As another tax season has come and gone, we see both US Hispanic (USH) and US General Market (GM) audiences exhibit a cyclical nature in their visitation to content within the tax category. This brief inquiry probes whether cyclical categories offline produce mirrored behavior online: taxes, education, travel, comparison shopping and entertainment-movies.

In all cases, Hispanics are virtually on par or surpass General Market in % reach within the categories in question.

USH and GM are not procrastinators when it comes to their taxes, with 11.9% reach and 15.5% reach within the tax category, respectively, during Feb 07. The strongest spikes for both occur during the month of Feb 06 and Feb 07, well before the April 15 th filing deadline, with a secondary plateau through the tax season months of March 06 and April 06.

Chart 1:

Tax Category Reach, Feb 06 - Feb 07, USH vs GM, % Reach, comScore Media Metrix USH and GM Services

The IRS will process many W-2’s from Hispanics, in particular, as their unemployment rate continues to fall from 5.2% in Feb 07 to 5.1% in Mar 07.

Hispanic adults have the highest level of employment compared to Non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans, at 66%, 63%, and 56% respectively. Synovate offers further explanation, citing the relative youth of the Hispanic population. Plus, only 9% of Hispanics have reached retirement, compared to 20% for Non-Hispanic/Non-African-Americans. 1

Chart 2:

Offline Cyclicality Mirrored Online

Travel, Comparison Shopping, Entertainment - Movies, Education Category Reach, Feb 06 - Feb 07, USH vs GM, % Reach, comScore Media Metrix USH and GM Services

As 58% of Internet users turn online to plan their vacations, it is no surprise that the travel category is visited by nearly 50% of the online population during the peak summer travel season of July 06 – Aug 06 for both USH and GM 2. Yet, the planning phase, or travel upfront, starts in the spring months ranging from Apr 06 – Jun 06 again for both USH and GM.

The standout month for USH is Jan 07, surpassing GM reach by 3% to 46% of all USH online users visiting content within the travel category. The often hectic holiday season is even more active for USH, as many travel to and from their countries of origin, of which Mexico is the most popular. There are 30 million Hispanics, or 67% of the USH population, which claims Mexico as their country. 3

The holidays are also a time for gift giving and receiving. Both US Hispanic and General Market audiences are no strangers to the power of comparison shopping online. Activity for both groups spikes during the holiday shopping season and, interestingly, USH surpass GM by 3% reach during the Feb 07 Valentine’s Day shopping season.

One of the more interesting findings is how USH clearly surpass GM during the important pre-summer blockbuster season of Mar 06 – Jul 06 in movie category visitation. USH exhibit a movie category reach high of 42%. This online finding mirrors what we see offline, as it is well documented that USH are avid moviegoers and over-index all other ethnic groups in attending movie premieres. Hispanics moviegoers increased their admissions from 8 in 2005 to 9.8 from 2005 to 2006.

Last, but certainly not least, for this examination, is the education category. As predicted, education category visitation drops off a bit during the summer break months of Jun 06 and Jul 06. The education category is actually first in reach among the categories examined in this study, ahead of travel, movies, comparison shopping and taxes for both USH and GM.

54.4% of all Hispanics online visit education category content during Aug 06 - the peak time period, and about the time when classes begin. The Internet is, by and large, a powerful research tool available 24*7, so the popularity of the education category goes hand in hand with the essence of what the web has to offer.

Be a Smart Marketer, consider whether a category is cyclical and leverage the predictable seasonality of online usage. Portals, like Terra, offer relevant content during these peak periods of interest, and are an ideal environment in which to engage your target audiences:

New eSmartTax, online tax filing in Spanish (http://www.terra.com/noticias/articulo/html/act796122.htm)

Wonders of the World, many of which are in Latin America such as the ruins of Chichén-Itzá in the Yucatan and Easter Island. (http://www.terra.com/turismo/articulo/html/tur6713.htm)

Spider Man 3 at the Tribeca Film Festival

(http://www.terra.com/ocio/articulo/html/oci171656.htm)

1. 2006 U.S. Diversity Markets Report. Synovate. 2006. p. 45

2. For ‘58% of Interent users…’; Source: eMarketer, ‘Vacation Planning Methods of US Internet Users, 2006’. Nov 2006

3. 2006 U.S. Diversity Markets Report. Synovate. 2006. p. 28

Watch for even more exciting Terra initiatives in 2007! To learn more about how you can reach Terra.com's quality audience with your marketing message, call us at 212-354-2700. Visit http://www.terra.com/advertise/ and http://www.terra.com/terrainthenews/.

By Natasha Funk Published April 30, 2007. If you missed past issues of Terra’s Smart Marketer Series and would like to obtain them, please send an email to: smartmarketer@terra.com.