Every Hispanic Heritage Month, brands rush to run a campaign “for the Hispanic community.” The problem: that community doesn’t consume media the same way. A first-generation immigrant, their U.S.-born child, and that child’s own children can share heritage, and still live in almost entirely different media worlds. The data backs this up clearly, and it has direct implications for how brands should be planning Q4 media and creative.
Language Habits Change Fast, Generation by Generation
Language is the clearest dividing line, and it shifts dramatically in just two generations. According to Pew Research Center, only 11% of foreign-born Hispanics get their news exclusively in English. That share jumps to 47% among second-generation Hispanics, and reaches 74% among Hispanics in the third generation or higher (Pew Research Center, 2024).
The reverse trend is just as sharp: 90% of immigrant Hispanics consume at least some news in Spanish, compared to 53% of second-generation Hispanics and just 26% of third-generation or higher Hispanics (Pew Research Center, 2024). A separate Pew analysis found that 92% of third-generation-or-higher Hispanics get their news mainly in English, versus 73% of second-generation Hispanics, and second-generation Hispanics are far more likely to consume news evenly in both languages (22% vs. 5%) (Pew Research Center, 2025).
Not sure whether your audience is Spanish-dominant, bilingual, or English-first? Let’s map it out together.
Platform Usage Isn’t the Same Across Generations Either
It’s not just language, it’s where the audience actually shows up. Pew Research Center’s 2025 social media data found that 62% of Hispanic adults use Instagram, compared to 45% of White adults, and Hispanic and Asian adults are significantly more likely to use WhatsApp than White adults (Pew Research Center, 2025). Among teens specifically, WhatsApp usage has grown fastest among Hispanic and Black communities, driven in part by the need to stay connected with family across borders (Pew Research Center, 2025).
This matters because WhatsApp usage tends to skew toward more Spanish-dominant, immigrant-connected households, while platforms like Instagram and TikTok see broader adoption across all generations. A campaign built only around WhatsApp community groups will miss English-dominant, third-generation Latinos almost entirely. A campaign built only around English-language Instagram ads will miss the immigrant households actively engaging with brands in Spanish.
Streaming Is Where Hispanic Audiences Are Overindexing Right Now
Streaming has become the biggest opportunity gap in Hispanic media planning. Nielsen’s Diverse Intelligence Series report found that streaming now drives 55.8% of total TV time among Hispanic viewers, compared to 46% for the rest of the U.S., with Hispanic audiences outpacing the general population’s usage of YouTube, Netflix, and Disney (Nielsen, 2025).
Here’s the part that should catch every brand’s attention: despite this level of engagement, less than 1% of digital ad spend from U.S. online retailers went to Spanish-language websites in Q1 2025, and nearly 96% of the Spanish-language digital spend that did happen went to a single platform, YouTube (Nielsen, 2025). Hispanic audiences are showing up. Ad budgets largely are not.
That gap is where the real opportunity sits. Ask us how a bilingual streaming or YouTube strategy could work for your brand.
What This Means for Segmenting Your Audience
Instead of one “Hispanic campaign,” the data supports three distinct approaches:
- First generation (immigrants): Spanish-dominant, high Spanish-language news and streaming consumption, strong WhatsApp usage for staying connected to family and country of origin. Relevance comes from language accuracy and cultural authenticity, not just translation.
- Second generation: Bilingual and bicultural, comfortable moving between English and Spanish media, more likely to consume content in both languages equally. This group responds to messaging that reflects a dual identity rather than forcing a single language choice.
- Third generation and beyond: English-dominant, often with limited or no Spanish fluency, but still connected to heritage through family, food, music, and cultural pride rather than language. Relevance here comes from cultural cues, not Spanish-language creative.
The Takeaway for Q4 Planning
Hispanic Heritage Month campaigns that speak to “the Hispanic community” as one block are, statistically, only speaking to part of it well. The brands winning this quarter are the ones building a media mix and message that flexes by generation: Spanish-first for immigrant audiences, genuinely bilingual for second-generation households, and culturally-rooted (not language-dependent) for third-generation Latinos.
Want a generational breakdown of your own audience before Q4 campaigns launch? Talk to our team about a Hispanic market audit.
FAQ
Do all U.S. Hispanics prefer Spanish-language content? No. Language preference shifts sharply by generation. Immigrant Hispanics consume the most Spanish-language media, while second- and third-generation Hispanics increasingly consume news and content mainly in English (Pew Research Center, 2024).
Which social platforms do Hispanic audiences use most? Hispanic adults use Instagram and WhatsApp at higher rates than White adults, with WhatsApp usage particularly strong among immigrant and Spanish-dominant households (Pew Research Center, 2025).
Are brands investing enough in Hispanic digital media? Not proportionally to engagement. Nielsen found that less than 1% of U.S. online retailers’ digital ad spend went to Spanish-language websites in Q1 2025, despite Hispanic audiences overindexing on streaming and digital consumption (Nielsen, 2025).
Sources cited:
- Pew Research Center, “US Hispanics’ consumption of English- and Spanish-language news” (2024)
- Pew Research Center, “US Hispanics’ consumption of English- and Spanish-language news among generations” (2025)
- Pew Research Center, “Americans’ Social Media Use 2025” (2025)
- Pew Research Center, “Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025” (2025)
- Nielsen, “Hispanic Consumers Overindex on Streaming Consumption Versus Rest of U.S.” (2025)