An issue for many brands who are developing a social media strategy is how they translate what they do in one country into other markets in which they operate. As a European social media agency, we are very used to helping clients take a US or UK strategy and then roll this out across the rest of Europe. And in doing this we have looked at organisations who have done this well. And those who have done it badly. The usual mistake is to assume that what works in one country can be taken and implemented in another country with no changes. More often than not this is not the case.
In this week’s video post, Matt Rhodes talks about how to approach developing a European social media strategy and why what works in one country might not work in others. Matt discusses how each country in Europe has different ways of using social media, and how these influence the way strategies should be developed. He gives three areas that brands should investigate when launching social media activities across Europe:
- The audiences are very different in each country in Europe – they behave in different ways and have different needs
- The social media landscape is different in each country – Facebook is not always the right tool, you need to understand what is right in different markets
- The position of a brand is different in each market – your brand may be different in different countries and your aims in each might change
As more brands are looking to develop European and even global social media strategies really understanding these issues is becoming critical. It would be great to hear about your experiences in this area so far and how you see the differences across Europe.
Image source: Mukumbura
Original Post: http://www.freshnetworks.com/blog/2010/07/european-social-media-strategy/
