The Spanish-speaking community has contributed a lot to the United States. From Mariano Rivera and Sammy Sosa to Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” – we have a lot to be thankful for.

As business owners, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and honor their contributions toward our nation. Hispanics have played an important role in various roles throughout history, and it's about time that we honor these contributions to the American way of life by celebrating not just one day, but a whole month in support of Hispanic heritage.

So get ready to show your support, and what better platform other than social media?

Let’s figure out how to do just that!

But first…

What Is Hispanic Heritage Month?

Celebrated from 15th September to 15th October, it is a month-long celebration to honor the history, culture and heritage of the past generations of the Hispanics.

It has been a celebration in the United States for over 40 years, where Hispanics from across the country come together to party while remembering the importance of diversity.

Hispanics form part of the U.S.’s second-largest ethnic group, with their population reaching up to nearly 60 million in 2018. This makes them a significant chunk of the community, don’t you think it is important to celebrate the diversity and growth of these ethnic groups?

Generations of Hispanics came from Spain, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America, playing an important role in the diversification of this great country. Other Hispanic populations in the US find their origins in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Costa Rica.

During this month, people all over the U.S. honor the Hispanics by eating their cultural food, donating to Hispanic charities, learning from their culture, and honoring influential Hispanic figures that have made a significant impact on the society.

Start By Educating Yourself About Hispanic History!

Contrary to popular belief, only 6.5% of the Hispanic population are immigrants, with the majority being born in the U.S. That’s news, right?

Making an effort to learn more about them can be your first step to supporting them.

You can donate to or affiliate with the following organizations to make concrete changes in the lives of Hispanic people:

Know Hispanic History with “Refusing To Forget”

An award-winning author, Monica Munoz Martinez, describes her literary work as “actively trying to recover the forgotten Hispanic history and make it known to everyone.” She is a founding member of the nonprofit organization, Refusing to Forget, which organizes conferences and exhibitions about the much forgotten period of violence in Hispanic history.

Appreciate The Hispanic Heritage Foundation

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation is an award-winning nonprofit organization that celebrates Hispanic accomplishments, vision, and culture. Their leadership and workforce development program has helped thousands of young professionals find mentors and new opportunities to make their lives better.

Support Businesses With USHCC

United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) is one of the largest business organizations in the US as it includes more than 4.37 million businesses owned by Latinos. Every year the USHCC hosts the largest assembly of Hispanic business owners, inviting industry leaders, corporate executives, and trade experts from all across the country. You can even virtually attend this conference.

What You Can Do To Uplift The Hispanic Community Online

The best way to boost the Hispanic community during this month and all-year-round is to recognize ways to defy the stereotypical media representations of the Hispanic and Latinx communities.

These days, almost 2/3 of the world’s population is engaged with one another through social media platforms. Now is the time, more than ever, to use your social media influence to show support in creative ways.

With the rise of online social media marketing, you can easily create professional videos from ready-made templates in a matter of minutes.

However, an important thing to remember is that whenever you plan out content to support a movement, try to understand the motivation behind them. Jumping on the bandwagon because everyone else is doing it can hurt your credibility and distort the idea behind the active efforts of activists and organizers.

Let’s see a few ways of how you can stay culturally relevant while making a lasting impact on your audience.

Generate Emotional Appeal Through Short Videos

Outright selling doesn’t just work anymore. Your marketing strategy should educate your consumers about your product and your business’s motivation behind it. An interactive way to do this is to go for short video promotions.

Research shows that more than 50% of consumers expect to see video guides from brands, and Google states that 6 out of 10 people prefer to watch online videos instead of television.

So it's no wonder that savvy brands already use emotional and dramatic appeal in video promotions to inform their audiences in a memorable way.

For example, in Tide’s campaign by P&G, Hispanic consumers hold up T-Shirts stained with labels that they’ve often been stereotyped with. The washing powder then “washes away” these negative stereotypes.

Stay Recognizable By Maintaining Consistency In Your Campaigns

In this crowded web sphere, you would want your business’s social media campaign to stand out, right?

Creating effective advertising campaigns that can visually attract your consumers are a must! To add to it, staying consistent throughout a specific campaign can help your brand stay recognizable.

You can do this by using attention-grabbing Hispanic Heritage templates to create all your content that engages your audience at a glance.

Some businesses make use of specific colors to evoke feelings, while others make use of visual themes that fit the topic they’re talking about. This leads to an interactive way of marketing that creates curiosity for the audience. Look at the following examples that were used for Hispanic Heritage Month previously. The templates give off a highly ethnic, cultural vibe that fits the persona of the campaign. You are just a template away from cranking up your social media through visually graphic posts!

Collaborate With Hispanic Social Media Influencers

Once you understand the motivation and struggles of Hispanic people, you can show your support by engaging with Hispanic influencers on various social media channels.

“Hispanic consumers will often take action when they receive a recommendation for a product or an idea from a micro-influencer that they trust – someone who is their amiga (friend) or vecina (neighbor),” says Maria Cabo, a multicultural strategist.

Many Latino social media influencers have significant influence over their fans and followers. As one of the leading clothing store chains, Macy’s jumped at the idea of collaborating with Mexican influencer Thalia Soli Miranda to create a fashion collection for Hispanic/Latina women. As a result, the retailer experienced a dramatic increase in sales.

That’s a win-win situation!

Staying culturally relevant and connecting to your consumers is what will make your business more diverse and approachable.

Get Staff Recommendations For Hispanic Owned Businesses

When designing and building a digital presence that caters to a diverse customer base, businesses should ask their Staff for reviews about POC and indigenously-owned businesses. You’ll be surprised to find out how many products and services out there are proudly delivered by Latinx-owned entrepreneurs.

For example, we were very excited to find out that one of the greatest beauty staples, the Beautyblender, was made by a Latina lady.

Rea Ann Silva is the sole innovator behind the Beautyblender Empire. According to her, her Hispanic Heritage gave her an understanding of different skin tones, which directly correlated with her aim of making people comfortable in their skin.

Source Beautyblender — **Source** **Beautyblender**

It is the first non-Sephora branded tool on Sephora’s shelves and a top choice. What an honor!

People also recommend SundayEnergy (a Youtube influencer turned jewelry store owner), TheLitBar (an Indie bookstore founded by Afro-Latina Noelle Santos), and VivalaBonita (a small business selling diverse merch of mugs and sweatshirts with the tagline “for women who want to rise”).

Find more businesses like these and feature them on your social media to spread awareness of the many Hispanic entrepreneurs out there.

Keep Making Efforts Even After The Month Is Over

Diverse organizations perform better. Businesses that increased ethnic diversity in their labor force saw their revenue rise by 15%! It also helps in finding and retaining smarter staff because when looking for jobs, 67% of the potential employees evaluate whether the company has a diverse workforce.

You have actively participated in various social media campaigns and have collaborated with indigenous social media influencers as well. What else can you do, beyond this month, to show your support?

Diversify your workforce and hire more people of color
Incorporate new products into your business according to its niche to cater to a broader customer base
Organize fundraisers and festivals with proceeds going to organizations for Hispanics
Engage in visual storytelling through infographics to post on your social media, so your audience keeps learning

Key Takeaway

Think of the Hispanic Heritage Month as a kick-start for you to dive into a life-long mission of showing support for indigenous communities of the U.S.

That could mean continuing to educate yourself, collaborating with indigenous/POC celebrities, brands, and influencers – as long as your social media marketing fully represents the diverse communities that you are supporting, you’re on the right track.

However you choose to do it; make sure your business fully understands the intention behind it.