Social media is about people! It’s not about your business. Provide for people, and they will provide for you.
-Matt Goulart
Yes, indeed, it’s very true. Boasting about yourself on social media is not going to drive success. You need to create value for your audience. It should prove you’re a niche leader, and they’ll use your businesses.
The convincing part here is a lot of work. To convince your audience, you must be extremely creative in marketing your business. It should inspire them to make a significant impact.
Just imagine:
You wish to grow your fashion brand in the East Asian zone. Numerous brands are already dominating the market in this way. Becoming a successful global brand requires a significant amount of effort.Therefore, you will find yourself in a situation where you must provide your customers with something that others are not offering..
Won’t it be necessary for you to be specific in your approach?
Let’s say you are a hit with all your Western allies. But would that also work in Asian regions?
The answer is a big “no.” You would have to produce culturally relevant content for marketing yourself. It encompasses more than just one specific marketing channel. It encompasses all channels, including your brochure, website, and social media.
It needs to be framed in such a way that it is culturally consistent. At the same time, your brand integrity is not compromised.This blog will discuss culturally relevant social media content tips and successful methodologies to connect better with your audience.
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Tips for effective social media localization
Localization is something beyond a simple word-for-word translation. It’s about integrating the entire culture into your branding strategy. Social media localization is just as important as other forms of localization. How can an effective multilingual social media strategy make your brand successful in the target market? Here are some tips that would help you make it effective.
- Understanding your audience: the foundation of connection
Just imagine you are launching a new product in Japan. You have established a successful campaign in America. Is it possible to achieve similar success with the same campaign? No right? If this is the case, it will lead to a rift with your potential customers. It’s crucial to conduct thorough market research to comprehend the essential elements and subtle cultural nuances, enabling a deeper connection and better understanding of their social media habits. Many tools, like surveys, focus groups, and analytics, can help in this matter with their invaluable insights.
- Speak local: Translate your brand beyond words.
Consider tailoring your brand message to locals. For the Mexican audience, English content translated into Spanish by words doesn’t make sense. Consider incorporating local idioms and humor, and conveying them with proper culture and understanding of the specific cultural community.
- Collaborate with local influencers. An authentic voice matters.
A sports brand that wants to expand in Brazil can grow if it partners with local influencers to have a successful campaign. They are crucial to bridging the gap between your brand and the regional audience. They are capable of delivering your brand voice with culturally relevant, authentic content.
- Avoid missteps
Being mindful of cultural sensitivity is very important. A global fast-food chain once faced backlash when it delivered an ad campaign that was inadvertently inappropriate in Thailand. Avoid such pitfalls and be mindful of minute cultural specificities. Make sure to conduct a thorough check and consult with local teams or cultural experts at each step to ensure clarity.
- Timely and relevant campaigns:
Let’s take an example. India is a festival-filled country. There is a specific season for festival celebrations. Once, a tech company launched a campaign that celebrated the festival spirit. The final result was commendable, with better engagement. Hence, align your social media content with local trends, holidays, and events to show the brand’s commitment and approach to local culture.
- Modify visuals: make them resonate.
Imagine a cosmetic brand that targeted the Middle Eastern market and achieved huge success by incorporating colors and symbols specific to that region. Visuals can transcend the language barrier, so try to include images, color combinations, and visuals that would be popular or in style for a local audience.
- Use local language dialects.
Including local and regional dialects in your social media posts is creative and effective. Incorporating the local slang and dialects shows your commitment and respect for that particular culture.
- Local customer support: enhanced customer satisfaction
Any tech company, for example, provides local customer support in accordance with different time zones. This makes your customers feel valued and helps you understand them better.
- Test and optimize periodically: a data-driven analysis
It’s better to have a 2-3-step approach to promoting your brand on social media. Analyze which approach, say A or B, is performing better, and refine your content accordingly. For example, in some markets, video may perform better, but in others, a value-adding post with visual appeal will perform better. Continuous monitoring and optimization with the correct strategy can yield better results.
- Build trust by staying authentic and respectful.
Starbucks, a popular beverage brand, is most successful at staying authentic and celebrating cultural diversity. Show a genuine interest in and respect for the local cultures. Deliver content by avoiding stereotyping and reflecting a true understanding of it.
Here are some instances of successful brands who utilized culturally relevant social media content:
Many successful brands have thrived locally, and culturally relevant content has become a global phenomenon.
Maggi and every Indian household name:
Maggie was just another noodle brand in India. They faced numerous challenges before reaching this stage, where people began to associate their brand with comfort and convenience. What created this magic in their magic masala?
They dove deep into the local culture. They discovered that flavor extends beyond taste, culture, and local preferences.
They added a flavor that matched the Indian plates, making them feel homemade. They also engaged with local chefs and influencers, who helped communicate and convince them that Maggie can be a traditional Indian meal.
Their advertisements are another masterstroke; they are not generic but reflect local festivities, family values, and everyday life, making the brand feel like a part of the community. They became a household name through all of these strategies. They achieved this by implementing a marketing strategy that was specifically tailored to their culture.
Coca-Cola’s masterful stroke:
The highly strategized social media campaign demonstrates the power of understanding and integrating the cultural nuances in social media marketing.
They blended global branding with local adaptations, ensuring that their campaigns resonated appropriately. With themes like happiness and togetherness, Coca-Cola tailors its content to reflect local traditional values, thus making its brand loved worldwide.
1.What is considered culturally relevant?
Incorporate awareness and responsive marketing campaigns that demonstrate your understanding and value of that particular culture.
2. What does it mean for a brand to be culturally relevant?
Connecting thoughtfully with your audience and participating in community conversations builds a relationship with that target area. This should occur primarily during cultural events.
3. What are the most culturally relevant brands?
Amazon, Google, Crayola, and Apple top the list of the most culturally relevant brands.
Conclusion:
Crafting culturally relevant social media content is not an option, and it’s a necessity for your business to grow among your global audience. Understanding and respecting this relevance allows you to set up campaigns accordingly and build deeper connections with that particular society.
Crafting culturally relevant social media content could be time-consuming and require lots of effort, but the rewards are immense. You can create and resonate well with your local audience by following the above tips, which will help you frame an effective social media strategy.
Talk to us if you are looking for any assistance in framing culturally relevant social media content.