I have written before about how Bryan Eisenberg introduced me to his tools site and how there were several tools that stuck out as “must try now” tools. Among them was a tool based on the data from a Wordpress [...]]]> I have written before about how Bryan Eisenberg introduced me to his tools site and how there were several tools that stuck out as “must try now” tools. Among them was a tool based on the data from a Wordpress plugin called AddThis.

When reviewing the data it got me thinking that there was another dimension to it, especially when we look at how users across various nations and countries share the content they read.

When companies go global, and are targeting various markets, they tend to fall into the trap of generalizing their approach. By that they might be taking something that works in the U.S. or UK and applying it to Germany, Russia and China, to mention a few.

Why is this important? Well let me illustrate: If you are running a content rich site that you want the user to share with others, it is important to understand that not all sharing options are equal in all countries. If you are choosing the four most used in the U.S. you might opt for targeting Facebook, Twitter, Print and Email.

However, despite the fact that the U.S. is one of the leading online nations in the world, the rest of the world use various other channels, as well as the aforementioned.

Here are few random samples:
Russia has Vkontakte, Twitter, Facebook and Mail.ru
Saudi Arabia has Facebook, Facebook Like, Google and Google
The Netherlands has Facebook, Twitter, Print and Hyves
Brazil has Facebook, Facebook Like, Orkut and Twitter
India has Facebook, Email, Twitter and Google
Switzerland has Facebook, Ping.FM, Print and Twitter
China has Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook and Favorites

So while you might be safe with Facebook in most countries, it is important to understand that there are other channels unique to each country you are targeting. This is vital in order expand your content’s reach to local users.

Bottom-Line: Don’t generalize, localize!

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Twitter is now available in an additional 5 languages, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Hindi, Tagalog and Malay, meaning that the microblog is now available in a total of 17 languages.  It also plans to increase add six more languages: [...]]]> Twitter is now available in an additional 5 languages, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Hindi, Tagalog and Malay, meaning that the microblog is now available in a total of 17 languages.  It also plans to increase add six more languages: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish and Hungarian.

Twitter, which last week, announced that it has 100 million active global users, uses crowdsourcing to translate its site, apps and support pages.

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Microsoft Advertising is a brand that takes customer engagement seriously and values building relationships with its audience. However,  as a global brand this engagement needs to be tailored to each market and each audience – no mean feat!

Jenny Leahy, [...]]]> Microsoft Advertising is a brand that takes customer engagement seriously and values building relationships with its audience. However,  as a global brand this engagement needs to be tailored to each market and each audience – no mean feat!

Jenny Leahy, who leads the Web Marketing and Evangelism team at Microsoft Advertising, will be speaking at the International Search Summit @ SMX Advanced on June 9th, where she will share Microsoft Advertising’s experience of running multinational social media campaigns.

Here she shares a few insights into Microsoft’s successful strategy, as well as the challenges they’ve faced.

Jenny, what are the major challenges of developing a social media presence in multiple countries/languages?
The social media tools landscape is different in each country – there are some more “universal tools” but you really need to evaluate your strategy in each region and market before establishing your social channels. I find that marketers in the local markets, especially the smaller markets are often the most dynamic and creative marketers – but they are often running all of the marketing channels for the country. Social needs to go beyond the amplification of a message to the daily engagement with customers in a local language – I see the challenge in having an already over taxed marketer take on an additional channel.

How does Microsoft use social media to engage global users and build lasting relationships?
Microsoft Advertising focuses on a few social channels to drive engagement with marketers. We focus on our blog, twitter, Facebook and youtube.

What have you found to be the most successful tactics for growing a social media presence around the world?
Our event coverage in multiple regions has been our strongest tactic in growing our global audience. We use the major advertising festivals to drive traction in this area.

If you had just one tip for organisations trying to develop an international social media presence, what would it be?
Cheating…I have two:
1) Create a global framework (i.e. look and feel of social channels, structure of your handles etc.)
2) Build global, social communications cascades that focus on amplification that can be easily localized, allowing local markets more time to focus on 1:1 conversations.

And finally, why attend the International Search Summit?
Content is global, we have to learn how to build marketing campaigns and online experiences that don’t alienate individuals, but bring people together and into an experience regardless of their location.

There are still places available at the International Search Summit. Other speakers include search engines Yandex and Baidu, global brands Dell and Logitech and international search specialists Bill Hunt, Andy Atkins-Krüger and Shari Thurow.

Register now to secure your place!

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