5 Steps Towards Joining International Social Media

As the saying goes: business is booming somewhere, you just have to find it.

The Internet has removed many barriers to International business, allowing trade virtually anywhere and at any time and Social media provides business with platforms to communicate and interact with customers like never before.

So it makes sense that if you are going to trade internationally, your business should also socialise internationally.

Global Social Media Communities

In an article published just last year, eMarketer estimates that by 2017, 2.33 billion people will use social media networks around the world.

While Facebook and Twitter are household names in Australia, other countries have developed their own on-line communities.

China, for example, banned websites like Facebook and Twitter, yet nearly half the population are active on their local social media networks. That's over half a billion users that can't be reached through Facebook.

Other countries also have smaller social media networks that are popular amongst niche groups of people, for example Google+ in the United States.

With a little planning and preparation, new business opportunities can be created by branching out into social media communities that would typically be overlooked.

The 5 Steps to Get There

Planning and executing a global Social Media Strategy for an international target audience is very similar to planning and executing a Social Media Strategy for a local audience.

There are 5 steps to follow before joining any international social media network (with a few points to consider along the way):

1. Select your target country and target audience.
   
   Points to Consider:
   
   
   • What language will you communicate in?
     
     Targeting countries that speak English will be easier, but don't dismiss countries that speak a foreign language just for that reason. There are many translation services that can be used, such as Google Translate, or see it as an opportunity to learn a new language.
     
     
   • What cultural differences should you be aware of?
     
     The last thing you want to do is offend your audience, so take the time to learn what is acceptable, and what is not. You don't want to get caught out giving the O.K sign when it doesn't mean O.K in a different language.
     
     
2. Identify and join the networks used most frequently by that target audience.
   
   Points to Consider:
   
   
   • How does the audience use a particular social media platform?
     
     Take the time to learn how your selected audience use and connect on their preferred platform. For example, is it professionals networking, is it a forum style platform, or is it used like Facebook?
     
     
   • Individual or combined social media accounts?
     
     Think about whether you will make one account and post all content from it or make different local accounts for each country you are targeting. It might help to hire a social media manager who will be able to keep track of multiple accounts and respond to queries on all of them.
     
     
3. Create and share content that appeals to that target audience.
   
   Points to Consider:
   
   
   • Individual or shared content?
     
     Different audiences will respond to different content. You can maintain consistency by sharing the same content across audiences, but ideally, create content that is tailored for your individual audience tastes.
     
     
4. Engage and communicate with the target audience regularly.
   
   Points to Consider:
   
   
   • How will you manage the different time zones?
     
     Social Media requires interaction - joining conversations, replying to comments, and reacting to situations as they unfold. How will you business manage these events outside of opening hours?
     
     
5. Measure progress. Refine and repeat.
   
   Points to Consider:
   
   
   • How will you measure progress?
     
     Just as you are tracking and measuring your progress on local social media platforms, how will you manage your key performance indicators on other social platforms?
     
     

You could combine several countries into one strategy and target a shared audience; or you could have individual strategies for each country, allowing you to target individual audiences with greater focus.

Get Out There, Be Seen, Say Hello

While creating a presence on social media networks in other countries might not result in direct sales immediately, it will create brand recognition and allow you to build reputation in new markets.

Be seen enough, and before too long, people will start to consider your products and services in their buying decisions.

You might not think that your product will sell in other countries, but it could just as easily become the next must-have craze that your local customers didn't catch on to.

Further Resources:

• The Global- Social Media Challenge
• India Leads Worldwide Social Networking Growth
• 5 Steps to Launch Your International Social Media
• The Planet's 24 Largest Social Media Sites, And Where Their Next Wave Of Growth Will Come From
• List of social networking websites

Are you planning to go social in other countries? Share your strategy tips with us on the iASP Central Facebook Page, or Get in Touch.