What Nonprofits Must Know About Hispanics: Insights from Sprint

Do you ever wonder if the Hispanic market is as important as you hear? Look no further than the United States’ top companies. Corporations across the country have recognized Hispanics’ power and changed gears to engage them. Sprint is among them, and the company’s investment has paid off. Hispanics, who compose roughly 18 percent of the population, made up 34 percent of Sprint’s new customers for 2017. Sprint sells more in the Hispanic segment than Verizon or AT&T. This success isn’t an accident. Sprint’s commitment to Hispanic marketing is evident on many levels. If you want to adapt your nonprofit to embrace Hispanic marketing, Sprint offers a strong model. Here are its most important Hispanic-centered policies.

Start at the top

“Commitment to winning the Hispanic market starts with the CEO.”

At Sprint, Hispanic marketing is a priority from the top down. The company’s marketing director, Alberto Lorente, says the CEO’s involvement stressed him out at first. In the end, it proved essential. As he puts it, being invited to the right meetings and having the marketing team’s work showcased made all the difference. The company-wide support now allows them to execute without delay. This organizational culture didn’t appear overnight, and it probably won’t at your nonprofit either. Building the CEO and CMO’s trust took time. Given that most nonprofits are smaller than Sprint, getting your company on board with Hispanic marketing may be even easier. Through consistent performance and regular communication, Alberto was able to reach company-wide cooperation with Hispanic marketing.

Know who you’re talking to

Another way Sprint invests in Hispanic marketing is through analytics. The Hispanic market is not a monolith; marketers know that the demographic is divided by age, gender, location, and language preference. Fortunately, Sprint has the stats to drive their decisions. They know who’s watching content in which language. They know who buys online and who buys in the store. They can change their calls to action based on this data. Spending the time and money to know their audience on a deeper level has paid off, just as it will for nonprofits.

Trust the pros

Alberto attributes the company’s success to one more factor: the trust they put in their marketing agencies. He says Hispanic marketing is unique in its large number of effective agencies. As creative experts, most agencies excel in communicating passion points to consumers. Cutting through the clutter that constantly bombards your audience is extremely important. Sprint accomplishes this by allowing the agencies it works with to do their job. While it is important to make sure an agency stays within your organization’s brand, they need enough room to work just a little outside the box. And with the technology available today, agencies can do more at a lower cost. Nonprofit leaders can get a strong helping hand by relying on a good agency.

An example to learn from

Through top down support, investment in analytics, and trust in their agencies, Sprint has tapped into a huge, powerful audience. Hispanics are a big part of the company’s success story; they can become your nonprofit’s followers and donors as well. Watching and learning from the corporate world is a valuable way to improve your own connection with Hispanics.