You might think of it as the superbowl of soccer that pits 32 soccer teams from around the world against each other to be the world champion. I know for countries who are pure soccer fans, particulalry in Europe and all of Latin America, it will be an intense and emotional few weeks, as teams advance or get eliminated.

Latin Americans living in the United States are still extreme soccer fans, they watch it religiously and they are truly loyal to their favorite soccer teams and players, there have been times where coliseums have been filled to the brim with soccer fans trying to watch a match. I for one am excited to watch some games. I used to play soccer when I was little and it was exciting to be out in the field trying to kick that ball to score one for my team.

What’s different now than four years ago when it was last played is how Hispanic soccer fans are going to use the popularity of social media during this event. According to Lee Vann of the Captura Group, about 50% of US Latinos are connected online and by 2013 it will rise to 57%

To answer my own question, I do see some trends going during the World Cup when it begins on June 11. Blogs will be posted on favorite teams and matchups, Facebook users will build World Cup fanpages and create discussions and Twitter users will tweet up to date scores,stats, injuries, pictures and interviews. This is a chance for Hispanics to build online communities based around one of their favorite sports and it’ll be interesting to watch how it starts and grows.

What about companies who are building campaigns for the Hispanic market? I say monitor all the mainstream social media platforms in the coming weeks and see how Hispanics are engaging and interacting with one other on all things related to the World Cup. I’m sure major comapnies such as Gatorade and Adidas will use the platforms along with the more traditional forms of marketing such as print, television and radio. This will be a perfect time for smaller companies who want to expand to the Hisanic target market to see and learn what works and what doesn’t.

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