Social Media Agency Clients Tapping into Foreign Social Media Marketing

About a month ago, we learned that Twitter was in the process of partnering with Japanese social network Mixi to beat out Facebook in Japan. It may work, it may not, but it raises questions regarding what companies – even small businesses, in some cases – can do to use social media for competing internationally.

It also shows us that an international marketing plan shouldn’t merely include Facebook. Facebook is a great marketing tool in the U.S., but is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all social media marketing solution in other countries. What are some foreign social networks worth exploring for American-based businesses looking to compete internationally? Consider the following:

• Mixi (Japan)
• Orkut (Brazil)
• (VKontakte) Russia.
• Qzone and RenRen (China)

And, the list will likely continue to grow. For those who do business in India, there may be other social networks emerging in that nation if Facebook refuses to filter content at the request of the Indian government. With Facebook being essentially outlawed in China, citizens could continue developing more social networks. The possibilities are endless.

As Americans, we tend to think of Facebook as the only social media that really matters. Really, how much more successful are these networks than Facebook in their home countries? One good example concerns the Google-owned network Orkut. Average visitors to Orkut spent 4.3 hours on the site in June 2011, while Brazilian visitors to Facebook spent an average of 1.6 hours in the same month.

To attain optimal social media marketing results, those marketing their businesses internationally will need to identify the top networks in each market and develop plans to adapt to the way those consumers behave online. That’s not an easy feat, but a good social media agency can help. Many firms are getting on the international social media marketing train; if your business is expanding to foreign markets, you may wish to jump on as well.