Summary of overseas social media classification and operation methods

If a brand wants to build its reputation overseas, social media is an important channel . Let’s learn about the social media available overseas and how to operate them .

Based on the author’s more than one year of experience in social media operations , this article discusses my humble opinion on what overseas social media includes, why and how to operate overseas social media.

In recent years, China's Internet going overseas has become an increasingly obvious trend. As a member of the army going overseas, the author has found that many companies do not have a correct understanding of how to operate overseas social media well.

According to the latest report "Future Social" released in September 2017 by WeAreSocial, the world's largest social media professional communication company headquartered in London:

The number of global social media users increased by 360 million from the beginning of the year to 2.67 billion, accounting for 73.6% of the world's Internet users.

In particular, Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2012, has strong purchasing power. As "true digital natives", social media has become an important part of their lives. Only by understanding users can we better meet user needs and make products successful. Therefore, it is very important to operate overseas social media.

Based on the author’s more than one year of experience in social media operations, this article shares my humble opinion on what overseas social media includes, why and how to operate overseas social media.

1. What does overseas social media include?

Common social media marketing platforms mainly include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat , Tumblr, etc.

But in fact, the author believes that in addition to the above major platforms, social media marketing also includes forum marketing, blog marketing, Q&A community marketing, etc. It is especially suitable for products with certain professional thresholds or content barriers, such as electronics, software, and content platforms like novels.

2. Why operate overseas social media?

"No social, no marketing." The role of overseas social media marketing in overseas operations is equivalent to the status and influence of WeChat in domestic product marketing . Unlike email marketing , operating social media is not just for acquiring customers. It has the following three main functions:

1. Brand Marketing

The official account of overseas social media is a platform for displaying corporate brands and delivering brand information, just like WeChat public accounts . For example, Facebook homepage is an important platform for users to understand corporate brands.

Therefore, blindly pushing product advertising information on social media will leave users with the impression that it is a "psoriasis" advertising platform, which will be counterproductive. Operating overseas social media should be able to help establish a good brand image.

2. User communication

One difficulty in overseas markets compared to domestic markets is understanding users’ real needs. Unlike in the domestic environment, we can understand users’ needs and various information through various means. Therefore, social media is an important channel to understand users’ opinions and needs.

For example, if you need to understand how much users like several products so as to decide on product and promotion strategies , you can conduct a survey of users through social media to collect user opinions. If the platform has a group of high-quality fans, it will be able to collect user opinions more quickly.

From this perspective, we can understand why spending money to buy fans is not a wise choice, because the fake fans we buy cannot help us understand the user’s true inner voice, and may even interfere with our judgment of user needs, thus failing to improve the product. Operating overseas social media should be able to communicate with users.

3. Website and APP traffic diversion

Whether it is cross-border e-commerce or Internet companies going overseas, they all want to attract traffic through social media. But as mentioned earlier, the mistake many people make is that after opening a social media account, they can’t wait to post information about their own products and all kinds of advertisements.

This is a wrong perception, because only by accumulating fans first can you drive traffic through social media. The following will discuss the formal approach to operating social media.

2. How to operate overseas social media?

1. Choose different social media platforms according to marketing needs, and prioritize the operating platforms

Different social media correspond to different user groups, so you should choose appropriate social media based on the target user portrait . For example, LinkedIn and Twitter are the most effective for B2B marketers ; Pinterest and YouTube are more suitable choices for B2C users.

For products whose target users are mostly young overseas users, it is necessary to always understand what types of social media young people like most, because the social media that young people like represents the latest fashion trends.

According to professional data statistics platform Statista:

In 2013, Facebook remained the most popular social media among young American users, but Instagram became their new favorite in 2014. By 2016, Snapchat had replaced Instagram as the most popular social media app among American teenagers. Snapchat is suitable for products that are mainly promoted in Europe, America, and the Middle East. It is highly entertaining and has a relatively young user age structure.

Therefore, companies going overseas should focus on operating on social media with similar user profiles based on the target user profiles of their products, including age, gender, country of distribution, etc.

Changes in American Teens' Favorite Social Media Use from 2015 to 2018

2. Content is king, establish an “expert” image

If you want to attract traffic and establish a brand image through social media, you must first accumulate a group of loyal fans on the social media platform. So why should fans follow your homepage? Because your content can meet their needs and provide them with convenience and happiness. Just like young people in China are addicted to WeChat Moments or Tik Tok , young people overseas spend a lot of time on social media such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook every day.

To build a good relationship with target users on social media, brands need to publish content that is relevant to them. Content is king, which is a universal truth. Providing interesting and informative content related to the product can attract the attention and interaction of target users:

1. You can learn from others’ content strategies by studying the content published on successful competitor homepages;
2. Pay attention to current hot topics and news events that the target user group is concerned about. Riding on the hot topics is also a way;
3. Package and display products in a popular way. Short videos are also very popular among young people overseas. Products can be packaged in the form of short videos, which is far better than simple pictures and texts.

Mother's Day Selfie Contest (User Content UGC )

3. Conduct user content UGC and self-propagation through activities such as Giveaway

The idea of ​​a giveaway activity is to set some rules to let users follow, like or comment on a post, or to encourage users to post creative photos with their own products and then select the first few users to receive rewards. Generally, one's own products are used as prizes, which can have a promotional effect.

Giveaway helps to quickly bring in high-quality fans. A cross-border e-commerce seller launched a Giveaway campaign on Halloween , which was forwarded hundreds of times. If the number of reposts is relatively high, the fan-related groups are more likely to see the content, and the spreadability will be better than simply posting content every day. Moreover, the Facebook or Instagram fans attracted through activities will be more effective - fans are more clear about the object of the "like" behavior, and the user relationship formed is relatively close, rather than the subsequent "fan loss" phenomenon caused by random likes and loose connections.

Encouraging users to generate UGC content through activities can not only create high-quality content, but also enhance interaction with users, which is especially suitable for content-based products going overseas.

We once attracted hundreds of users to participate through a "10-word novel" event at Christmas , and the number of fans increased by nearly 1,000+, with a total cost of several hundred dollars. Such activities effectively increase the high-quality fans of the homepage, and user UGC content is conducive to the richness of the content platform. Through this event, we also have a deeper and more extensive communication with users to promote our website and competition activities. Therefore, on the whole, this type of activity brings better linkage effects.

PS written at the end:

The author has worked on two content-based products that went overseas. He has experience in content operation for products with traffic exceeding one million, and has also experienced the process of a product from 0 to 0.1. He is well aware of the difficulties in facing unknown exploration, but it is the passion for going overseas that makes everything interesting.

The above content is a summary and reflection of my overseas social media operations over the past year or so. I welcome your comments.

The author of this article @出海操作 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games