Yahoo! recently launched its Mobile Site for U.S. Hispanic Users. Google currently addresses Hispanic users through the “Language Tools” on their home page. And Bing has a US-Spanish version of their search engine, as does Facebook. These programs spotlight the growing opportunities – and importance – for advertisers to reach their Hispanic customers. According to eMarketer estimates, Hispanics make up about 12.3 percent of the U.S. Internet population in 2009, and will increase to 13.9 percent in 2013. It seems the Hispanic population is turning to the Internet more and more to find information and answers.

So as an advertiser, how can you adjust your online campaign(s) to better reach this demographic?

Here are ways to target your online campaigns (specifically AdWords) to reach the Hispanic market.

• When setting up your campaign, you can select the Spanish language box in your language setting options. By doing so, your ads will reach users searching Google in the Spanish interface. Note:  In this scenario, users would still need to search on the English keyword and ads would appear in English.
• If you’re looking to take the extra step to reach your intended Hispanic visitors, setting up a separate AdWords campaign with translated keywords and ads is the way to go. By creating a second campaign in Spanish, you’ll be sure to reach Hispanic users that search in both English and Spanish. Google provides tools to assist in the translation, or you can utilize the services of a third-party vendor.
• Make sure the designated landing page for your campaign takes users to a useful page. If a user clicks on an ad in Spanish, leading them to an English-only website would negate your efforts and provide for poor user experience. Make sure your landing page addresses the Spanish-speaking user either through a translated page or an action item that directs Spanish users where to go (i.e. a phone number to call to get more information).

By knowing how to better reach Hispanic users through your AdWords efforts, you’ll be better equipped to create smarter, more effective campaigns.