• by Holly Pavlika , Columnist, September 4, 2015

Latina women are known for their beauty. Top of mind, of course, is J Lo and Shakira. So it should not be a surprise that the 2015 Siempre Mujer Hispanic Beauty Study found that Latina women and Millennial Latinas are highly engaged in the beauty category. 

The total Latina beauty market in the U.S. is approximately $4.3 billion and accounts for about 13% of all cosmetic spending. And while general market beauty sales were down 1.2% in 2014, Latina beauty purchases were up 7.4% in 2014. 

Comparing and contrasting Latina women and Millennial Latinas versus their general market counterparts, the Siempre Mujer study showed women went nearly stat for stat with each other, and are on a level playing field when it comes to usage of smartphones, with one difference: Latinas actually use tablets more often, 14% versus 9%. “Latinas were more apt to use their smartphone to access social media on their phones and tablets and appear to be early adopters for making purchases on their phones. This should be very encouraging for retailers looking to capture sales in-store,” said Verónica Viviana Wilson, Associate Publisher of Siempre Mujer,  a Meredith publication.

Latina women are voracious in their search for beauty content, using whatever means at their disposal: internet, social media, email, counter display in-store and mailers, but outpacing general market women in watching YouTube videos. 

Brands need to take notice of the hyper-social and connected Latina beauty shopper.

The language of the content matters.

Marketing to Latinas can prove challenging due to differences in language and acculturation. There is no one-size fits Latina. Should the content be English, Spanish or Spanglish? The Siempre Mujer study found Latinas want content in both English and Spanish. In fact, 48% of Latinas in this study said they prefer a mix of both English and Spanish but would love it if there were just more Spanish-language content available in general. 

Regardless of social platform–Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube or LinkedIn–a preference for some English and some Spanish content was preferred. And if you want to reach Latinas with beauty content, start with YouTube, as it’s the channel of choice, followed by Facebook and Pinterest. Women, in general, chose Facebook over YouTube; keep Pinterest in mind, however, for both audiences. An omnichannel approach with useful, relevant content will be paramount in reaching today’s Latinas.

Beauty begins with research and social media.
“Part of the fun of beauty is research. Every woman wants to look her best and that requires information. And who to better trust then other women like you. Our study showed peer-to-peer content was preferred by Latinas almost 2 to 1 versus expert-led tutorials,” explained Wilson. 

Latina women and Millennial Latina women use social media to learn about products, quality, comparison shop, look at reviews and check for coupons. Interestingly, they also use social to view color variations, which is something that typically happens in-store. 

“It’s all about show me. The best kind of content? ‘How-to’ content/tutorials,” said Wilson. And remember ethnicity and skin tone directly correlates to the influencer she follows. And if she is looking for hair tips, hair texture will play a role in whom she follows. There is a very clear distinction when it comes to beauty on how Latinas use social media versus general market women,” she added. Social media is more a tool to learn for Latinas and Millennial Latinas while general market women used social more as a source for coupons and discounts.”

She is highly social and connected.

Latina women and Millennial Latinas follow more brands than general market women, 7.4 brands versus only 3.3 brands for general market. Latinas are also more likely to like, share and comment on social media versus general market women, who will more likely review a product. And Latinas showed they more likely to have made a purchase in the last six months based on information she found on social.

Latinas follows brands and bloggers to learn more and preferred U.S. based influencers, but are still interested in foreign based bloggers particularly Millennial Latinas. This study was U.S. based but this is an indicator that shows they are still connected to their country of origin or their Latin roots.

“If you are looking to impact sales in the beauty category it is clear you need to be including Latinas and Latina Millennials in your planning,” said Wilson.