Do “Hispanic-Fluentials” Like Your News?

What are Hispanic bloggers saying about your news and info?…

An Aug. 28 article by Jose Villa in MediaPost’s newly launched Engage:Hispanics blog begs this question. And the answer might effect your news brand more than you’d think.

Villa gives an overview of research concerning the recent rise and influence of Hispanic bloggers, as well as growing Hispanic interest in reading blogs. Some highlights:

• According to ComScore Media Metrix, “WordPress and TypePad (two popular blogging platforms and networks) generated 2.9 million monthly unique Hispanic visitors in July, surpassing the traffic of popular Hispanic destinations such as Univision.com, Terra.com, and Batanga.com.”
  
• “The latest AdAge Hispanic Fact Pack says that 5.35 percent of online Hispanics visited a blog and 2.3 percent wrote a blog in the last 30 days.”
  
• “A March 2008 Burson-Marsteller study revealed that the most influential Hispanic consumers, dubbed ‘Hispanic-fluentials,’ use the Internet to share their views about products and brands as well as to connect with friends and family. Specifically, 49 percent of Hispanic-fluentials used blogs to tell others about product experiences.”
  

Villa’s article is written for marketers and advertisers of consumer products and services. But news brands need good marketing, too. As bloggers of all kinds become increasingly findable and influential, it’s important to pay attention to what they’re saying—and to be responsive to the points that they and their communities raise.

This means that as you keep any eye on inbound links to or mentions of your news and other offerings, be sure to flag especially influential bloggers. Make sure that at least some people in charge of analyzing this information are fluent in Spanish—you don’t want to miss any nuances with this community. Are there any especially influential Hispanic bloggers (covering any topic, newsy or not) in your community, or who are popular with local Hispanics? Be sure to read them, and engage in conversation there.

If connecting with your local Hispanic community is a priority for your news org, you might want to subscribe to the Engage:Hispanics blog. (Even though MediaPost requires you to provide a surprising amount of personal information in exchange for a free membership.)