Hispanic Online Publishers Turn to Twitter
Back in June, I discussed how Hispanic publishers had created Facebook communities to drive incremental traffic and engagement with online Hispanics. For this article, I provide a snapshot of how Hispanic publishers are using Twitter.
The success of some Hispanic publishers on Twitter should be a clear indication for marketers looking to reach Hispanics that Twitter is a viable option for reaching them.
Twitter resonates with Hispanics
It’s true, Facebook reaches more Hispanics than Twitter, but a larger number of Twitter users are Hispanic when compared to Facebook. Here are the facts according to Quantcast.com:
Facebook reaches 133 million US users of which 6% are Hispanic; this translates to a total of 8 million Hispanic Facebook users.
Twitter reaches 44.4 million US users of which 11% are Hispanic; this translates to 4.9 Million Hispanic Twitter users.
This data clearly indicates that Twitter not only reaches a critical mass of Hispanics, but the micro-blogging service resonates strong with this group.
Most Hispanic publishers have grasped the Twitter opportunity realizing that they can cost effectively reach their audience and drive incremental traffic to their websites.
Univision dominates the Hispanic Twitterverse
Similar to what I found with my Hispanic Facebook analysis, Univision and Telemundo are leading the way on Twitter.. The Twitter strategy of both companies is anchored by corporate Twitter accounts with several other accounts grouped by topic or Television show. Terra Networks has a similar approach while other publishers seem to have just gotten their feet wet with a single Twitter account
For an apples to apples comparision, I only included corporate accounts and topic based accounts and intentionally excluded Twitter accounts for TV shows, talent or regional affiliates.
Univision – 124,000 Twitter Followers
Univision’s Twitter strategy roughly mirrors the information architecture of the Univision.com website. Univision manages a corporate Twitter account and other accounts focused on key topics with News, Futbol and Musica being the most popular, by far. Here is a list of Univision’s current Twitter accounts and follower counts, excluding TV shows.
http://twitter.com/Univision – 78,048
http://twitter.com/UnivisionNews – 20,317
http://twitter.com/UnivisionFutbol – 12,541
http://twitter.com/UnivisionMusica – 9,921
http://twitter.com/univisionent – 1,935
http://twitter.com/univisionautos – 350
http://twitter.com/univisioncocina – 273
http://twitter.com/univisiondinero – 265
http://twitter.com/UnivisionSports – 256
http://twitter.com/univisionsalud – 200
http://twitter.com/UnivisionCasa – 142
http://twitter.com/UnivisionMujer – 137
http://twitter.com/univisioncine – 105
http://twitter.com/univisionvida – 83
Telemundo – 51,000 Twitter Followers
Telemendo’s corporate Twitter account has nearly 50,000 followers and their news account currently stands at 2,700 followers. Telemundo does have a large number of Twitter accounts for their TV shows and local affiliates, but I did not include those in this analysis.
The rest of the pack
Of the remaining Hispanic publishers, Terra Networks leads the way with 6,700 followers across various US Twitter accounts including Music, News and Entertainment. Here is how the rest of the pack stacks up.
Terra – 6,700
AOL Latino – 3,800
Batanga – 955
MSN Latino – 72
It is clear that Twitter represents a viable option for reaching Hispanics online. Like any marketing campaign, succeeding on Twitter requires a well thought out strategy and a continuous, two-way dialogue that provides value to a given target audience. It also doesn’t hurt to have a Television network that reaches millions of households.