• by Lee Vann , Columnist, January 9, 2014

A few months ago, I discussed the launch of Facebook’s Hispanic affinity cluster and how it opened up a new and powerful opportunity for brands to engage with U.S. Hispanics. Earlier this week, many Hispanics celebrated Día de los Reyes (Three Kings’ Day), and when I saw my Facebook feed on this traditional Hispanic holiday, it was clear that big brands are starting to take advantage of that opportunity.

To recap, the Facebook Hispanic affinity cluster allows marketers to target Hispanics on Facebook in a precise and cost-effective way. In November, the cluster consisted of 22 million Hispanic Facebook users, and that number has jumped to just over 25 million in January.

Facebook has aggregated a critical mass of U.S. Hispanics, and provides advanced tools for reaching them. However, to successfully reach this audience and drive business objectives, it is increasingly important for brands to cut through the clutter with communications that are engaging and culturally relevant.

How brands are doing just this was crystal clear this Día de los Reyes as my Facebook news feed came alive. Mixed in with posts from my friends of “Roscas de Reyes”, baby Jesus and pictures of family gatherings were several posts by brands tapping into this rich cultural traditional. 

The posts were published by brands across industries including automotive, consumer packaged goods, entertainment, financial services and telecommunication. The posts were very diverse; some focused on tradition and religion and featured iconic imagery of the Three Kings, while others found clever ways to integrate their products into the communications. But they all had one thing in common; they all tapped into a key Hispanic holiday and were culturally relevant. I took a look at the engagement of these Día de Los Reyes Facebook posts, and from a high level they seem to all resonate quite well with users.

These kinds of culturally relevant posts will become even more critical as brands will have increasingly more options to reach Hispanics who will be increasingly bombarded with advertising messages.