If you’re in the process of search engine optimisation, you may have had the benefits of a social media marketing campaign pressed upon you. The social media has been causing all sorts of excitement in marketing and SEO circles because of the availability of groups and the intimate nature of communication on these networks. You can talk to our consultants at SEO Consult about social media campaigns. If you are considering a social media campaign, there is one aspect that you should think about which you may have overlooked.

The one drawback of social media campaigns, which not many people consider, is the international aspect of most social media networks. From a user perspective, this is an absolute bonus. People have never before been able to make daily connections all over the world with so much ease. While this is great for international relations, it’s not so great for a business that has a definite locality. Without much ability to restrict your target user groups on social networks, you face wasting a lot of time marketing to people who could never be interested.

Many companies overlook this aspect of things simply because they’re not used to it. The internet has made it easier and easier to access people, and we’ve moved from thinking about advertising in Yellow Pages online to optimising for international search engines. Perhaps it’s because most people have got used to Google’s automatic detection of locality that international audiences don’t seem so much of a problem. After all, if Google detects you’re in the UK, the search engine won’t push your results in Google India’s pages.

The internet is an international space. Some countries may impose some restrictions on access, and language provides certain barriers to free communication, but in general the interactions on the net are not limited by geography. This is something you need to consider when you’re trying to locate your local target market.

Some of the social media networks have permeable country barriers in place, to help facilitate their users connecting with people from the same area. Facebook, for example, tends to steer users to friends within the country network that they’ve picked. This has a follow-on effect for your business, much like Google detecting where your site is.

Other social media networks are not so picky. While you can usually identify your geographical locale if you wish, users don’t necessarily pay attention or even care where you’re from. Users are also increasingly moving in global patterns with social media. While once each country had its favourite social media site, now sites like Facebook are dominating globally. Globalisation is an uneven process, but one which has to be understood as accurately as possible.

An effective social media campaign will attract the attention of users by providing quality, interesting content. This is going to appeal to users no matter where they’re from. If you’re in a business that has an international angle, this is great news. Unfortunately, when you’re spending time and money on a social media campaign, appealing to people who will never use your service is a waste and your plan should be altered carefully.

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