Social Media Localization seems to have two different meanings. The first pertains to localizing benefits and promotions to consumers in different places (through location-based social media channels) to ensure they engage with your social media presence. The second, and probably closer to the intended definition of localization, is considering how your social media approach must change when engaging global audiences.

Localization is the term used to describe a company’s modification of their product, brand or communication so that it appeals more specifically to small populations with different cultural values. This is in contrast to the globalized approach, which we find when a company changes little except perhaps for the language it uses (for a quick comparison, look at the IBM international websites and the Pepsi Corporation’s international websites).

Often written about is the culturally or internationally-focused form of localization. And rightly so: companies should shape their message and communication according to their international audiences. The problem with this approach—the one that is most often identified as localization—is that it reduces whole populations into national identities. In other words, all too often firms that localize their marketing approach to China lump all of its many—different—cultures into one Chinese culture.

The same goes for marketing efforts here in the United States: sometimes they mistakenly lump all of us into a similar group even though we may be very, very different.

But large brands with a national presence and multiple locations—such as Starbucks or Panera Bread Company—could seriously benefit by changing their definition of social media localization to include intra-national efforts as well as international. Here’s what I mean:

The population of El Paso, TX, and Memphis, TN are similar in size (both hover around 700,000), but are quite different in cultural characteristics.  For example, Memphis has an African-American population of approximately 61%, and a Hispanic/Latino population of approximately 3%. Conversely, El Paso has a Hispanic/Latino population of almost 80%, and an African-American population of 3.1%.

How valuable are tweets, posts or curated news items about Cinco de Mayo, 16 de Septiembre or even Dia de los Muertos to followers, friends and fan in Memphis? Conversely, how do they observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day in El Paso? Each population is worlds apart in cultural cues, icons and significant events and dates. Add a comment

I’m working on a new business project that won’t release until the beginning of November (2011). However, three weeks ago I launched our Twitter account and have been steadily building a community of followers, with over 200 followers at the moment of writing (I won’t take the opportunity to shamelessly self-promote here, but will tell you that we’ll be producing online video content).

What’s more, our followers are excited and looking forward to our release. We’ve had multiple direct messages telling us how “original” our concept is and how much people are looking forward to it. Influencers in the niche we’ve entered have mentioned us a number of times, and many of our daily tweets have been retweeted—all indicators of a successful Twitter strategy.

Thinking of this experience I realized how perfect Twitter is for launching projects at the concept and not the content phase. This is what’s going on in our case. After all, we have no product—no pictures, no blog posts, no videos, no content—only the promise of it. What we do have, though, is a concept (and one that has apparently struck a chord with some people).

And it turns out I’m not alone in this conclusion. Past examples demonstrate that Twitter can increase the success of most brands launched, especially when used well before the launch itself. Add a comment