Communication is the only constant in the world of ever-changing trends of communication. It is no news if said – communication is the backbone of marketing. Marketing is all about being able to effectively communicate with the right target audience and convey the right meaning of your message.
In today’s dynamic, social media marketing is a big hit when it comes to reaching out to a global audience. According to We Are Social & Hootsuite’s report Digital in 2017 : Global Overview, more than half of the world’s population uses the internet.
Social Media Use – GLOBAL OVERVIEW
Since social media is heavily influencing the communication at a global level, all the brands now need to adapt their content according to the regions, cultures and languages for different target groups. This adaptation of content for social media is called Social Media Localization. Understand the target audience, their local trends, which social media network works best for them and how before creating a social media plan.
Consider these important key factors to create a social media plan for a new target area –
1. The most popular Social Media Platform
Most of the social media networks are used widely across the globe, yet there are some preferred ones in very country with the maximum active users. For instance, Facebook Inc’s audience are more than 4.37 billion in the world but there are still some regions where Facebook does not publish user data like Iran, Cuba, Sudan, and Syria. Whereas, China’s official most active social media platform is Tencent, VKontakte is at top one in Russia, LINE leads in Japan and Kakaotalk in South Korea.
2. Languages used on Social Media Networks
Be it a local or global social media network, the marketer must know which language/languages work best for its target audience. Some people prefer only their local language, whereas some appreciate bilingualism.
3. Dialects and Keywords
One language has multiple dialects varying from region to region followed by the differences in the cultures. As the languages vary, the keywords vary as well. A thorough study of the regions and new trends will help in creating an effective social media plan.
4. Trending Topics
Each country has its own trending news/topic, further dividing into state-specific and city-specific trends. Be alert and study what the local market segments are talking about. It is important to always be up-to-date on locale-based trends because they can change swiftly and frequently.
5. Target Culture
Cultures, languages and people – they are all diverse. Social media communication must respect the people and the messages conveyed to them must be relevant to the culture they live in. Content used in social media is a reflexion of the culture and society and hence the content must be adapted according the regions. For instance, memes on the elephant-headed God Ganpati may be funny for Americans but the same memes will offend Indians.
Social media localization is growing and global brands are more aware of its importance. With over a decade’s time in the industry, CMM Languages has a big network of native foreign language experts spread across the globe. We have provided website localization and digital marketing content translation to most of our clients. We make sure all our translations are accurate and are adapted culturally as well. For any language translation requirement, please write to us at request@cmmlanguages.com or use the form on the right to contact our team.