• by Ray Schultz , March 9, 2021

U.S. Hispanics are avid internet users and can be engaged by email marketers and brands in general, judging by the 2021 Hispanic Digital Fact Pack, a study released Tuesday by H Code. 

That doesn’t mean they are satisfied. Of the Hispanics polled, 70% think brands do not understand their culture -- up from 59% in the prior year. 

And 93% want brands to be socially responsible. 

However, only 15% feel language is the key factor in getting them to click on an ad.  

Email writers should take note: 58% of the respondents want to be identified as “Hispanic.” Another 25% prefer “Latino/a.” But only 4% like “Latinx.”

That said, three out of four Hispanics say the internet is their primary source of entertainment. And four out of five like to play video as a way of spending time with friends. 

Meanwhile, 60% are most likely to see digital ads in social media.  

In general, 89% use smartphones to connect to the internet, while 70% utilize laptops and 51% smart TV, up from 42% in the prior year.

In fact, 20% off those polled spend 20 or more hours a week using the internet on a smartphone. 

In contrast, only 3% use email for that amount of time. Perhaps disappointingly for email marketers, 38% spend an hour or two a week on email, 18% do three to five hours an 10% six to nine hours.

Tik-Tok use has grown to 39%, versus 10% in the previous year.

The study notes that Hispanics have a combined GDP of $2.6 trillion, and that they would rank as the eighth largest country in the world if they were their own country. The U.S. Hispanic GDP is growing at a 72% faster rate than that of the rest of the nation.  

Hispanics make up 18.5% of the total U.S. population.

H Code surveyed 1,269 Hispanic/Latinx consumers, both English- and Spanish-speaking, in December 2020.