• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, March 31, 2017

With the basic social media influencer model established, and at least some of the rules of the road clarified by the FTC, the next step is achieving greater scale, meaning acquisitions and alliances in many cases.

Towards that end, this week the Hispanicize Media Group announced a flurry of deals that will create a major new network of influencers targeting U.S. Hispanics, in combination with events and experiential marketing capabilities.

Hispanicize has acquired several Web sites and platforms, including LatinaMoms.com and Popful.com, both targeting millennial Hispanic women.

These acquisitions join Hispanicize’s existing stable of properties, which includes food site Hispanic Kitchen, DiMe, a network of content creators, and the Hispanicize conference, an annual event for Hispanic bloggers.

On the advertiser side, the portfolio covers categories including parenting, home, beauty, food and entertainment.

Hispanicize also unveiled a new investment and joint venture with Exit 7, which operates an online network of Hispanic celebrity influencers.

Together the companies claim their influencer networks reach a social media audience of more than 12 million unique visitors per month via a roster of more than 1,900 celebrities, content creators, and digital influencers.

Looking ahead, Hispanicize revealed plans to acquire several more publishing sites targeting millennial Hispanic women later this year.

Younger demos loom large in the overall U.S. Hispanic market, and social media influencers have emerged as a key channel to reach this fast-growing consumer segment, many of whom identify as “bi-cultural.”

Millennials make up 29% of the Hispanic population while Gen Z makes up 36%. According to figures from Simmons Connect, digital makes up 47.3% of Hispanic millennial media consumption on a weekly basis, or 45 hours per week.

Another survey by Yahoo, Ipsos and Audience Theory found that 94% of Spanish-dominant third-generation U.S. Hispanics use their mobile devices to watch video at least once a week, as do 84% of their English-dominant peers.

Overall 72% like to watch online video from multiple devices.

Additionally, 54% of third-generation Hispanics said they actively seek out and online content tailored to them as Hispanics, and 53% welcome advertising targeted specifically to them as Hispanics, although 51% also say they believe this type of advertising doesn’t accurately reflect their experience.