Social media can give your brand unparalleled access to prospective and existing customers. It’s an instant and engaging way of communicating with contacts all over the world. When used well, social media can extend your brand reach to new client types and markets. It takes time, skill and dedication to capitalise on the true potential of creating a social media marketing strategy.
Here are some tips to maximise the full potential of social media across the globe;
Know your audience
A one size fits all approach to global social media marketing simply doesn’t work. Each country has its own customs, styles, beliefs, needs and challenges. If you create generic social media posts in an attempt to reach everyone simultaneously, you may miss or even offend your target market.
Sometimes, it makes sense to set up separate accounts for each region. This way, you can tailor all your posts to the specific audience within that region. Relevant and popular hashtags may differ across the globe too, so you’ll need to do research to understand what’s trending in each country.
Understand each platform’s potential
Did you know that Twitter is a great platform for gaining instant interaction with your customers? Facebook can be a powerful lead generator, while Instagram can do wonders for your brand.
Each social media platform has unique benefits and potential. You don’t need to use every social media platform in order to be successful. The first step is to do research to understand which platforms your target market uses. This might vary by country or region because certain social media platforms are more popular in some parts of the world than others.
Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each social media platform, and how these differ by region. This will help you select which platforms will be most effective in each region.
Be sensitive
We can’t stress this point strongly enough – before you start posting on social media, do your research into the customs, norms, traditions and beliefs for each of your global audience groups.
In certain parts of the world, religion may dictate how you speak to your audience. You’ll want to understand any topics to avoid and how to phrase your posts so they don’t offend any individuals or groups.
Other parts of the world may be sensitive from an economic or political perspective. There might even be government imposed sanctions on certain platforms or types of content. Again, research will help you understand any sensitivities before you embark on your social media journey.
Don’t get lost in translation
Please don’t use Google translate to create posts in a language you’re not familiar with! It’s vital that you apply the correct colloquialisms and grammatical structure for your posts.
We’d suggest you hire a native language speaker to manage the social media account for any global markets that use a first language your core team isn’t fluent in. This way, you won’t run the risk of misusing any phrases, or using certain words out of context.
Remember that demographics also play an important part in getting the right tone for your posts. Age, background, income, social status and location can impact how your posts will be received.
Measure for success
What is your end goal for creating a social media marketing strategy? Many companies have a social media account simply because they think they should…
But, without a clear goal in mind, and a sound understanding of each social media platform, you could be wasting your time and effort on a dead end. Social media should be one aspect of an integrated marketing approach. For some companies, it’s a way to engage directly with customers. Others may use social media for lead generation, whilst many know that social media can help improve awareness of their brand.
Employ a social media expert to help you plan and implement your strategy, whether this means hiring an in-house employee or a third-party agency. They should set up KPIs (key performance indicators) for each platform, and be able to showcase useful metrics like engagement rates, traffic to your website and leads generated directly from the platform.
Counting followers is useful to see how your reach is growing, but it’s only useful if those followers are actively engaging with your brand.
Remember time zones
There are a lot of studies about the ideal days of the week, and times of the day, to schedule social media posts. Bear in mind, these may differ across the world based on when people are most active on social media.
Also, keep in mind the time zones for each global region. If you schedule all posts to go out at 10am UK time, for example, you might be hitting Australian users at 9pm that night!
Offer something useful
Social media is a wonderful channel to help position your brand as a thought leader or expert in your field. Many social media followers won’t engage with a brand if they feel they’re being sold to.
Instead, social media can be used to impart knowledge, share help or expertise and position your brand as the ‘go-to’ place for industry news.
Some companies use social media influencers in various countries or regions to expand their reach. This can be very effective – just make sure that any influencers reflect the ethos of your brand and genuinely use your products or services if they say they do.
Maximise each platform’s potential
What do you want social media followers to do once they’ve engaged with your brand online?
Many social media platforms now offer tools to host events, run polls and incorporate video content to help companies enjoy a richer level of engagement with their followers.
The best aspect of these tools is that you can use them to engage with users all over the world, in real-time.
For example, Linkedin has just launched a new Event tool that allows users to host virtual events from within the platform. Twitter allows you to run organic or paid for polls that give quick insight, which you can then share with your users. Whilst Facebook’s video streaming functionality is deemed to be one of the best in the world.
How Origin Comms can help
As a specialised tech marketing agency, we can work with you to create an effective marketing and communication strategy to reach your target audience. We provide an integrated approach to marketing and have significant experience in using each marketing channel to its full potential.
Get in touch to find out how we can support you in creating a social media marketing strategy, which shares your brand story with the right people, at the right time.