By Alan G
Feb 25, 2022
Digital Marketing: Connecting Global Customers
The digital age has brought about many social and economic changes, impacting individuals and businesses alike. The traditional work ways have had to give way to newer, modern versions of operations. One of the most impacted by those changes has been the marketing field. If you feel like your business has not been keeping up with the demands of the modern marketing world, no need to panic! Change should not be scary. In fact, change breeds opportunity. Digital marketing is cost-effective, extremely popular, and lucrative when done right. Let’s deep dive into the benefits digital marketing offers you, your brand, and your clients.
Putting your business on the online landscape is a lot simpler than you might think. Using a well-planned strategy, your brand can enter the digital market with great efficiency. We’ve whipped up a few guidelines to follow to ensure your business’s transition is as smooth as ever.
Figure out your products
This might seem obvious, but it’s important to distinguish the difference between having a general idea of what content you want to put online, and having a specific catalogue of what products you’re going to be advertising.
Your brand’s industry will be the deciding factor of how you go about this. If you’re in the iGaming business, it’s pretty straightforward. Compile a list of all your products. This includes slots, Poker, Blackjack, and whatever else your online casino plans to offer. Now that you’ve got your list of products, let’s figure out who your clients are going to be.
Identifying your target market
Consumers increasingly look for brands that reflect their local values, relying heavily on local beliefs about politics, causes, and social issues. People want to feel like their issues are being heard, which is why localization and multilingual content is so important. A brand that resonates with their own belief system and sounds native is key to earning consumer trust. So, which lucky demographic is it going to be? First, you need to narrow down your criteria. Are you focusing on a specific age group? Perhaps a younger audience would be better suited. Are you targeting a geographical area, or would you rather focus on certain language groups? Identifying your target market allows you to get a better idea of how you want to voice your brand identity. If you’re addressing a senior demographic, your choice of words would have to be more carefully selected. Marketers should think globally and act locally. Global is aspirational, local is relatable.
If you’ve chosen to target a specific culture, you must be very careful with your advertising material or risk embarrassing yourself like these unlucky companies did:
Who doesn’t like a good quiche? Nancy’s Petite Bites combined the French “petite” and the English “bites” to make it sound fancier. Unfortunately for Nancy, “bites” in French refers to a member that men don’t exactly enjoy calling small, and I don’t mean biceps. Zut alors!
When KFC took their chicken fast-food franchise to China, they planned on keeping their brand identity identical, including their famous slogan “It’s Finger Lickin’ Good!”. An ill-advised translation made KFC look like they were endorsing cannibalism. Not very delicious.
Speaking of marketing campaigns, let’s discuss social media platforms.
Social Media
Did you really think you could avoid social media in 2022? Even the most fervent technophobe has to admit that having your brand active on social media brings benefits. Let’s take a look at the most popular social media platforms, and which regions use what for their marketing purposes.
Facebook, or Meta, remains the most popular social media platform across the world with around 2.9 billion users. It is predominantly used for messaging, sharing photos and videos, or keeping up with recent news. Although Facebook might be the most popular, it’s important to note that it’s banned in China. Chinese users instead go for their local alternatives, WeChat and Weibo. With 1.2 billion active users a month, WeChat evolved from a simple messaging platform to a full social platform where eCommerce and marketing firms advertise in. Despite it having fewer numbers, Weibo is the preferred choice for digital marketers targeting the Chinese audience. It’s the most popular choice for celebrities who want to communicate with fans (opening the door for celebrity endorsements), as well as the best place for viral trends and content.
YouTube and Instagram follow in second, and are a prime destination for digital marketers globally. Their system of videos, stories, and reels, is appealing to brands who rely on visual presentation to properly display their products. Brands such as LIKEtoKNOW.it, Zara, Shein, and Nike have all been successful with their digital marketing strategies that involve promo codes, shorter advertisements, and influencer sponsorships. Their most popular demographics are the United States, India, Brazil, Indonesia, and Russia.
One social platform that has been skyrocketing in popularity is TikTok. It was the first app that reached Facebook’s milestone number of 3 billion downloads, having done so in the second quarter of 2021. TikTok garners the youngest audience, with 69% of its users being 13 to 24 years old.
Brands have flocked to TikTok to market their products using different strategies. One thing TikTok does better than most is its ability to appear authentic. Users are much more receptive to a “selfie-style” recording of an influencer using a product than a high budget advertisement that feels like it belongs on television. TikTok is the perfect platform to incorporate hashtag challenges, in-feed ads, or a complete brand takeover (just be prepared to pay in the six digits for that one).
In recent years, Disney has been using social media for one of the most successful campaigns ever. Not only was it successful in promoting visibility, but it created global connections for a beneficial cause. The #ShareYourEars campaign was created in collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For every person who wore Mickey Mouse ears and used the hashtag #ShareYourEars on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, Disney would donate five dollars per post.
The stats don’t lie. Disney’s campaign brought together a global audience for a noble cause, while skyrocketing user engagement for its brand.
These are the main social media platforms you should be keeping in mind in 2022. Facebook is the perfect place to advertise to Gen Xers. Instagram has a great blend of both older and younger audiences, and also has a more “modern” feel. LinkedIn is the place you want to be if you want to maintain a professional tone and keep your brand voice classy.
We discussed some major points necessary for taking your marketing strategy online, but maybe you’re still not convinced about the benefits of going digital. Let’s wrap it up with the most important point. Is digital marketing worth it?
Digital Marketing: Worth my time and effort?
Modern marketing has not only changed, it has evolved. You now have the tools to revamp your capabilities to meet new rhythms and demands. Modern marketing allows you to be more engaging. Shaping your brand vision through real-time insights offers a luxury that wasn’t available to us in the past, where news wasn’t so frequently updated. We have access to content that is driven by data which is constantly changing. Compare that to the periodic content of the old days, and it’s a more enticing prospect.
Marketing has never been more engaging. You can give your customer the entire experience of the product right in their hands. Using different multilingual and multichannel resources, anyone from around the world can engage and interact with your brand. Whether it’s a teenage boy from Chile scrolling TikTok in Spanish, or a senior citizen from the Philippines using Facebook in Tagalog.
Benefits:
- More effective communication with clients
- Pinpoint your target audience more accurately
- Measure all your metrics
- Your brand is capable of having a more complex identity
- Generate more traffic
All what you’ve read so far is fine and good, but we know it can seem a bit overwhelming. There are experts in the digital marketing field who can take care of your brand’s needs seamlessly, without having you sweating over the small stuff. Lucky for you, they’re closer than you think.
We can help your brand go global. However, we also know the downfall of appearing too global that you lose your local touch. Going global while also remaining more local than ever is where our localization experts come in. Whatever target market you’ve got in mind, we’ve got the technical and linguistic expertise necessary to help you make your mark.
Ready to globalize your marketplace? Let’s get started!
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