Many brands struggle to establish a meaningful presence outside local boundaries. While social media has made a global reach possible for all to achieve, it is still a difficult undertaking.
Here are 4 steps toward social globalization that your brand can take to reach the masses; all steps we employ regularly at Evolve! with far-reaching results.
#1 Evaluate Your Current Standings
In order for your brand to progress, you have to know where you currently stand. Start by analyzing your current reach across various markets and those that you would like to reach by tracking your brand’s conversation rates and audit the social accounts currently in place. Yes, this takes some time and effort, but it will pay off in the long run to have an intimate understanding of the impact your brand has at this time. You can’t begin to expand until you know exactly what’s working, what’s not, and what tasks still need to be accomplished.
At the same time, it is advisable to start tracking global conversations about your brand to see where there is already a dialogue occurring. One way to gain to gain this knowledge is with the free and easy-to-use tool Topsy. Topsy provides a great snapshot into where and when your brand is being discussed.
Once you’ve gathered the big picture data, identify and track the most popular words associated with your brand in each region. If there seems to be a pattern that your brand has a lot of buzz in an area where other languages are prominent, hiring native speakers would be a wise decision. If this doesn’t fit in your budget, Google Translate is an acceptable go-to until you can work with folks who intimately know these cultures and languages.
#2 Know Your Audience
This will always be a key component to a successful marketing strategy despite if it is local or global. The best way to get to know who these people are is to just ask them. Cultivate fun quizzes and surveys that people not only want to take, but will also provide you the info you are looking for. This can be as easy as rehashing audience profiles that were previously generated and applying them to audiences in each country. By gaining these insights you can begin to see various nuances between customers in each region which will ultimately make your marketing more impactful.
#3 Timing Is Everything
You probably already know the best times to post for your local market base, but what about all of the other regions you are looking to tap into? While it will be a bit more complicated to manage multiple time tables, it is truly easy to figure out and implement.
Be certain that community managers are aware of the time of day or night in each country before sending out a post, otherwise your company will look disconnected. Telling folks across the world “Good Morning” as they are getting ready for bed is not the way to build credibility. Tools like Hootsuite and Buffer help you schedule social blasts so you can cover various time zones without needing real-time posting.
And just to be clear, time doesn’t just mean the time of day, it also refers to dates of holidays and local customs. That’s where number four comes in.
#4 Leverage Holidays
Posting relevant material is always crucial, but that point becomes emphasized when you have a global audience. If you are posting irrelevant content to various markets, they are going to get annoyed and likely start to forget all about your brand.
Really do your research around holidays for each country your brand has a presence in. If you want to play it safe, just pick a few holidays that are universal across certain regions so things don’t get mixed up. If you go the safe route, just do be aware of how much audiences really do appreciate customized content and what you could be missing out on.
When going global, always remember to do your research and never, ever make assumptions about different audiences; otherwise, you could severely damage your company’s reputation in that market. Want to know more about taking your brand all across the world? Start a conversation with Evolve! and we will help you get there.
