When I moved from Colombia to Petersburg, VA, for college in 2002, I learned fast how easy it is to lump people together. I was one of three Latinos at my school. Most people knew Colombia for coffee, and unfortunately, for cartels and Pablo Escobar. More than once someone called me Mexican just because I spoke Spanish.
It frustrated me then. Looking back, I see what was really happening: people weren’t trying to understand who I was. They were filling in the blanks with the closest story they already knew.
Twenty-four years later, we’ve made progress. Brands invest more in reaching Latino audiences than ever, with more representation, more bilingual content, more intention. But we still make the same mistake.
We talk about “the Latino customer” as if 68 million people think, shop, and make decisions the same way. But there is nothing monolithic about the Latino experience. There are different cultures, generations, histories, and communities shaping how people give their trust and make choices.
If the U.S. Latino population were its own country, it would rank around 20th largest in the world, comparable to France or the UK. Together, U.S. Latinos represent nearly a $4 trillion economy. That’s not one audience. It’s dozens of subsegments. And if we want to build trust with Latino communities, we have to stop treating them like a single market.
Different countries, different needs
When marketers say “Latino,” they usually picture one audience. In reality, they’re talking about dozens of cultures. Mexican-origin Latinos make up the largest share of the U.S. Latino population, but Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican, Guatemalan, Colombian, Honduran, Venezuelan, and Ecuadorian communities each number more than a million people, and they shape cities differently. Cubans have deep roots in Miami. Salvadorans are a defining part of the DC region. Mexican Americans are the largest Latino community in Los Angeles.
These aren’t just interesting demographics. They shape traditions, trusted institutions, media habits, and how people make decisions. A campaign that feels authentic in one city can miss the mark entirely in another.
Different generations, different habits
One of the first questions we get asked is whether a campaign should run in Spanish or English. It’s an understandable question, but usually the wrong one. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. Latinos are U.S.-born, and most speak English proficiently. Many move effortlessly between English and Spanish depending on who they’re with or what they’re talking about.
Language matters, but it doesn’t tell you how someone develops trust, who influences their decisions, or what motivates them to act. Generation, urban vs rural upbringing, life stage and acculturation, regional concentration, and economic status often tells you more.
Different education, different products
The Latino market is changing as fast as it’s growing. College attainment has nearly doubled over the past decade. Household incomes continue to rise. Purchasing power has reached nearly $4 trillion. That changes what Latinos expect, the products they want, and the stories they respond to. Many organizations are still running Latino marketing strategies built for an audience that no longer exists.
What this means for marketers
One campaign can’t speak to a population this diverse, and no amount of translation fixes a strategy built on broad assumptions. The organizations seeing the strongest results aren’t simply spending more on Spanish-language ads and checking the box. They’re investing in deeper understanding, uncovering the motivations, values, influences, and lived experiences that shape how different communities make decisions.
That’s the difference between multicultural marketing and cross-cultural marketing.
Multicultural asks: “How do we include this audience?”
Cross-cultural asks: “How do we earn this community’s trust?”
There has never been one Latino customer. We are millions of people with different stories, different priorities, different definitions of trust. Brands that get this right will build relationships that last.
At Captiva, we help organizations move beyond assumptions and build strategies rooted in real communities, real experiences, and real trust.
Sources: Pew Research Center, “Key facts about U.S. Latinos,” Oct. 2025 (2024 American Community Survey data). McKinsey & Company, “The economic state of Latinos in America: Advancing financial growth,” Dec. 2023 (banking revenue projected to grow from $69B in 2022 to $103B by 2030).
Pam is Captiva’s Co- Founder and Chief Brand Officer. She’s a bilingual (English/Spanish) communications strategist with 17+ years of experience spanning federal agencies, nonprofits, and the private sector. She’s led science-based public health campaigns for federal clients including the FDA (genetically modified foods), HHS Office on Women’s Health (multicultural communications), and CDC (Zika awareness, English and Spanish), building measurable brand awareness on complex topics for diverse audiences.
