With over 3 billion global users, social media has become an important part of communicating online and, as such, more and more businesses have integrated it into their marketing strategies. Utilizing the various social media channels can help you engage with your brand’s customers and understand their needs. A uniform social media strategy, however, will not have the same effectiveness across various geographic markets. International companies need to recognize the cultural and economic differences between their target consumer groups and localize their social media content accordingly:
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Localizing your content to your customers’ current needs and interests will result in improved customer satisfaction rates and, consequentially, increased revenue. You want to keep your brand message consistent but, at the same time, offer different products depending on the season, the occasion and the popularity of the products across different markets. For their #EyeLoveTommy promotion, the brand Tommy Hilfiger have created separate notes on their Facebook page, with the Terms and Conditions written in the language of each of the countries in which the promotion is valid:
Better Customer Engagement
Posting content in the targeted locale’s native language will encourage people to leave comments and interact with your published materials. Organizing promotions, games, and giveaways on social media further facilitate a more personal relationship between your brand and both prospect and existing customers. It is important to maintain a consistent tone when interacting with your customers- whether you decide on a more informal or a strictly professional tone, make sure it resonates with your audience and the product or service you are offering.
Eliminate Your Company’s Blind Spot
By developing a localization strategy for your social media content, you have the opportunity to reach the elusive niche customers, which are often crucial for your sales and revenue. Social media marketers can now monitor what those customers post on their social media accounts in order to decide on the most appropriate messages to target them with. This practice is useful in coming across as a customer-centered brand, especially to first-time, foreign customers.
Localized content improves your ads’ effectiveness
Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer various advertising options for businesses. A personalized advertising campaign in addition to localized content is key for establishing your brand’s influence across different markets and creating a memorable customer experience. Localized ads mean that you can keep your brand’s message consistent while targeting multiple markets in their native language- the type of personalized content which customers today expect from brands.
Localized content and translation
While translation is an essential part of localizing your social media content, you certainly shouldn’t stop there. Simply translating your marketing materials and Facebook or Twitter pages won’t bring you the expected results- a good social media marketing strategy is created from the insights on the cultural and political specifics of the markets. This is why most businesses reach out for the services of professional translators and interpreters- their expertise on language, culture and communication specifics will help you better utilize the social media channels.
At 1-StopAsia, we believe that content localization is essential for the success of every business’ social media strategy. Our in-house translators, experts in multiple Asian languages, can provide the necessary knowledge and support enterprises need when trying to reach their foreign customers. Localization goes further than recognizing the linguistic differences between markets- in order for it to be truly effective, it needs to take under consideration the markets’ cultural and political specifics.