What are the best social media practices for engaging international audiences?

One of the crucial aspects we need to know before posting content is finding out our target market. One needs to research market and find our their pain points,preferences and what the solution can be. Creating content without understanding target market is like singing to an empty room with no opportunities. One need to do research and connect with audience on deeper level to create long lasting impact.

One of the biggest challenges is how to incorporate your social media marketing efforts into overall business strategy and mission. Reporting on numbers is important for budgeting, and it's critical to provide return on advertising spend for every campaign. It's even more challenging when you have multiple markets that are laser-focused. All regional and global social media marketing efforts must tie into the overall business goals of building awareness and driving profitability. This can only be accomplished with a seamless “one voice” approach to messaging, promotions, and online community involvement.

One of the overlooked approaches when wanting to resonate with an international audience through social media would be thoughtful engagement: cheerleading on their posts or asking questions. Should you have personally attended an event in the area, one thing you can do is to bridge offline to online by featuring the event, adding takeaways and tagging the people that you have had good conversations with. A post doesn't need to be constantly informing and educating, it could also be celebrating and showing genuine interest.

If you want to create an international customer base – have that global mindset and ambition from the start. →Join local business networks & enterprise bodies in your target market - put in the time to learn about the culture and grow quality connections →Explore whether any colleagues in your company or network are from your target market - they could be an invaluable connection →LISTEN to your customers - provide solutions to their specific problems & aspirations →Connect with influencers/leaders in your target market on social media who resonate with your company's values and mission. Develop meaningful relationships and support them online. →Get inspiration from startups/leaders in your network who have gone global – you can do it too!

Knowing your target audience is the most important thing you can do when engaging with any audience, but it's especially important when you're dealing with people from different cultures. Do your research and learn about their customs, beliefs, and values. This will help you avoid making any cultural faux pas. Find out what their interests are, and what their cultural norms are. Don't make assumptions about what they know or understand.

One of the things that we should pay attention to before entering any social media is what is the purpose of our presence on social media?! After answering this question, we should consider a strategy for our business and move forward based on it. Are we looking for more audience and sales? Are we looking to present our brand and services? We should check and analyze this and many other questions before entering social media.

For example, while North American audiences responded well to humorous and concise content, European audiences preferred more informative and nuanced messaging. Asian audiences appreciated visually appealing content with an emphasis on storytelling. Armed with this knowledge about our target markets, we tailored our social media strategy accordingly. We created region-specific content by adapting our messaging style, utilizing localized language where appropriate, and incorporating culturally relevant visuals. Additionally, we adjusted posting schedules based on peak user activity times in each region. The results were remarkable. Engagement rates increased significantly across all three regions

There may be content that you simply have to abandon in certain countries. It's important to be aware of the current public sentiment, perception, and social norms in the specific country. For example, there was an international client of mine who couldn't post their Pride-related content in some countries, while in others, they received applause for the same content.

Does your community or target market speak different languages? It may be a fun, engaging activity for them to translate each others posts or comments on whatever platform you use, such as a Discord server. They might earn some kind of experience points or community credits for translating the company posts into other languages and resharing them.

Nowadays, it is extremely easy to translate your content to other languages with the help of AI, for example. Use these opportunities. There are tools that help you translate videos from your language to another saving your voice! Expanding your social media influence has never been easier.

One of my favorite ways to engage with international audiences is to use humor. I'll often make jokes or puns that are relevant to the culture I'm targeting. This helps me to break the ice and build relationships with my followers. Don't just post content and then disappear. Take the time to interact with your followers, answer their questions, and respond to their comments. This will show them that you care about them and that you're not just trying to sell them something.

In social media, which is very important and we must pay attention to it, it is our audience. Value our audience and communicate with them. Our audience supports us when they trust us. Don't just think about publishing a content and disappearing. The secret of success in social media is the audience with our audience. Community Verified icon

Some social media platforms (YouTube, for example) openly say that creators NEED to reply to comments as this helps increase views and visibility of the account. Building a community is extremely important.

I agree. I think international audiences require a bit more engagement because they may not benefit from your in person influence as much as your local audience. You therefore have to put in more effort online to reach them.

I have found these tips most helpful when engaging international audiences: -Cultural Sensitivity: Research and respect cultural nuances to avoid misunderstandings or offense in your content. -Multilingual Content: Offer posts in multiple languages to cater to diverse audiences effectively. -Global Timing: Schedule posts for optimal times in different time zones to reach a broader audience. www.SidneyEvansGlobal.com

If you already have a multiple-market approach and your brand is receiving low social engagement rates, it may be due to overly generic and broad messages you're posting across your channels, which your audience can't relate to. Start by running an assessment on all of your brand assets, taglines, and phrases. Don't assume that your brand will resonate as you anticipate. Simple details such as your brand name and colors may not appeal in some markets due to politics or colloquialisms, and similar elements might already be taken by another company. Translate and research as much of your branding and messaging as you can and then determine if a name change is necessary.

Make sure that you are aware of the different cultural norms and sensitivities when you're creating content for international audiences. Avoid using stereotypes or making jokes that could be offensive. For example, in some cultures, it's considered rude to make eye contact with someone who is older than you. If you're not aware of this, you could accidentally offend someone.

Respecting diversity and sensitivity is paramount when engaging with diverse international audiences on social media. Steer clear of potentially offensive or controversial content related to topics like politics, religion, sex, or violence, which can vary significantly between cultures. Furthermore, refrain from employing stereotypes or making assumptions about your audience; instead, celebrate their unique diversity. Utilize tools like Grammarly or Hemingway to ensure your content maintains a respectful and inclusive tone while promoting clarity and correctness in your messaging. This approach fosters positive engagement and avoids alienation.

Feel free to inquire with Chat GPT regarding the suitability of specific phrases or seek its recommendations for alternatives. If you're uncertain, you can ask for examples illustrating how a particular expression is commonly used in different situations and the distinctions between it and other phrases.

During one campaign, we carefully crafted content that respected each region's unique customs and traditions. However, there was one instance where we made an unintentional mistake. In a post targeting an Asian audience, we used an image depicting a hand gesture commonly associated with good luck in Western cultures. Little did we know that this particular hand gesture had offensive connotations in certain Asian countries. Immediately after posting the content, we received feedback from offended users who pointed out our oversight. We quickly realized our mistake and took immediate action by issuing a public apology and removing the offensive post.

I once ran a LinkedIn campaign for a client who was targeting people in the middle east. I tested different types of content and found that videos were the most effective. I also measured the results of the campaign and saw that it had a significant impact on brand awareness. Don't just wing it when you're engaging with international audiences. Test different strategies and see what works best for you. Then, measure your results so you can see what's resonating with your audience.

Testing and measuring your social media efforts across different markets is essential. Utilize metrics such as reach, impressions, engagement, conversions, and sentiment to gauge your effectiveness. Leverage tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or Twitter Analytics to segment data by country, language, or platform for insightful comparisons. With this data-driven approach, you can continually refine your content, strategy, and budget allocation to maximize your impact in international markets.

We had a strong presence on social media platforms, but we wanted to ensure that our content resonated with our international audience. To do this, we implemented a testing and measuring strategy. We created different versions of our posts, tailored specifically for each target market. These variations included language adaptations, cultural references, and localized content. We then closely monitored the engagement metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates for each version of the post. This allowed us to determine which posts performed better in specific regions or countries. By analyzing the data collected from these tests, we were able to refine our content strategy and create more engaging posts

Numbers speak loud. You need to learn to analyze them. If your CTR on YouTube is lower than average, then there is something wrong with your titles and/or thumbnails. If the retention rate is low, then your videos can and should be improved. Data is your best friend on social media.

Impressions and engagements are great when we talk about awareness, however more often than not, the question is more around ROI. In order to ensure we are measuring what matters most to a company, we need to ensure we are seeking the most relevant results. For a new brand it may be reach or impressions, whilst a more established brand may be more interested in conversions. We need to ensure that we are using all of the tools at our disposal to ensure we are measuring what is relevant, not just what is giving the best results.

Carefully consider how you want to structure your local/regional teams. When choosing your team members, keep these tips in mind: Assign roles based on team members' strengths - Your community social lead should be well-versed in responding to comments and generating leads. This person may need to have a deeper understanding of business operations to be able to direct prospects and customers to resources in real time. Assign team leads to regions they're familiar with - Someone who's familiar with the culture of the area can connect more authentically with consumers. If your brand relies heavily on capturing your audience and guiding them through purchasing decisions, use a native speaker or local expert to facilitate the process.

We're all international, in most of the countries. For other countries, the same logic applies as for our own country - who is your target audience, where does your key buyer persona spend their time, what problem is your buyer persona looking to solve (where your product/service can help) and how do you add value with your product in THEIR environment.

Partner with local influencers. Partnering with local influencers is a great way to reach a wider audience in your target markets. Influencers have already built up a following of people who are interested in what they have to say. When you partner with an influencer, they can promote your brand and content to their followers.

Determine a cadence of posting and on what platform. Be aware of how the algorithm may place your posts if you post more or less per day. Did you find success in a particular day or type of post? Start posting more of those. Then keep reviewing; don't just think 1 type of post will continue to do well. Do you know if you have a company objective for posting? You can try to plan your content out in advance, but also try for weekly similar posts that your audience may rely on or appreciate. Social media is a moving target and the trends move quickly - do not get comfortable for too long on the types of posts!

Run social media ads. Social media ads can be a great way to reach a targeted audience in different countries. When you're creating social media ads, be sure to target your ads to the specific countries and demographics that you're interested in reaching.