How to Be Successful With International Social Media

International Social Media

Social networks have changed business. The geographical boundaries between countries have been blurred as it becomes easier for companies and brands to connect with consumers around the globe. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or LinkedIn; social networks allow companies to raise the profile of their brand. Through link-sharing, interaction and digital marketing e-commerce and e-sales are having an increasing impact on a firm’s bottom line.

However a social media strategy does not simply mean setting up a Facebook account and waiting for the ‘Likes’ to flood in. For a company to truly work globally and connect with its existing and potential consumers in an international way, it truly needs to operate as a global platform.
Devising a strategy that will shape practice only and through social media for a company, as well as guiding how its staff will operate and what rules it will use to engage with consumers and further extend their brand is the most powerful tool to making social networks have a positive impact. Yet to have a global footprint, there are cultural and linguistic factors that need to feed in and shape social media operations.

1. Define where you want to target.

For a company to expand and take advantage of the growing globalisation of the commercial market it needs to understand the consumers and their culture and behaviour in each location. For a digital marketing and social media strategy this raises several concerns; when do people shop online and what do they buy, what is the average spend and how do they like to interact with brands? Deciding what regions to target can be helped by online tools like Google Global or Google’s Global Market Finder. The latter can help define keywords and their usage in a variety of languages and locations. Searches can be filtered by key geographical and economic criteria, like Europe, Africa or emerging economies. BRIC is a major target in terms of emerging economies encompassing Brazil, India, Russia and China. CIVETS covers Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.

2. Search for the right social platform.

Facebook and Twitter have become so ubiquitous in the US and Europe that it can be tempting to assume the same is true all over the world. Undoubtedly, both have a global reach. Indeed Twitter is becoming increasingly significant in growing economies like those in Latin America and in the Middle East, where the platform was particularly significant during the ‘Arab spring’. However, users in each country have adopted different social networks which better suit their communication needs and how they want to interact. Renren and Qzone are dominant in China, along with Ozone’s accompanying QQ messenger service.

Yandex is the most popular social network in Russia, Cyworld is the market leader in South Korea. IRC Galleria has over half a million subscribers in Finland making it significant for those launching a campaign to target consumers in Scandinavia. Over 80% of those using social networks in Japan are signed up to Mixi while Facebook is the number one social media platform in France. Having a range of social media accounts in each target market is the best way to reach any new market and ensure all bases are covered.

3. Knowing what to say.

Very often the message to consumers across the world will be a similar one. It could be tempting to simply open Tweetdeck or Hootsuite and open the various social media accounts being used to target consumers, open Google Translate and simply re-post the translated message for each market. While this is the easiest option, in the long term it might not be the most successful. The key to social media is interaction. It is not simply a tool for marketers to throw out information to consumers in the hope something sticks.

In truth it is the easiest way to add personality and a human character to a brand. Talking to consumers, answering questions and posing them yourself makes a brand seem more like a friend and less like a corporate entity. Therefore it is important to be able to interact in each language, using slang or linguistic varieties that match the consumer. Employing a native speaking copywriter in each target market may seem expensive, but it is probably the most cost-effective approach to help engage with consumers via social media.

4. Track what consumers are saying – the importance of language.

If interaction is key to social media, then understanding what is being said is also of vital importance. Closely intertwined with knowing what to say, this tip defines how a brand should monitor what is being said about the on social media platforms and where. Tools like SocialMention and Sysomos offer brands the opportunity to search for what is being said on social media platforms around the globe. An effective monitoring tool makes it much easier to respond quickly and effectively. Having a native speaker who can craft a response is usually the best way to answer a consumer’s question, or respond to a complaint.

5. Ensure all staff are signed up to a Social Media Strategy.

Researching target markets, understanding how consumers operate, knowing what to say and how to say it; these are the key components for a Social Media Strategy. Yet as the old wartime adage goes “loose talk costs lives”. Admittedly it is unlikely someone’s life will be on the line, but a careless mention on a social platform could damage a brand irreparably. The most effective social media campaigns work when everyone who works for the company knows what needs to be done and what the rules are that need to be adhered to. Significantly this approach also ensures every member of the team feels part of the campaign and will be more inclined to help it succeed.

For a company or brand to operate internationally successfully they need to understand their target marketplace and most importantly know how to interact with their consumers. Social media offers an effective tool for connecting with emerging economies and raising a brand’s profile. Putting a social media strategy in place may seem to be time-consuming but it is time well spent and will have a positive impact on the bottom line.

About the author:
Christian Arno is the founder of Lingo24, a leading translation agency in the US. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 has worked its way to becoming the web’s favorite translation company, working with more than four thousand translators and clients in over sixty countries. Follow Christian (@l24ca) and Lingo24 (@Lingo24) on Twitter.