Global Vs. Local Social Media Management – When and How
One of the toughest challenges brands will encounter in social media marketing is managing activities across different countries and cultures.
As a global digital marketing agency, Drizzlin Media works with international brands in various sectors to help them engage audiences worldwide through tailored content and localized social media management in multiple languages.
Through this article, we will share our thoughts on the golden question: Should brands have a single global account or create multiple local accounts to establish their online presence?
Take note, there is no "one-size-fits-all solution. Brands will have varying marketing objectives and goals, which would determine how they engage with their intended audiences.
So how should you begin tackling the question?
KNOWING WHEN TO LOCALIZE
What is the culture of the market you are looking to enter? Are your audience vocal on public platforms, or do they prefer one-to-one conversations? Will your current content and brand strategy resonate with them?
Does everyone in your audience understand a common language? Do they speak it well enough to engage in meaningful dialogue with you and other audience members?
Does your audience access the same social platform? Is there a dominating platform they use that you are not on yet? What are their motivations and expectations for getting on that platform and can you add value to their social experience?
领英推荐
HOW TO ADAPT TO NEW MARKETS
You want to be sensitive and aware of all the movements within the market. Pay close attention to cultural nuances and practise mindfulness when using certain words/phrases/hashtags. Tonality will also play a big role in enabling the local audience to relate to you and your content.
Every country will have their unique marketing pain points. These challenges could also bring about previously missed opportunities. Hence, the key is to devise a structured process or deploy a tool to deep-dive into your market and understand your local audiences to identify their unmet needs and provide solutions.
When looking to build an affinity with local audiences, it is highly recommended to deploy a local community manager to manage your content and communication. Their knowledge and insights would be helpful in building a bridge between your brand and your audiences. However, this is a long-term solution. Building an active community takes time and effort,?and you need to judge if you have the required capacity and available resources required to keep up with it.
TEST & REFLECT
Remember, you don’t have to be everywhere all at once. Just because you have created a local social media account for one platform, it does NOT mean you have to do the same on all platforms. In fact, roll this plan out slowly, tackling one platform at a time.
Start with the platform you can find most of your audience on and take those learnings to decide IF there is a need for other localized platforms – but of course, do it only if you have the resources to maintain them.
Ultimately, you will need to decide the best route for your business and marketing goals, take into consideration how well you have developed your brand’s image and messaging in your home market, as well as your timeline and budget constraints.
GET IN TOUCH
Learn how Drizzlin Media has helped Microsoft, a US Tech giant, manage 80+ social accounts across 11 countries through well-established workflow and processes. We also stepped in to advise them on key communication strategies alongside a team of local community managers who created relevant and engaging content for their audiences and actively built engaged communities across eight languages.
We would love to hear about your communication needs! Write to us at [email protected]???