The reality is somewhat more complex and this process requires careful planning that takes into account the most important points to ensure that the process is successful.
As we know, online marketing is of primary importance and will be the greatest help in an international expansion process to make the product or service known, generate a need and increase partners email lists sales. In addition, it also allows you to build an online community for your business that serves as a channel for dissemination and sales. All of this can be achieved through social media, but how do you do it when it comes to developing an international strategy on social media? This is what we will discuss in this article.
Table of Contents
Do we create different profiles for each country?
The staff for your international social media strategy
1. Maintain the team to manage multiple countries
2. Create a team in the new country
3. Hire a marketing agency
The world's social networks
Do we create different profiles for each country?
The first question that comes to mind is undoubtedly this one and the answer is clear: YES , even if we share the same language. We can try to save ourselves work (and probably money) and use the same Facebook profile that we use in Spain, if we expand to Mexico, for example. We already warn you that the results you will get will not be satisfactory.
It is very important to adapt to a new country and that includes creating social profiles aimed at a new market. This is for several reasons. The first is that it is important to generate trust on social media, and there is no better way to achieve this than by showing proximity , so that users understand that the company is located in their country, in their community or even in the same city.
The second is that our social media objectives may be different in each market . Continuing with the example, we will not give the same information on the Facebook profile in Spain, where the brand or company is already known, as on the one in Mexico, where we have just landed and nobody knows what we are going to offer.
The third reason, but no less important, is cultural differences , which we will discuss later.
The conclusion in this regard is that to develop an international social media strategy, the first thing is to be aware of the need to create company pages on Facebook, different profiles on Twitter or new files on Google+.
The staff for your international social media strategy
Staff to manage international social networks
If the first was whether it was necessary to duplicate profiles, the second is who is going to be in charge of managing these new profiles (perhaps this is the first).
When managing social media for a country, it is normal to have one or more people managing it. However, in the process of expansion, with international profiles, the best solution must be chosen from among the existing alternatives:
1. Maintain the team to manage multiple countries
The cheapest and possibly least effective solution is to use the existing team to manage the profiles of several countries. It is cheap because the team will probably get paid the same at the end of the month, even if they manage a larger number of profiles. It is also less effective because there are several factors that work against it. First, language differences (if they exist); second, differences in schedules and habits; and finally, cultural differences.
It may seem like a minor aspect, but in social media it is essential when approaching a new profile or a new community. Knowing the consumption habits and characteristics of each market is essential to achieve your goals, and in this sense, it will help you to carefully prepare a market study that provides good answers.
2. Create a team in the new country
Quite the opposite of the previous point, a less economical option but much more effective precisely for the reasons we mentioned. Having an expert team dedicated to the new market will be much more effective since these language and cultural barriers disappear, even if it implies a much higher budget.
3. Hire a marketing agency
The intermediate alternative may be the best solution. Intermediate because it is cheaper than having a whole team dedicated to the new market and always offers many more guarantees than maintaining the same team managing many international profiles.
The drawback of this option is that many companies are wary of giving information to agencies to manage their social media because they prefer to have an internal team.
As we can see, the budget plays an important role when deciding who will manage the social profiles of each country and from where.
