4 Steps to Going Global on Social Media

For a business looking to effectively reach a global audience on social media, it unfortunately takes a bit more effort than simply logging in and saying hello to the world. Whether you have main social media accounts that you publish both international and local content from, or different accounts dedicated to different regions entirely—here are some key steps to reaching a global audience on social. How to reach a global audience on social media Step 1: Research your audience Choose the right social networks Does your international audience use Facebook? Here’s how to do that in Hootsuite: Click Add Stream in your Hootsuite dashboard. To change it, enter in the coordinates of the place you want to target. Research the legalities of marketing activities in each region Some countries have different parameters for marketing activities that can apply to social media campaigns. Create both global and local content There will be some conversations you’ll want to have with your entire global audience on social media, and others that are specific to certain regions. Keep track of both by creating one social media content calendar and using different colors to label your global and local posts. Either way, taking the time to adapt your content to these regional differences will help create trust with each audience. Step 4: Use internal advocates to engage Scheduling posts in advance can help you reach a global audience, but it won’t help you have a real-time, one-on-one conversation with those people.

Author: Sarah Dawley / Source: Hootsuite Social Media Management

4 Steps to Going Global on Social Media | Hootsuite Blog

Social media can bring people from the farthest corners of the world together in an instant. This ability to transcend any border is what makes it so special—and powerful. For a business looking to effectively reach a global audience on social media, it unfortunately takes a bit more effort than simply logging in and saying hello to the world.

Whether you have main social media accounts that you publish both international and local content from, or different accounts dedicated to different regions entirely—here are some key steps to reaching a global audience on social.

How to reach a global audience on social media

Step 1: Research your audience

Choose the right social networks

Does your international audience use Facebook? (Probably.) Do they use Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram? (Maybe.) Should you find out if they use other social networks you haven’t even heard of? (Yes.)

Do some digging into the demographics of each major social network to confirm whether or not the audience you want to reach uses them. This will ensure you invest your time and money where it counts.

There’s plenty of readily available information about the demographics of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, but here’s a brief look at some other social networks that are steadily gaining momentum around the world:

WeChat

China, Malaysia, and Hong Kong are the three most active countries

WhatsApp

South Africa, Malaysia, and India are the three top markets

Sino Weibo

Over 275 million monthly active users, the vast majority located in China
Only three percent of users are in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, or the rest of the world

VK (VKontakte)

Over 66.5 million monthly active users
Primarily used in Russia, where it’s the most popular website

Bonus: Download a free guide that reveals how to increase social media engagement with better audience research, sharper customer targeting, and Hootsuite’s easy-to-use social media software.

Analyze regional social conversations

Pay attention to what people are talking about in these areas and you’ll get a better idea of the content and conversations that will resonate with them. Here’s how to do that in Hootsuite:

Click Add Stream in your Hootsuite dashboard.
Select the social profile you’d like your search to be based on (i.e. select your Twitter account if you’d like to search Twitter).
Enter a hashtag, a phrase, or your brand name in the search query field under the Search tab.
Geo-target your search by clicking on the arrow in the search query field. It will automatically populate with the coordinates of your current location.
To change it, enter in the coordinates of the place you want to target. You can find these by using Google Maps.