New Study: Hispanic Business Growth and the Mobile Future (Infographic)

Social Lens Research conducted an in-depth study for Mobile Future to understand whether high mobile adoption among Hispanics translates into increased usage for business. The focus of the Hispanic Business Growth and the Mobile Future study quantified for the first time the type of impact mobile is having on Hispanic-owned business growth and productivity.

In partnership with the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) and Latinos in Tech Innovation and Social Media (LATISM), the study surveyed 513 Hispanic small business owners.

The study demonstrates the multitude of ways that Hispanic business owners are turning to mobile to grow and manage their businesses with great results.

Key Findings:

• Growth: Mobile usage is translating into business growth (62%) with new clients and more sales.  Many participants reported over 20% growth from using mobile technology.

• Productivity:  Most Hispanic businesses save at least one hour a day due to mobile usage (83%), a majority save significant time: 2-3 hours (39%) or 4+ hours a day (15%).

• Top Benefits: Mobile is helping Hispanic businesses respond to customers faster (67%) and reach more customers via mobile optimized listings (38%) and a mobile friendly site (37%).

• Key Business Activities: Most businesses use mobile apps to post on social media (82%), calendar (81%) and take notes (71%).  Many also use mobile for more complex tasks, such as banking (55%), content creation (51%), purchases (32%) and expense tracking (29%).
• Day without Mobile:  Most said a day without mobile would impact their business (94%) and nearly 53% said it would be a “major disruption” or “utter catastrophe.”
• Future Impact: A majority of businesses expect increased benefits from mobile in the future, with 52% expecting a “much bigger” impact.
• Additional Mobile Resources Needed: Most Hispanic businesses want additional tools and resources (82%). Mobile marketing know-how (53%) and more useful business apps (43%) top the list of desired tools. Many even want to learn to code mobile apps themselves (38%) .

Stories from participants of the study illustrate the impact mobile is having on everyday business operations. Here are a few examples:

“Our website is mobile-friendly and we are able to communicate with potential clients within minutes – from anywhere in the world.  Our team uses mobile devices for research, presentations, menu development and contract negotiations.”

 Rebecca De Paris, Paris Caterer

“Availability of a personal hotspot is a huge asset as we demonstrate the educational games we develop in many remote areas where Internet access is unreliable. Being able to take pictures, blog and tweet from sites where we are testing increases interest from current and potential users. With staff and customers across the country, mobile technology allows us to meet virtually no matter what hotel room, airport or office we are in at the moment.”      

Dr. AnnMaria De Mars, The Julia Group

“Mobile has been a cornerstone of our growth, from developing new customer applications to in field order taking and contract deployment. Mobile allows us to proactively deliver our offerings, thus creating a best-in-class user experience.” 

Jesus Machuca Jr, Listas Locales 

Top Takeaways:

• High adoption of mobile and social networking tools is a potential key business advantage for Hispanic businesses. The Hispanic communities’ willingness, mobile-first tendencies and high adoption rates translate into a business advantage.
• Investing in mobile can help Hispanic businesses growth: Adopters of mobile for business see great benefits from more sales, increased productivity and better control. Small business advocates and organizations would benefit from offering more mobile marketing training. In particular, mobile app development trainings will provide a great opportunity to help more Hispanic business owners.
• Business solution providers need to think mobile for Hispanic Businesses:. From banking solutions to more apps, increasing mobile capabilities provides a great opportunity to attract and better serve Hispanic business owners.
• Reach Hispanic businesses via mobile marketing: Hispanic businesses are actively using social networks and apps. Engaging Hispanic businesses via mobile marketing is a great opportunity to reach and engage this fast growing population.

 See the infographic for the study below:

The slide share for the study:

Learn more about the study here.