Who knew that one day this soon, the entire world would be facing one common enemy, have one problem and fight together as one race to stay alive and healthy? This got me thinking about content creation – taking it outside the four walls of your locality.
If you are paying any attention, you would have observed by now that due to the event of the COVID-19 Pandemic, people in groups and individually, have been sending messages of hope and instructions on how to deal with the virus either as a carrier or non-carrier. And many people all over the world have been seeing these messages and videos because this struggle is a global one.
It would be a great show of wisdom and common sense to take a few lessons from this pandemic, and one of them being, if I have successfully taken my/our message out of my/our locality and even target audience, WHY STOP NOW?
If you can jump the fence now, nothing stops you from doing it over and over again to serve different people and purposes (hot hot!)
Like you already know, the internet is everywhere and more and more of the world is getting online – zero decrease, there’s no flattening that curve! As a result, your content has the tendencies of reaching and helping more than just the people who look and speak like you.
How Do You Then Take Advantage of This and Ensure Your Content Creation Crosses Borders?
Identify Your Essential Message
Just like there are essential people that the lockdown could not hold down in different countries at this time, you can ensure your brand message is essential to almost everyone in that message niche regardless of country and culture.
You might want to consider translation of your relevant content if you are aiming to cross the border of language.
Collaborate to Deliver Your Message
Join forces with other brands or individuals who either know the people you are delivering to or can relate/have a stake in delivering the same unique content.
There’s a quote that on my Sticky Notes that says Collaboration is a social glue. It not only glues you together with other vendors or brand owners, it also creates a connection between all of you (senders) and all of them (recipients).
Get Your Language Right
Have you ever come across a piece of content that you’re enjoying so much but some parts of it just flew right over your head, because of either the language or slang? Yeah, that can be a tad annoying especially if you are tired of running back and forth Google Translate.
Use clear and simple terms. Watch the colloquialisms. Do all of these without losing your brand tone.
Translating of some of your content also falls under this category.
Ensure Your Content Accommodates Technical & Time Differences
In the process of creating content that cuts across, you should keep in mind that your new global audience operate on a different time zone entirely. Learn the metrics behind when you post your content VS. when your audience receives them.
Another factor to consider is technical differences. Studies have shown that in some countries like India, most people surf the internet with their mobile devices. Make sure your content and website/landing page are mobile friendly and compatible.
If you are a vendor trying to target countries outside your current location, make sure you consider listing your products/services in the target currency.
Discover the Appropriate Marketing Channels
So, you are trying to reach a totally new audience in a different location – one of the first things you should research is the most appropriate channel to reach them.
Not every country congregate on the same social media platforms and search engines. While the most common ones are Google, Facebook and Instagram, you may also want to research other platforms where your new audience like to hang out. Some of the factors that can help with deciding this are age group of the new TA, gender, interests etc.
Above all, remember that you are creating for humans and the best way to reach them wherever they are is to first put yourself in their shoes – know them, their culture, their language; and aim at building a relationship.
Read Corona Virus: 5 Ways to Survive as A Business Owner here
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Written by: Faith John – Creative Director, The Kween Media
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