Ads in Spanish-language media drive 50% more engagement than English-language media, yet many TV advertisers are still navigating how best to reach Hispanic audiences.
EDO SVP and Head of Client Solutions Laura Grover recently joined TelevisaUnivision VP of Strategy and Insights Juliana Gomez for a Leading the Change webinar on "Winning Hispanic Audiences: The Good, Better, Best Approach to Advertising with Impact.”
The presentation challenges how brands think about multicultural marketing and offers a new framework to progressively improve impact — from simply showing up in Spanish-language environments to creating native ads and culturally resonant campaigns that drive peak performance.
In a world where Hispanic purchasing power is expanding 2.6 times faster than non-Hispanic spending, advertisers simply can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Watch the webinar below and read key insights from the conversation.
Spanish-language context delivers immediate impact
EDO data reveals that ads in Spanish-language media drive 50% more engagement than English-language media on a per-impression basis, as measured by post-airing behaviors like branded searches and website visits. "Being there matters more than being perfect,” notes Gomez. “The cultural context of Spanish language television boosts engagement."
As Grover explains, EDO’s engagement metrics focus on mid-funnel consumer behaviors that reflect immediate changes in intent and serve as precursors to eventual sales.
TelevisaUnivision programs amplify results further
Beyond the Spanish-language media advantage, ads specifically on TelevisaUnivision networks perform 56% better than English-language media in driving consumer engagement. This strength appears across major advertising categories, with Personal Care seeing twice the engagement of English-language campaigns, and categories like Retail, Beauty, Insurance, and Pharma not far behind.
The cultural credibility of TelevisaUnivision's environment creates what Gomez calls a "cultural multiplier effect." Even English-language ads placed on TelevisaUnivision networks outperform the same creative on English-language television.
In-culture creative unlocks peak performance
Even greater results emerge when brands combine cultural nuance with Spanish-language creative and strategic placement. "Language connects and culture drives action,” said Gomez. “This is a segment that wants to be seen, heard, understood, and when brands show up with intentions, audiences respond."
Finance advertisers using this "best" approach see nearly double the performance compared to English-language campaigns, while other categories like Pharma, Retail, and Auto see consistent gains from 26% to 50% higher consumer engagement.
Consistency also pays off, as one telecom brand learned after seeing progressively stronger results across three consecutive Spanish-language campaign waves — from 25% to 86% lifts in engagement. "It's not about just running once, it's about being consistent, and that frequency and familiarity drives action,” says Grover.
Similarly, brands like Cologuard and Doritos saw strong results leveraging custom content integrations.Televisa’s ViX streaming platform also delivered for advertisers like Wingstop and Starbucks.
Targeting Beyond Demographics Maximizes Returns
While these numbers clearly show the value of media placement, advertisers can also amplify results with better targeting, Grover said.
One advertiser's first-party audience campaign via data-driven linear was 57% more effective at driving engagement than their unoptimized demographic campaign, demonstrating the value of precision targeting on Spanish-language television.
EDO's ability to process massive datasets enables this level of strategic optimization across the fragmented viewing landscape that defines modern TV consumption.
Three steps to win with Hispanic audiences
This research demonstrates a clear path forward for brands: start by placing ads in Spanish-language environments (good), elevate your message with placement on credible networks like TelevisaUnivision (better), and maximize impact through in-culture creative and strategic targeting (best).
As the data shows, brands don't need perfect execution from day one — they just need to start showing up consistently where Hispanic audiences are already engaged.
To learn more about this research on Hispanic advertising effectiveness, watch the full webinar and check out EDO’s Spanish-language TV Outcomes Report.