How can you customize your SMM messages for different demographics and cultures?

Researching your audience is key before you start formulating your social media marketing strategy. If you are starting from scratch, consider using tools such as Google Analytics or Brand Watch to start developing an audience strategy and profiling the type(s) of people that you would like to target with your social media messages. If you are taking on an existing social media community - take a look through platform insight tools (ie: Instagram Audience Insights) to get an understanding of who already follows you before utilising external tools to help you to understand who you should be appealing to.

Customising social media marketing messages for different demographics and cultures involves a careful blend of research, adaptation, and sensitivity. Here’s how to get it right: Audience Research: Understand the cultural nuances, preferences, and values of each demographic. Tailored Content: Create content that resonates with the specific interests and needs of each group. Cultural Sensitivity: Be aware of cultural norms and taboos to avoid missteps. Language Localization: If needed, translate and localize your messages to suit different language groups. Diverse Representation: Use images and narratives that reflect the diversity of your audience. Remember, it’s about connecting, not just broadcasting!

Even better than research, GET IN THE MIX BABY! You can’t “research” culture. Culture is experienced. You can’t research the laughter in a Black barbershop. You can’t taste an empanada on Google. You need to get on the ground with your own two feet and experience what the culture you’re looking to highlight has to offer. Companies who are local or National don’t spend enough time experiencing culture and this is how we get social posts with people of color but none of their stories. Culture is more than Black & Brown folk on a poster. As always, the most important tool is to get out there & have some fun!

Understanding there are multiple consumers of your message and they all won’t fit a typical mold. Cross culturally I think understand the PAIN point extremely well is what will transcend cultural lines.

By customizing your SMM messages you ensure that your brand speaks the language of each demographic, making them feel like VIPs at your social media event. Customizing your SMM messages for diverse demographics and cultures is like tailoring outfits for different occasions. It can be difficult, but IMPORTANT! Understand each group's preferences and values. It's like knowing whether they prefer casual or formal wear. Use a tone that resonates with each demographic, akin to adjusting your communication style based on who you're talking to. Create content that reflects the diversity and interests of each group; it's like choosing the right colors and patterns. Try to avoid topics that are sensitive and might not suit everyone's taste.

Different social media platforms have different tones of voice, creative styles and users who are active on the platform. That's not to say that ONLY B2B professionals are on LinkedIn or ONLY young consumers are on Snapchat - you need to be open minded and understand that there will always be multiple demographic sets across each social media platform. Consider this when building your social media marketing strategy; do not make a plan to be active on every single platform unless you have the resource available to do it justice! By overreaching your capabilities as a business, you run the risk of actually damaging your brand in the eyes of consumers.

There are multiple differences in language, dialect and slang that free translation tools will not be able to detect. It is always best, when trying to cater to an international audience that you are not familiar with to hire either a candidate internally who has strong experience in translating copy/making strategic suggestions to target this audience or collaborating with an external translation company to get accurate messaging live in market.

Please don’t use tools like Google translate or ai to translate your English copy into the language of the culture you’re highlighting. Hire a person from the culture you’re bringing awareness to and have them write your copy. This is also a good opportunity to do a 1:1 interview to create better content. Don’t be the social media manager who’s highlighting Cuba but accidentally uses Dominican colors. Be contextual, be empathetic. People relate to the people they can see themselves in - so don’t use resources that aren’t a part of the culture!

Be cautious of any creative that you intend to share to an international audience. If it helps, have a physical check-list that you can review before you approve social media content to go live. This should factor in local differences, stereotypes, cliches or content that could upset the audience.

Culture is a sensitive subject. Go slow and steady. Be empathetic and respectful to cultures you’re not a part of. It’s easy to take the fast track & make some general just to avoid being wrong. But by choosing the easy way, you’ve left your intended audience confused and feeling unheard. If someone came to your home, you’d want them to see you for who you are. When we make content about other cultures, that we’re not a part of, we’re entering another persons home. And a good guest, is a respectful guest. ??