone any upcoming new investments or expansions as their cash flow becomes more unpredictable. As a result, marketing budgets are often slashed, too. But that is where many companies go wrong.
…and why it’s crucial that you do
Each new recession that we face is not the first one we’ve ever experienced. We’ve been here before, and there’s data to help guide the way. And so while it’s tempting to cut costs and back away from expensive endeavors in preparation for and during a recession – recessions are actually the best time to advertise during.
The reason is that during recessions, consumers still have wants and needs – they’re just different than they were before. Part of your job as a marketer is to adapt your offering, your language, your products or services, and your strategy to meet the consumer where they are.
Data shows that it’s the exact brands who continued to advertise and build relationships with consumers for the duration of downtowns that emerged on top. Additionally, with less competition, ad budgets can actually have a great impact.
Read next: 3 Ways to Reach Hispanic Consumers with Out-of-Home Marketing
In case of a recession: advertise to the Latino Market
If there’s one thing we can learn from the 2008-09 Great Recession – it’s that Hispanics helped drive us out of the last big economic downturn.
The U.S. Latino market is “growing GDP at 8.6%, faster than China, faster than India, and nobody talks about it,” said Sol Trujillo, Chairman of the Latino Donor Collaborative, to a panel of world renowned journalists and economists, as reported by Forbes.
This should be no surprise. Latino Donor Collaborative reports Latinos were responsible for 78% of the net new jobs in the labor force since the Great Recession. Furthermore, Latino household growth was 23% in 2010-18, compared to 3.8% for that of non-Latino households.
According to The Hispanic Ad:
1. The Latino Market is Huge: If U.S. Latinos were a country their 2019 GDP of $2.7 Trillion would make them the 7th largest economy in the world – bigger than Canada, Italy or Brazil. They number 63 million which is 20% of the U.S. population.
2. Latinos are Smart: One of the most important drivers of rapid Latino income growth has been the extraordinary growth of Latino Educational Attainment. From 2010 to 2019, the number of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher grew 2.8 times more rapidly for Latinos than Non-Latinos. The number of educated Latinos rose by 73.1% during this time, while the number of educated Non-Latinos rose by only 26.5%.
3. Latinos Work: Latino contribution to the U.S. labor force is just as impressive. From 2010 to 2019, Latinos added an average of more than 660,000 workers per year to the U.S. labor force. During that same time, Non-Latinos added an average of just over 510,000 workers per year. Over the entire period, the size of the Latino labor force increased by 25% while the size of the Non-Latino labor force increased just 3%. One factor which drives Latino’s strong contribution to the U.S. labor force is that Latinos have a younger median age than non-Latinos. In 2019, the Median Age for Latinos was 29.8 years. For non-Latinos, it was 40.8 years.
4. Latinos have buying power: The single largest component of Latino GDP is Personal Consumption. In 2019, Latino consumption stood at $1.85 trillion, or 68% of the U.S. Latino GDP. Latinos in the United States represent a consumption market that is nearly identical in size to the entire economy of the state of Texas.
Read next: What Is Diversity Marketing?
Learn more about advertising to the Hispanic market
Marketing during recessions can be intimidating. But if you’re looking to boost your business strategy during a recession and increase your share of the Hispanic market, Refuel can help you engage and connect with the community.
As a leading media + marketing agency, we’ve specialized in reaching out to multicultural communities across the United States. With in-house research that is considered a definitive reference to multicultural markets and partnerships with over 1,000 publications, we can ensure that you get the market penetration that you need and the ability to capitalize on the fantastic opportunity that Hispanic marketing presents. Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can assist you.
