Social media marketing defined: How to build a strategy for global success

Countless businesses use social media marketing on popular sites like Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok to engage audiences, grow brand awareness, and drive business outcomes. With the power of social media platforms, they can reach and influence audiences in real time.

Social media is especially vital for global brands, helping them connect with diverse target audiences in culturally relevant ways. From sharing localized content to engaging with followers directly, social media marketing helps these brands build trust, drive conversions, and stay salient across markets.

This article will explore why social media marketing strategies matter, explain how to build one, and identify the most relevant social platforms today.

What is social media marketing? Advantages and disadvantages for your business

Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing that uses social media platforms to connect with target audiences, build a brand voice, drive traffic, and ultimately increase sales. On social networks, companies are uniquely equipped to meet consumers where they’re at by disseminating topical posts, targeted promotions, and interactive content.

Advantages of social media marketing

Social media is one of the most effective channels for modern digital marketing. A solid social media marketing strategy helps brands achieve the following goals:

• Humanize the business: Social media marketing helps brands establish an approachable and relatable persona. Profiles, posts, and interactions enable marketers to build connections and trust with audiences.
• Drive traffic and generate leads: Social media is a top channel for funneling traffic to businesses’ websites. Social media platforms often include lead generation and conversion features for business profiles (e.g., appointment booking tools and Instagram and Facebook shops).
• Increase brand awareness: With billions of users on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn, businesses can achieve massive visibility through social networking. Better brand awareness means improved results across all marketing campaigns.
• Operate efficiently: Social media platforms’ organic reach and low-cost advertising options make them cost-efficient marketing tools. Content is easy to share, and customers often forward relevant social media posts and offers to friends and family.

Disadvantages of social media marketing

Although social networking delivers powerful benefits, it also comes with pitfalls. Potential drawbacks to social media marketing include:

• Time-intensive process: Social media management is an active process. Businesses must dedicate labor, time, and other resources to create platform-appropriate content and respond to followers’ inquiries.
• Unpredictable traction: Algorithm changes and shifting user preferences can impact a social media strategy’s success over time. Strong campaign performances are difficult to predict or maintain.
• Reputation risks: A poorly received social media post can lead to brand backlash. Social media platforms also allow audiences to voice complaints and grievances publicly, which can damage the company’s reputation if not handled properly.
• Content saturation: Getting noticed is difficult in an overcrowded field. Each platform requires specialized understanding, as competition for audience attention is intense.

How to build a global social media marketing strategy in 6 steps

An effective digital and social media marketing strategy for international audiences requires market research, localized content creation, and careful performance tracking. Here’s a six-step framework for global marketing and social media management:

1. Choose your platforms

Select social media platforms where your target audience is most active. For instance, LinkedIn is ideal for B2B audiences, whereas Instagram excels at visual storytelling for lifestyle brands.

Don’t take on more platforms than you can actively keep up with. Start small and add on slowly as resources allow.

2. Align goals with business objectives

Social media marketing strategies should connect to broader business goals, such as increasing leads, driving conversions, or enhancing brand awareness in a new region.

Initiatives should be simple at first (e.g., post once per day for a month). You can adjust these benchmarks once your social media strategy is off the ground.

3. Know your audience

Utilize applications and analytics tools to segment social media audiences by demographics, cultural preferences, and language needs. Conduct social listening to identify where your target audience is most active and what they value.

Not all content will resonate across international regions, as global audiences have varied cultural norms and buying behavior. Localize social media content to reach followers in their preferred language.

4. Conduct competitive analysis

Businesses are inevitably influenced by the competitive landscape. Competitor activity provides valuable insights that can help your brand fine-tune its social media strategy.

Study industry competitors with a successful international presence. Evaluate their social media posts, engagement rates, and localization efforts to determine what’s working and where improvements could be made.

5. Create best-in-class content

Deliver engaging visuals, video content, and copy that align with platform norms. Incorporate hashtags and trending terms to boost discoverability. Implement design localization to keep visuals relevant across global borders while staying true to your brand.

Post varied content types and minimize overtly promotional content on your social media profiles. Some direct promotion is expected, but too much can be off-putting. Focus more on engaging with followers and offering helpful solutions to their challenges.

6. Monitor, report, and adjust

Social media marketing is a continuous effort.  Use analytics data and A/B testing to find gaps in your content and adjust your social media strategy accordingly.

Smartling’s marketing translation services help international brands adapt to performance insights and maintain a consistent voice. To help global marketing teams ensure global campaigns align with the brand’s identity and sound natural to users, the Smartling platform equips translators with linguistic assets, like glossaries and style guides, as well as automated QA features. Smartling’s CAT Tool also lets translators preview localized content before a translation is finalized, ensuring quality and visual consistency across borders.

The 4 best social media marketing platforms for international business

As a marketing tool, social media platforms offer unparalleled reach and customization, making them essential for international growth. Choosing the right platforms is crucial for finding your audience and maximizing your campaigns’ global impact. Here are some of the top platforms for social media marketing:

Facebook

With over 3 billion active monthly users, Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform and one of the most extensive local business directories. It’s ideal for community building and targeted advertising, although organic reach is more limited.

Facebook’s global reach is unparalleled for international social media marketing campaigns. The platform is rich in customer data and offers robust analytics and segmentation features, making it easier to target and localize ads.

Instagram

Known for rich visuals and storytelling, Instagram appeals to younger audiences and supports diverse content formats like reels, stories, and carousels.

Instagram users often follow brands and influencers that align with their values and consumer preferences. Influencer collaborations and shop integration make Instagram particularly relevant to lifestyle, fashion, and e-commerce businesses.

LinkedIn

The top platform for B2B marketing, LinkedIn celebrates leadership and learning. It helps marketers connect with industry professionals, partners, and clients globally. LinkedIn members are in a position to drive business decisions, making them high-value targets.

LinkedIn is a highly effective social media platform for thought leadership and recruitment content. LinkedIn also supports targeted advertising based on job title, industry, and seniority level.

X (formerly Twitter)

Twitter is an unparalleled platform for real-time engagement and trending conversations. It supports brand voice development and is useful for everything from campaign launches and events to crisis communication.

Many people use Twitter to get news, follow brands, and seek customer service. Prioritize responsiveness on this platform, as followers’ expectations are high.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 5 Ps of social marketing?

The 5 Ps are a mnemonic device to help brands remember where to focus their social media marketing efforts.

1. Plan: Set goals and plan a social media strategy to achieve them. Decide how you’ll measure success and which tools you’ll use.
2. Produce: Create content that resonates with the target audience and tells a compelling story.
3. Publish: Decide where and when to post content. Create a publication schedule to optimize performance.
4. Promote: Use paid ads or other channels, like an email marketing list, to promote social media content and reach a wider audience.
5. Prove: Did the campaign achieve its desired results? Compare performance metrics against industry benchmarks and your KPIs.

Are content marketing and social media marketing the same?

Content marketing is broader than social media marketing and encompasses many channels, including blogs, videos, and whitepapers. Social media marketing is a subset of content marketing focused specifically on content distribution and engagement via social platforms.

What is the 50/30/20 rule for social media?

The 50/30/20 rule is a general guideline for how to balance social media content.

• 50% of posts should engage the audience and show the brand’s personality.
• 30% of posts should inform followers with answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.
• 20% of posts should promote the brand’s products or services directly.

This balance keeps content engaging and avoids overselling, which can feel inauthentic and off-putting.

Localize your social media marketing strategy with Smartling

Social media marketing allows brands to develop deep connections with target audiences worldwide and engage them with relevant, influential content. Marketing strategies for social media can improve brand awareness, generate leads, and build trust that spans borders.

Smartling’s affordable marketing translation services enable international businesses to meet growth goals while maintaining quality and consistency. You’ll reduce global lead acquisition costs while executing visually polished, multilingual social media marketing campaigns.

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