Social media connects people around the planet in powerful and unprecedented ways. As the world becomes increasingly globalised, social media plays an important role in fostering real-time communication and understanding between different peoples, cultures, and countries. 

Social media is also credited with connecting organisations and individuals in similarly new ways, eroding the barriers that used to exist between brands and consumers, and opening the door to direct communication and engagement. According to Statista, increased exposure “is the most commonly cited advantage of using social media for marketing purposes among global industry professionals,” with billions of active social media users as a potential advertising audience. Improved web traffic, lead generation, and increased loyalty are listed as further reasons why marketers use social networks in their campaigns. 

All of this means that social media is a persuasive force in global marketing – and vice versa. It informs and influences preferred marketing channels and tactics, and helps marketers tailor their messages and strategies to the specific needs of international consumers in the worldwide market.

Marketing professionals who want to use social media for effective global marketing need to first consider a few key questions.

• What is the organisation’s aim for being on social media?
• Who is the organisation’s target audience?
• What are the right social media platforms for the organisation’s brand, aims, and audience?

Creating purpose

Many organisations create a Facebook or Twitter account without really understanding why they’re doing so, or stopping to consider their aim on any of the social media platforms that they join. 

Before creating logins for all the latest platforms, or joining TikTok just because that’s where Gen Z is, marketers need to first consider their purpose for joining any social media platform. Is it to build brand awareness and reputation? Is it to create a loyal customer base through social media-based customer service? Is it monetisation, or to drive e-commerce sales, a tactic known as social commerce? Any and all of these aims are valid ones, but knowing them before embarking on a social media campaign can help ensure the campaign’s success.

Engaging a target audience

Social media algorithms mean that marketers can target specific audiences, but in order to maximise on these sophisticated tools, marketers need to first understand precisely who they’re trying to communicate with. 

For example, an organisation might prefer to directly target potential customers within a particular demographic or geographic region, or it might choose to instead direct its messaging towards media professionals or social media influencers who could assist in raising brand awareness. 

Understanding the target audience also helps ensure that marketers can tailor their messages accordingly, whether it’s for specific time zones, languages, or cultural sensitives. 

Social media platforms

The sheer number of potential social media apps on Apple iOS and Android can be intimidating for some marketers, especially when new social media platforms seem to crop up regularly and others appear to fall unexpectedly out of fashion. However, few businesses will appear on all platforms, and the staples for global marketers remain Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Ultimately, though, the platforms an organisation uses should be directly linked to its social media marketing purpose and audience. For example, if the organisation’s target market is in China, it makes more sense to be on Weibo than on Facebook.

Facebook

Facebook is the most well-known of all social networking sites, and boasts more than two billion monthly active users. Facebook’s user base is encouraged to post updates to their connections – typically friends and family members. Other integrations within the platform include games, an online marketplace, and online event functionality such as live video streaming as well as live audio, such as podcasts.  

Facebook also includes a popular instant messaging app, Facebook Messenger, which enables texting as well as audio and video calls.

Instagram

Instagram is a photo-sharing social media platform known for its influencer marketing. It also supports video content formats, and is a popular tool for marketing products available on e-commerce sites.

Linkedin

LinkedIn is the go-to social media network for working professionals, and is frequently utilised for digital marketing strategies’ brand-building and reputation-building activities.

TikTok

TikTok is a short-form video social media platform and is particularly popular with younger generations. In fact, many young people now prefer to use TikTok, rather than Google, to search for information.

Twitter

Twitter is the microblogging platform that popularised hashtags and includes new features such as Twitter Spaces for live audio conversations.

Snapchat

Snapchat allows users to share messages and images for a brief window of time before the content is no longer accessible.

YouTube

YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing platform, and sits among Google’s homepage and Facebook in terms of visits.

Twitch

Twitch is a live-streaming platform popular with gamers, and is often used for esports competition streaming as well as music broadcasts.

Discord

Discord is a decentralised social platform that allows users to join communities – called servers – that suit their interests. The platform supports real-time text, voice, and video chats, as well as file and media sharing, and servers can be private or public spaces. 

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a global instant messaging platform that supports text messages as well as voice and video calls, file and location sharing, and end-to-end encryption.

Clubhouse

Clubhouse is a relatively new social network, launching towards the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. It’s described as a social audio app that supports audio chat rooms, and was initially invite-only.

Build social media into your global marketing strategy

Learn how to harness social media for international marketing strategies with the Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of York. This programme includes a taught module in marketing and society, so you will examine a variety of methods, including new social media, as a mechanism of distributing knowledge and information as part of global marketing management. The module will also encourage you to explore the marketing challenges that all organisations face, and to develop the capacity to learn and engage with the opportunities – and challenges – of communicating brand images and corporate values across national, linguistic, and cultural borders to a variety of consumers.

This programme is studied part-time and 100% online, so you can continue to work full-time as you focus on your professional development. Through research and taught modules, you’ll learn about management strategy, contemporary topics in global business, leading and managing organisational change, and how to manage across cultures, among other important areas of business.

Global marketing is the focus on marketing an organisation’s products or services in the international marketplace – and in an increasingly global society, with people more connected than ever before, it’s an increasingly important area of marketing management.

Global marketing sees the world as one unique, individual market. This means that a global business’s marketing messages and approach will be largely the same no matter where in the world they’re seen or heard.

This uniform approach also means that:

• marketing efforts are typically developed and coordinated from one central location, such as an organisation’s headquarters, rather than within individual markets
• products and services are largely the same regardless of location – for example, the ingredients and process used to make a can of Coca-Cola are the same in all countries
• marketing campaigns and brand imagery are typically the same in all countries.

Global marketing is particularly suited to products and services that have universal appeal, and where market research has indicated the products or services are likely to be well-received.

What is the difference between global marketing and international marketing?

Global marketing and international marketing are similar in that they are both focused on the development of marketing strategies that reach people around the world.

There is a key difference, though: while global marketing focuses on a single marketing strategy for a worldwide market – effectively treating the world as a single market – international marketing adapts its marketing strategy and tactics for different countries, typically with marketers knowledgeable in specific regions tailoring marketing activities to suit different markets, different languages, and different cultures. 

It’s worth noting, though, that marketing in a global society doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition, with global marketing on one side, international marketing on the other, and no common ground between. For example, in an article in the Harvard Business Review, John Quelch and Edward J. Hoff at Harvard Business School argued that a global approach can fall anywhere on a spectrum:

“In applying the global marketing concept and making it work, flexibility is essential,” they wrote. “Managers need to tailor the approach they use to each element of the business system and marketing program. For example, a manufacturer might market the same product under different brand names in different countries or market the same brands using different product formulas.”

What are the benefits of global marketing?

Global marketing offers a number of advantages. For example, running a single marketing campaign that aims to appeal to all consumers, rather than several campaigns that are adapted to different target markets, means that businesses can achieve huge cost savings and reduce spend on marketing. They can also benefit from the economies of scale that come with increased production to meet global market demands.

Other benefits can include the following.

Wider audience and expanded customer base

Appealing to the international marketplace means that international brands and even small businesses can grow beyond the limits of their domestic market borders. This diversification also means that organisations are less reliant on single markets – particularly uncertain or volatile ones.

Enhanced brand awareness and reputation

World-wide brands and global companies often have a competitive advantage simply due to familiarity, name recognition, and ease of access.

Additional insight

With a larger target audience and customer base comes more opportunities to gather insight and feedback – especially in online spaces such as social media, where people are more likely to engage with globally recognised brands.

Global marketing strategies

In many ways, a global marketing strategy is like any other marketing strategy. It should outline the four Ps of any marketing mix – product, price, place, and promotion – and take an evidenced-based approach to decision making.

A strong global marketing strategy should also:

• be underpinned by a strong, consistent global brand that will resonate with audiences around the world
• include a strong digital component to strengthen the organisation’s reach to people in any country
• be flexible enough to adjust where required, particularly where cultural differences and sensitivities might arise

Real-world examples of global marketing 

Here are a couple of commonly cited examples of global marketing.

Nike

Nike has grown to become one of the most recognised brands on the planet through a combination of global marketing tactics, and strategic international sponsorships and partnerships that appeal to audiences around the world. Nike was one of the earliest adopters of digital marketing such as email marketing and social media marketing.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is ubiquitous in dozens of countries thanks to its global marketing practices. Its brand, taste, and marketing are more or less identical whether you buy a bottle in New York or Hong Kong.

What does the term “glocal” mean and how is it used in global marketing?

Glocal is a combination of global and local. It’s a concept used in more flexible global marketing strategies where there’s a mix of standardised product offerings and marketing as well as local market or local culture components.

For example, a McDonald’s Big Mac sandwich is the same whether someone is in the United Kingdom or any other country – except in India, where the beef is replaced with a vegetarian alternative – but McDonald’s also has glocal, or region-specific menu items. These have included:

• the McArabia, a pita bread sandwich specific to McDonald’s restaurants in the Middle East
• McSpaghetti, a pasta menu item specific to McDonald’s restaurants in the Philippines
• the Teritama burger, a spring menu item at McDonald’s restaurants in Japan; Japanese customers also have an autumn option – the Tsukimi burger
• the Cheddar McMelt – a burger with extra cheese, onions, and soy sauce – specific to McDonald’s restaurants in Brazil

Challenges in global marketing

Cultural barriers are one of the biggest challenges in global marketing. For example, marketing messages that are appropriate in Sweden might not translate in South Korea and vice versa. So, even the most standardised global marketing strategies need a degree of flexibility. A multinational or international business should also be aware of important cultural and religious events, such as Christmas, Ramadan, and so on.

Businesses should also be mindful of different laws and legislation in different countries and foreign markets. Regulations can differ in everything from advertising standards to ingredients – not to mention taxes – so being aware of these differences before launching into new markets is crucial.

Explore marketing management for businesses in global settings

Advance your career with the flexible online Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme from the University of York.

Marketing in a global society is one of the key modules on this programme, so you’ll examine global marketing in business and explore the marketing challenges that all organisations face. You will also develop the capacity to learn and engage with the opportunities and challenges of communicating brand images and corporate values across national, linguistic, and cultural borders to a variety of consumers, and consider a variety of methods, including new social media, as a mechanism of distributing knowledge and information.

Whether formalised or not, most businesses have a mission statement that captures their passions, plans, objectives and unique selling points. What businesses may not have, however, is an appropriate, considered and strategic approach in order to achieve these high-level visions.

Management strategy refers to the planned handling of a company’s resources in order to meet its set objectives and goals. It encompasses strategising, monitoring, analysis and assessment on a continuous basis, taking into account shifts in business environments, marketplaces and a variety of other internal and external factors. Business strategy of this type is universal – it can be adopted by businesses of all sizes and types who need to take stock of their progress and performance and develop strategies to increase these.

The benefits of a strategic management plan

The key to strategic planning of this nature is that it is never finished. It isn’t an exercise that chief executives and top and mid-level managers complete once before producing a roadmap that will take a business from strength to strength.

Formalising the direction for an organisation’s short-term and long-term future can bring with it a number of key benefits, both financial and non-financial. These include the following.

Attainment of goals and targets 

Organisations need to establish, implement, monitor and adapt a roadmap in order to achieve growth and performance objectives. Management strategies align realistic, measurable goals with agreed visions and overall ambitions, providing a course of action for an organisation to follow to achieve their end goals. Strategy formulation allows organisations to thrive in specific areas of interest.

Cohesive corporate culture and drive

Strategic management calls for organisation-wide commitment from team members to senior management to other stakeholders. When the whole business is united under a shared aim and shared action plan, team members can then understand their common goals and are better placed to communicate and collaborate. It also serves to increase the engagement and awareness of team leads and managers; they must consistently re-evaluate their position and performance in line with the objectives.

Structured and sustainable growth

Strategic management serves to streamline performance – and, in turn, increases efficiency. This efficiency is the driver for sustainable, long-term growth, enabling organisations to cement their position in the industry marketplace and build upon its success.

Increased competitive advantage

Organisations focused on their goals and management strategies are, by necessity, forward-thinking. This involves possessing an outlook on the market, including changing customer demands, constraints and unpredictable or unfavourable scenarios that may occur. This perspective is not only critical in strategy, but helps organisations to remain ahead of competitors through limiting damage and seizing opportunities. Additionally, competitive businesses – who move through iterations to be better and perform better  – may be more likely to observe other benefits, such as increased staff retention and recruitment of the best talent.

As the business world changes, strategies must adapt – making this planning process an integral part of running a business effectively.

The stages of strategic management

A useful framework for the strategic management process includes the following four steps:

• assessment and analysis of the organisation’s current strategic goals and direction
• identification and analysis of organisational strengths and weaknesses, both internal and external
• formation of action plans
• implementation and execution of action plans
• evaluation and control of action plans, including how successful they have been and whether further adjustments are required

In the analysis stage, leaders must clarify business intentions. Using the mission statement as a starting point, evaluate the overall objectives and assess whether progress and performance is in alignment. Stakeholders are a useful source of information during this initial stage, along with risk management and SWOT analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Once primary focuses have been identified, the business has a basis to build on and aims to work towards.

The formation stage is where leaders establish an action plan in order to meet its primary objectives. Ensure each point of the action plan is aligned with SMART guidelines (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) to build a solid framework into the process. It may be prudent to formulate a ‘Plan B’ for some of the strategic steps as this will encourage flexibility and resilience in unpredictable periods.

When an action plan is in motion, businesses have entered the execution stage. At this point, any elements necessary for smooth implementation – for example, establishment of new operational initiatives in certain business units, allocation of human resource or acquisition of funding – should be in place. To maximise efficiency, all stakeholders should be briefed on the action plan and confident of their role and responsibilities in relation to it.

The final stage is evaluation and control. Refer back to the goals set during the analysis stage and assess the process and its results against these measures for benchmarking purposes. Corrective actions and further adaptations may be required and are both part of the overall strategic management process. This knowledge management exercise enables leaders to use the insights to develop and hone operations, plans and processes, ensuring that with each correction the business moves closer to its core objectives. Internal and external issues must be evaluated, together with data and other useful observations.

The balanced scorecard

Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton state that traditional, financial-based performance measures do not provide a detailed-enough indication of how well modern organisations are faring. In today’s competitive business environment, metrics such as return-on-investment can be misleading grounds on which to develop innovative, continuous improvement-based activities.

Enter the balanced scorecard: a set of measures that offer business leaders a quick, comprehensive view of organisational performance. Alongside financial measures, the scorecard provides insights into customer perspective and satisfaction, innovation and improvement activities, and internal processes and perspectives. In doing so, it asks: how do we perform in the eyes of shareholders, customers and ourselves? The scorecard aims to provide a valuable, holistic look at organisational health, reducing information overload to allow leaders to speedily assess the most-critical areas for development and improvement. Strategy and vision, rather than control, become the focus.

Scorecard findings can then be used in decision-making, problem-solving and forecasting efforts, translating overarching strategy into specific and measurable steps. It’s important that managers ensure the goals are Kaplan and Norton advise that the scorecard “keeps companies looking – and moving – forward instead of backward.”

Implement management strategies to structure and align your business goals

If you want to gain the skills to help organisations make strategic decisions to achieve their objectives, choose the University of York’s online MBA programme.

Successful growth and expansion requires leaders with the tools and abilities to evaluate, analyse and act decisively at the highest levels, navigating ever-evolving environments and taking advantage of business opportunities. The key operational fundamentals you’ll acquire – including international business strategy and trade, marketing, financial management, leadership, and project management – will help to underpin long-term business objectives, increasing your employability and preparing you to succeed in senior strategic roles.

Living and working in our interconnected, global age – where, for many businesses, employees may be spread across the world – requires leaders to be highly aware of, and skilled at, cross-cultural management. For those organisations without global teams, there is still the requirement to manage effectively across multicultural teams, where backgrounds, experiences, cultural values and communication styles may be richly diverse.

With multicultural and global teams increasingly the norm, employers are seeking business leaders with the tools and understanding to embrace cultural differences and develop high-performing teams.

What is managing across cultures?

Multicultural and cross-cultural teams are those where team members have diverse backgrounds. This diversity may include ethnicity, nationality, age, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation or other identifiable characteristic. As well as varied lived experiences, it also includes employees working in different countries, continents and time zones.

Leaders and managers must recognise, acknowledge and support these various differences and similarities to lead teams effectively and with minimal conflict.

Benefits and challenges of managing across cultures

There are numerous benefits that arise from having teams based in different countries and teams with unique cultural contexts. Multicultural teams bring a wider variety of talents, skills, perspectives, knowledge and experiences – which can be combined and drawn upon to work towards common goals. These elements can also bring about boosts in creativity – as fresh ideas and different ways of thinking are added to the team mix – leading to innovation, improved ways of working and potential business opportunities. Crucially, it also serves human resource management; a larger talent pool, made possible through global working, allows businesses to hire the most-skilled and capable candidates. This, in turn, can boost brand image, reputation, competitive advantage and profits.

Research statistics collated by InStride further demonstrate the tangible benefits to cross-cultural working:

• more diverse – and inclusive – teams are 35% more likely to outperform competitors
• diverse companies are 80% more likely to capture new markets
• diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions
• diversity within management leads to 19% higher revenue

However, while diversity is both vital and beneficial in the work environment, it has the potential to cause challenges for leaders who don’t possess the skills to support their teams.

Communication

Communication is one of the most-common barriers that leaders are likely to encounter. As well as language barriers – where some team members may find it harder to engage with day-to-day processes due to communication breakdown – this can also span different communication styles, phrases, colloquialisms, slang, dialect and non-verbal communication. The example given by global human resource organisation, Oyster, is communication differences between Eastern and Western cultures; the former tend to be indirect in communication, while the latter generally favour a more-direct, to-the-point style. Not addressing communication issues can mean employees face difficulties in conveying ideas and engaging with colleagues and, in the worst cases, are considered less-competent due to language barriers.

Work styles

Work styles can differ significantly in cross-cultural teams. Are some team members used to hierarchical structures, or more-collective decision-making? How is authority perceived? Or employee autonomy and independence? Each of these factors, together with numerous others, can present challenges for how teams work together and how individuals expect to be treated in the workplace.

Engagement

Engagement and motivation can often fail to take into account cultural differences within teams. Do team members want promotions, pay rises, more autonomy, different benefits or praise? A one-size-fits-all approach may not be suitable for recognition and reward initiatives and may lead to dissatisfied staff, increased attrition rates and decreased productivity.

Information sharing

Sharing and disclosing information, and business interactions relating to this, may vary between employees. Factors such as personal information, discussing emotions, examining conflicts and misunderstanding can have a significant impact on team dynamics.

Nevertheless, there are tools and approaches that leaders can take to overcome these cross-cultural challenges and reap the rewards of the benefits.

The best ways to manage across cultures

Which management practices should be examined and embedded in teams which contain different cultures?

Prioritise open communication

Company cultures that instil the value of honest, respectful two-way communication – between managers and employees, and amongst employees themselves – make room for all individuals to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions. Communicate messages clearly and transparently so that they are understood regardless of culture.

Get to know team members and listen to them

Getting to know the individuals within teams helps to build personal bonds, facilitates working relationships and demonstrates that team members are seen and appreciated on an individual level – regardless of background. Additionally, encourage team members to get to know one another better through social events and collaborative work activities. Leaders should also practise active listening, aiming to remove assumptions and biases and encourage trust and collaboration in their place.

Develop cross-cultural intelligence – and be flexible

Cultural intelligence and awareness is vital in our modern workplaces. Policies that apply to all employees, regardless of position or background, reinforces equitable treatment and helps to avoid conflict. Cultural learning programmes can help to embrace and celebrate differences, and could be made mandatory for all employees. If training cannot be offered in-house, there are plenty of providers who can address this requirement; LinkedIn Learning, for example, offers a whole suite of online programmes to support cross-cultural management. Leaders who understand specific cultural differences should also be flexible, where reasonable and possible, regarding diverse needs and requirements.

Address conflict

Work conflicts will arise – and, when they do, they should be dealt with promptly and effectively. Seek to bridge the gap between conflicting parties, and pursue resolutions that respect and benefit all individuals involved, as well as the wider team.

It’s worth stating that all of the business practices and considerations related to global leadership and managing across cultures are, as a general rule, useful business practices and considerations full stop. They have the potential to positively impact organisational behaviour and ethos for everyone.

Bring cross-cultural intelligence and management to your role

Want to create productive, inclusive and effective cross-cultural work environments?

Whether you work in global organisations or not, understanding how to manage and support diverse teams is an essential skill. With the University of York’s online MBA programme, you’ll develop as a highly effective leader with an awareness of the right management practices to use with your teams. As well as gaining key leadership skills, your flexible studies will give you in-depth understanding of project management, marketing, international strategy and operations, finance, and more.