The Hispanic Market
Over 28 years of experience as a Contact Center
specializing in Spanish/English Telemarketing.
The 2010 US Census confirmed the U.S Hispanic growing importance for businesses across a wide array of industries; this minority group is very attractive due to its growing size and increasing purchasing power.
- Attractive population size.
Almost 18% of the U.S. population is Hispanic. According to the projections of the U.S. Census Bureau in 2013 this group’s population is now about 54 million and will continue to grow at about 1.4 million per year. This is 4x faster than the Caucasian population.
These numbers make the Hispanic segment a desirable one, so how do you reach them effectively and efficiently? Many incorrectly assume that all communication directed to Hispanics should be in Spanish given their Spanish surnames. However, one out of every four Hispanics does not know how to speak Spanish. Thus assuming a Spanish surname implies a Spanish speaking household is an incorrect assumption.
Hispanics receive only a fraction of the amount of mailings, phone calls and other communication messages compared to their Caucasian counterparts, consequently telemarketing is one of the most effective ways to reach them. Reaching them in their language of preference only increases the communication effectiveness. Thus any contact center trying to reach Hispanics in their preferred language must have fully bilingual English-Spanish operators. Additionally, if these operators are familiar with American cultural nuances this will further enhance the contact experience.
Puerto Rico based DRSI Call Center has a totally bilingual staff that is very familiar with American cultural nuances due to its close geographical proximity and deep penetration of US cable channels. Our operators can seamlessly switch from English to Spanish and vice versa. We have been the contact center for many Fortune 1000 companies, successfully managing their contacts for both the US Hispanic market and Puerto Rico, one of the largest Hispanic markets. With DRS as your call center, you are able to reach or be reached by the increasingly important Hispanic Market in their preferred language while also reaching the General Market from just one call center.
The world is smaller than ever. Leading-edge telecommunications, technology, and information systems, such as those employed by DRSI Call Center, allow clients to contract online contact services wherever these are more efficient and economical.
Why reach your Hispanic customers from Puerto Rico?
As a commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Rico offers a specialized and lower-cost bilingual labor force and is the ideal location from which to reach Hispanic markets, not to mention non-Hispanic U.S. markets and even Spanish-language Latin American markets. Puerto Rico is located in the tropical Caribbean. Only 3 hours from Florida, 4 hours from New York, 5 hours from Chicago.
The Bilingual Advantage
DRSI Call Center maintains a staff of hundreds of fully bilingual agents. Other telemarketing companies in the U.S. or in countries where Spanish is the main language may claim to offer bilingual service, but the second language they offer is just that: a second language, without fluency.
In Puerto Rico, English is not a second language. English and Spanish are both official languages and DRSI Call Center’s agents are completely bilingual in three key aspects: speaking, reading and writing. Furthermore, Puerto Rico’s Spanish is widely perceived as having a neutral accent that sits well with the stateside Hispanic population.
Effective marketing programs are based not on wild guesses or hearsay, but rather on thoroughly researched, informed decisions.
As a means of providing unparalleled assistance to our clients, DRSI Call Center has compiled the following information — fully updated to include data from the 2010 U.S. Census — and highlights regarding the U.S. Hispanic market.
Hispanics in the United States
The estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau of the Hispanic population of the U.S. as of 2013 is 53.9 million. Hispanics now constitute 18% of the nation’s population. The growth of the Hispanic population in the past 10 years has averaged 1,400,000 per year. The census also showed that the Hispanic population is highly concentrated in specific areas, with 78.1 percent residing within 10 states. This does not include the 3.7 million Hispanics in Puerto Rico.
Hispanics for the last six years have been the largest minority group, and the margin keeps increasing. The U.S. Census projected the Hispanic population of the U.S. for 2050 at 132.8 million. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute almost one third of the nation’s population by that date.
The Term "Hispanic"
In general, the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are used interchangeably in the U.S. Census Report and in the marketing industry. “Hispanic” is not considered a race, but rather a country origin.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the definition of Hispanic or Latino is a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American descent, or other Spanish heritage.
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