As the Hispanic population throughout the U.S. continues to increase, so too do the business opportunities for insurance agencies across the country. Social media is a great tool for building on your current efforts or for getting the ball rolling to develop relationships with Hispanic consumers.

You might be asking yourself, “Why focus my social media efforts on Hispanic consumers?" Well, por qué no? Translation: Why not? There are more than 60 million Hispanics in the U.S., according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Further, the Hispanic market in the U.S. has an annual spending power of $1.9 trillion, according to the 2021 Multicultural Economy Report.

Hispanics are “mobile-first" and super social, with 80% of Hispanic internet users being on social media, according to a 2019 Nielsen report, higher than any other ethnic group in the U.S. The Nielsen report also says Hispanics are more likely to use social to learn about or share their experiences about products and services.

This influential consumer group is an audience that the insurance industry should be focusing on. Here are three best practices for building your social media strategy to connect with Hispanic consumers:

1) Post consistently. Be aware of holidays and awareness days or months that are culturally meaningful to Hispanic consumers and celebrate them on your social media channels. These special days will provide you with a reason to post fun content and engage your audience throughout the entire year.

2) Show you care about the community. In your social posts, show members of the Hispanic community how your agency is showing up in the community—whether by volunteering, participating in events or supporting local businesses. Spotlight your employees and members of your community as well.

3) Use resources to your advantage. An effective way for an agency to build its business is by partnering with a carrier that provides a unique service, another agency with complementary products and services, or an agency group, such as an association or network. Doing this can streamline your strategy by providing you with content to increase your posting frequency while adding credibility to your agency within the Hispanic community.

As far as platforms go, here are some tips for using the big ones to get you started:

Instagram: A visual-first network. Best for video and image sharing, educational content, inspirational messages, memes and even screenshots of tweets.

Facebook: For the top social network in the U.S., video works best at immediately grabbing users' attention and click-through rates. Be sure to stick to Facebook's recommended file format.

Twitter: Focus on short, sharp messaging to quickly get to what you want the user to know. Include image links, which often get more click-throughs.

LinkedIn: Good for building your brand image and connecting with other professionals. Adding more background and details about you and your agency work better on this platform. Consider using ads to connect with your audiences. Note that they can come at a premium price though.

Lory Burgos is senior consultant, enterprise diverse marketing, at Nationwide.