A DATAMARK white paper on customer contact with the U.S. Hispanic consumer market. Part two of this two-part series focuses engaging this young, tech-savvy $1.2 trillion market with multichannel customer contact.

1. Connecting With the
Hispanic Market
Part Two
Contact Center
White Paper
March 2014
www.datamark.net
•Engaging a $1.2 Trillion Consumer Market
•Multichannel Contact With a Tech-Savvy Demographic

2. The purchasing power of U.S. Hispanic
consumers was measured at $1.2 trillion
in 2012, and is expected to reach $1.5
trillion by 2015, according to the
University of Georgia’s Selig Center for
Economic Growth1. To put that in
perspective, the Hispanic consumer
market is larger than the economies of all
but 13 countries in the world!
The fact that the Hispanic consumer
market is so large, and growing steadily
due to immigration, high birth rates and
an increase in Hispanic entrepreneurship,
is the main reason it has the attention of
companies’ customer-service teams.
©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
Engage With One of the Largest Economies in the World
Upscale Hispanic households (with
incomes of $50k or more) are a big part of
this demographic powerhouse,
controlling about 40 percent of the
spending in the marketplace, according to
AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing2.
Upscale Hispanics are technologically
adept and are more likely to use
smartphones, tablets and have service
with the top four U.S. mobile providers.
When a customer picks up a phone, sends
and email or chats online with an agent,
they expect security of their personal and
financial information to be a top priority.
It’s important that a contact center
partner be compliant with the payment
card industry’s PCI DSS standards for
prevention, detection and appropriate
reaction to payment card data security.
“When a customer picks up a phone, sends
and email or chats online with an agent,
they expect security of their personal and
financial information to be a top priority.”
•U.S. Hispanic consumers make up a $1.2 trillion market, a number that
is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2015.
•Hispanic households with $50k or more in income control $4 out of
every $10 spend dollars in the U.S. Hispanic consumer market.
Purchasing
Power

3. Technology is another critical factor for
multi-channel customer contact with the
U.S. Hispanic market. The demographic is
young, tech-savvy, and one of the most
active on social networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter.
Companies seeking a customer contact
center service provider should inquire
about the technology platform used by
the center. Beyond inbound and
outbound calls, the platform should allow
agents to respond to customers through
email, web chat and text messaging
services.
Hispanics also share their experiences—
positive and negative—in active
communities on social networking sites.
In pursuit of a sense of authenticity and
trust, they rely on word-of-mouth from
friends and family for their purchasing
decisions.
Hence, it is critical that a contact center
partner’s technology platform includes
social media monitoring—a way to quickly
address questions and concerns through
Facebook, Twitter and other channels.
©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
Build Trust Across Multiple Channels
•Cell phone ownership: 86 percent of
Hispanics say they own a cell phone,
similar to whites (84 percent) and blacks
(90 percent).
•Smartphone Ownership: 49 percent of
Hispanic adults say they own a
smartphone, similar to whites (46
percent) and blacks (50 percent).
•Using Mobile Devices Online: 76
percent of Hispanic internet users say
they go online using a mobile device,
more than whites (60 percent) and
blacks (73 percent).
•Purchasing with mobile devices: 16
percent of Hispanics say they make
purchases with mobile devices, more
than the general market (12 percent).
•Social Networks: U.S. Hispanics are the
most active ethnic group on social
networking sites, with 80 percent of
Hispanic adults saying they use social
networking sites. The number tops white
non-Hispanic adults (70 percent) and
black non-Hispanic adults (75 percent).
•28 percent of Hispanic adults surveyed
said they used Twitter, more than black
non-Hispanics (27 percent) and white
non-Hispanics (14 percent).
“In a pursuit of a sense
of authenticity and
trust, they rely on
word-of-mouth from
friends and family for
their purchasing
decisions.”
Technology Use
Social Media Use
Source: Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research3
Source: Pew Research Internet Project4

4. Within the U.S. Hispanic consumer
demographic, women are increasingly
achieving success in their educational
pursuits and careers. Because of this, they
are being recognized for their decision-
making power in household spending.
According to a 2013 Nielsen survey6, 86
percent of Hispanic women say they are
the primary shopper in their households,
which means they hold sway over most of
the $1.2 trillion in annual buying power.
Hispanic women also are quickly
embracing a mobile-device lifestyle,
choosing smartphones and tablets over
laptops and PCs, according to a 2012
Nielsen Mobile Insight study7.
©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
The Decision-Making Influence of Hispanic Women
Hispanic women who go online are more
likely than non-Hispanic women to own
smartphones (77 percent vs. 55 percent),
according to Nielsen.
Tech savvy and connected through
mobile networks, Hispanic women wield
purchasing power and influence that
requires a multichannel customer contact
strategy incorporating a unique
understanding of the demographic.
•What experience do they have in the Hispanic market?
•Does their location provide a quality pool of bilingual customer service agents?
•What technology do they use for customer contact?
•Do they offer voice, IVR, email, web chat, text, broadcast message and social
media support?
•Are they PCI DSS compliant?
•Do they have quality assurance policies and training programs in place?
•Do they offer a no-obligation consultation?
Choosing a Contact Center Partner:
Questions to Ask

5. The remarkable growth of the number of
U.S. Hispanics and their considerable
purchasing power—expected to reach
$1.5 trillion by 2015—has led to their
designation by marketing groups as
“super consumers.”
The opportunity to connect with this
relatively young and highly diverse
demographic requires working with
business partners who have an innate
understanding of the Hispanic market and
its language, culture and values.
The strategy in the multi-channel
customer contact space is no different,
and successful companies will take steps
to ensure that customer-service agents
have the language and technology skills
to build valuable long-term trust and
loyalty among Hispanic consumers.
©2014DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net
In Conclusion: Steps for Success
About DATAMARK
For more than 20 years, DATAMARK
has provided mailroom management,
data entry, document processing,
contact center, business process
improvement consulting and other
outsourcing services for Fortune 500
companies across all industry sectors.
If you have questions or need
assistance in developing your
organization’s case for outsourcing
and business process improvement,
DATAMARK’s business process
outsourcing specialists are available
for a complimentary initial
consultation.
Contact us at:
www.datamark.net
Toll-free: 800.477.1944
Info: info@datamark.net
“The opportunity to connect with this
relatively young and highly diverse
demographic requires working with business
partners who have an innate understanding
of the Hispanic market and its language,
culture and values.”
Notes:
1www.terry.uga.edu/news/releases/minority-buying-power-
grows-in-2013-according-to-selig-center-report
2AHAA: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing, www.ahaa.org
3shopperculture.integer.com/2013/04/the-checkout-hispanic-
edition.html
4Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, www.pewhispanic.org
5www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2013/latina-power-shift.html
6www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2013/mobile-consumer-
report-february-2013.html