Hispanics are especially active with social media and 25% more likely to follow a brand than the average US adult online, according to the “State of the Hispanic Consumer” report from Nielsen, a New York-based leading global provider of information and insights. Last year, Hispanics were the fastest-growing ethnic group year-over-year to Facebook and WordPress.com, Nielsen noted.

“The time that Hispanics are spending on the Internet, it is all on social media,” said Sylvia Melendez-Klinger, founder of Hispanic Food Communications, Hinsdale, IL.  One of the reasons for their high use of social media is that Hispanics are more likely to have a smartphone as compared to a home computer with Internet access, and it’s often easier to access social media sites using a smartphone vs. surfing the Web.

Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst, NPD Group, Port Washington, NY, pointed out that Hispanics’ high presence on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter makes “a pretty big avenue when trying to reach Hispanics in the US.”

In addition to launching a smartphone app that can be viewed in both English and Spanish, Dunkin’ Donuts, Canton, MA, ramped up its Spanish-language social media efforts by engaging with its Spanish-preferred Hispanic guests through special content on the Dunkin’ Donuts Facebook page, said Xavier Turpin, the company’s director of multicultural marketing.