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Multilingual Social Media Reaching Every Audience
Social Media Marketing: An Intercultural Melting Pot of Miscommunication
Phoebe Wallace-Smith
University of Kentucky

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Abstract
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have the attention of people between the ages of 18 and 64 for
3.2 hours every day (Marketing Chart Staff, 2013). We rely on social media for news, a good
laugh, and talking to our “friends” or “followers”. When marketing any given product regardless
of how local, or even global it may be, a marketer will come across one obstacle every single
time. Identifying, and then most importantly reaching their ideal audience. Not only do culture
and language differ between multiple audiences, but the way in which social media is used
fluctuates as well. There are multilingual sites, in addition to social media accounts that make not
only many of the same post repeatedly with only their language differing to reach their varying
audiences; but also numerous accounts for different continents or countries. Language however,
is not the only issue at hand and making direct translations is not always effective. Global time
differences, cultures, slang and interpretations are all equally important considerations as a social
media marketer whose primary goal is to successfully communicate to a mass intercultural
audience.
Keywords: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Friends, Followers, Glocal, Multilingual, Marketing,
Intercultural communication, Social Media “boomers”.

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Multilingual Social Media Reaching Every Audience
Social Media as a marketing platform can be one of the quickest and most effective
ways to sell a product, or even idea. However, not often considered is that all social media sites
are internationally used. Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are all ways in
which people from countries all over the world are unified. There are three vital things to
remember as a social media marketer. Who they’re audience is, the clients wishes, and how to
sell this product. With only 140 characters or 612 pixels x 612 pixels of space for a photo it is
crucial that in this career you represent the product in the most practical way remembering these
three things. Most importantly the audience. No two audiences are alike, each has their own
language, culture, and creed. Therefore to be worldly and multilingual in this career allows
insight on ways to consider reaching every audience.
In a social media marketing career, communication mistakes are irrevocable. Once you
have publicized advertisements, there is simply a delete button. “What’s wrong with a delete
button?” You might ask. Deleting a post too many marketers is seen as a sacrifice in which you
will lose credibility, and to make matters worse; consumers. Deleting a post about any given
product is a problem because unlike in any other career, if you offend an individual or are a
salesman who is in a retail shop and miscommunicate you can explain yourself and reiterate, in
social media marketing that is not the case. Through a computer screen you have no way of
explaining yourself or fixing your mistakes while still getting short term effects. One thing that
sets a social media marketing career aside from any other is their communication style with a

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consumer. Many of their consumers never see a face or hear a voice of the marketer selling them
the product. Most of their sales are advertisement based and as a result each individual post must
be very well thought out. When you’re behind a computer screen, the style many salesman use is
no longer applicable. A welcoming smile, and friendly demeanor have no impact and body
language is no longer a useful tool.
35.2% of the world’s population, on social media do speak English (InternetWorld
Stats, 2013). Seen in (Figure 1) on the right is the breakdown by percentage of the languages
used and spoken online as of September of 2004. To some that may sound like a lot but once you
take into consideration the much smaller amount of that
35.2% that you’re getting attention of when trying to sell a
product on Twitter or Facebook, your audience, and in the
end consumer percentages get much smaller. Needless to
say there is 64.8% of our social media scene that is not
speaking English. Several marketers, campaigners and
“Media maniacs,” have realized the diversity on these sites
and as a result made what are called multilingual
sites.
A multilingual site such as www.un.org, realize that within just a single continent a
variety of languages are spoken. As a result these multilingual sites focus on making a single
website with numerous translations of any given information varying from current events,
product catalogues, and even gossip tabloids. On sites like these there are very few limitations as
to what can be found. These sites are used typically in areas such as Europe where a variety of
languages are spoken in a single country.
Figure 1. Online Language Populations
(“Benefits of a multilingual website”, 2008)

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Marketing platforms have come a very far way, and that’s because people in society
became more reliant on social media, and it’s the job of the marketers to follow the lead of their
audience. For example with seniors or an older audience, often predominantly women could
bereached through early morning telemarketing. Today, there is a daily rate of 57% social media
“boomers” meaning an amount of people to join all at one time and 35% of these boomers
happened to be seniors, primarily on Facebook according to a study conducted in 2013 of social
media usage by age group (Erin Read, 2013). As a result they too can now be reached on these
sites. It is safe to say today, with the reliance on social media to communicate, get information,
or even shop that no religion, culture, race, or age is missing from the online population. In a
sense it was not until social media took the world by storm that all continents, countries, and
people were able to connect in such a way.
Sometimes for these marketers, their job is made easy, or even done without request by
a third party. In a blog by social media marketer Cindy King, she addresses the benefits of
having an active audience. This happens when any individual makes a post, or uploads a picture
of a product, store, or person which to someone else; in this case one of their “Followers” would
find intriguing (King, n.d.). Very recently, a young girl with an abundance of “Followers”
uploaded an image of a worker at a Target in Texas. As all of her friends began to favorite and
retweet this tweet, their followers then saw it too and suddenly “Alex from Target” became a
viral sensation.
While I’m sure “Alex” appreciates the intention, it’s important to realize he is not the
only one in this case who is getting attention of these tweeters. An article by Carmel DeAmicis
she discusses the many ways social media users subconsciously advertise for brands, products,
and companies. DeAmicis uses this recent event on Twitter, and its outcome for Target as a

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prime example. Target benefited from these third party advertisement tweets because in Texas at
least, there was a Target worth visiting to see this young man. For @auscalum, the young girl
responsible for the original picture of this young man, and at the time shopper at Target had no
intentions of advertising for this store, but in the end that’s exactly what she did (DeAmicis,
2014). On a global note, Target is not popular in other countries the way it is here in the United
States; which begs the question as to how people on Twitter and Instagram would react to these
tweets, or even question what Target is. This is a perfect example of how cultural differences, in
product, stores, and understanding make a “world” of difference.
What very few social media marketers consider, is that the consumer will eventually get
tired of seeing your ads. An article by K. Lee is a guide for any social media marketer as to how
often they should post (Lee, 2014). The frequency of posts is contingent of the type of marketing
you plan to be doing. There are three major forms of social media marketing; Glocal, global, and
local. In this article Lee states that it is most appropriate to frequently post if you are a glocal
marketer, given that each product is unique to their consumer.
In further detail the article, “Cultural Influence on Social Media Marketing: A Glocal
Approach” (Olshevskaya, 2014) each form of marketing is addressed for not only their primary
focuses, but also the typical end result for the consumer and their product. Not all manufacturers
go about advertising for their product with the same process. The process varies depending on
what the product has to offer the consumer. For example a product where each time it is made it
is generically the same , compared to product that may be customized to fit the consumer on a
personal level will not be advertised the same, however bandwagon is a tactic used regardless of
the product. A chart within this article by Schiffman and Kanuk each form of marketing is
broken down and its distinctions are clarified.

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The Glocal marketing approach (Schiffman and Lazar Kanuk, 2009) is simple, they will
customize their product to fit the needs and wants of a consumer but still send the same uniform
message that other products would. For example companies that we know locally, such as
Fraternity Collection and Southern Tide, customize the color and even clothing accessories, such
as shirt pockets, for customers. As we all have seen, monogramming is also very popular in the
south especially, and now something many of these companies offer. The uniform message that
is sent is that the quality of the clothes is still as good as or even superior to any other brand.
Many companies are now using this strategy to broaden their marketing power in order to reach
out to a new audience or customers.
Global marketing approach isn’t the opposite of the Glocal marketing approach, the
difference is that the global approach not only sends a uniform message but the product is
uniform. This just means that a company makes products based on a universal code or set of
rules that would benefit everyone in the consumer market. Both of these approaches to the
market are all examples of standardized communications, which is how the company reveals its
product to the consumer in order to make sales.
Localized communication is the transformation of a product to fit a certain areas needs
and wants. While this is more product based, the communication is within the product because
they are altering it in efforts to reach a certain consumer, one they more than likely have never
sold to before. Internationally many products are sold, but in order to successfully have a global
consumer you must first realize what each continent, country or even region is looking to buy.
An example could be the expansion of UGG factories in countries with colder climates. This
strategy allows manufacturers to focus sales in areas that they feel those consumers need their

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product the most. This also categorizes the communications into two new strategies that are,
Glocal strategy and local strategy
Glocal strategy consists of a uniform product and a customized message. This strategy
allows the companies to manufacture a basic product but also give a “fit for you” type of
message for the consumer (Olshevskaya, 2014). Cell phone companies often try to use this
message to sell their products. Companies like Apple will produce a new iPhone every year with
nothing new but the color of the phone, maybe the size and then they will make a statement that
will say, “The phone that was made for you.” Even though thousands of other people could have
the same phone. This strategy is effective because a company can advertise their product to their
consumers as the best or something that everyone has. Sometimes bandwagon is all that’s needed
to sell a product, especially if the consumer is young.
Marketing requires strategic thinking, and tactics that must be very well thought out.
There are many demographics that need to be considered. Some of the major demographics or
characteristics of an audience are listed in a useful article
written as an advice page for beginning social media marketers
by Houssem Daoud. Age, gendered, how urban one is,
intelligence, and income, all things that contribute to what is
called a marketers audience “persona” (Daoud, 2014). Besides
just your audience it is also important to take into
consideration based on this audience what site, time and way to
reach them. For example realizing what social media platforms, and
Figure 2. Percent of US internet users by
age for each site. (Read, 2013)
networks will most effectively reach your target audience. When older people join social media,
typically they join Facebook, whereas Instagram, and Twitter are more popular for pre-teens,

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young adults, and celebrities (seen in figure 2). As I said before it’s also important to
strategically make your post at just the right time so plenty of the consumers will have the
chance to see and maybe even share it. In an interview conducted with Elizabeth Monk, a Social
Media Marketer stated that her and her colleagues often turn to Facebook to advertise because
Facebook, unlike twitter or Instagram allows much more space for both text, and an image. It
will also stay at the top of your profile (Personal communication, 2014).
Being that I am not a social media marketer, I could not even begin to understand the
difficulty in making what would be considered the “perfect post”. With that being said I have
done a lot of research and have an in-depth understanding of the process and important
demographics in this workplace. Language of course is always a concern when finding the
specific “persona,” demand by the consumer, as well as age, and one I have yet to touch on;
culture. When an individual is one twitter or Instagram you only see what it is that’s on your
timeline (posted by your friends or followers), and typically the people you follow have similar
backgrounds as you. Just because we don’t see an array of languages, cultures, and global
differences when we get on these sites, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
If you’ve ever taken a foreign language class in high school you learned the hard way
that there is very rarely such thing as a direct translations. Often times if you try to translate any
sentence from English to even Spanish directly it will either not make sense or have completely
different meaning, and occasionally one that may offend. As a result as a social media marketer
you must know how to properly get your point across. Language is a huge aspect of an
individuals or populations culture. Other aspects of clothing include food, clothing, religion,
education, and economy. This means that to successfully meet your consumer’s needs, you must
first get their attention. An advertisement that may be posted on Facebook for Target’s new sale

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of “buy one short sleeve shirt for 15 dollars, get the other half off” would not mean anything to a
mother of four in Russia. Given that in Russia they have a different currency, no Targets, and
cold weather this sale immediately loses the interest of that consumer. Whereas manufacturers
with international consumers must find a way to reach them all. An hypothetical example of a
successful international advertisement, would be if the Michael Kors manufacturers posted an
advertisement for an audience of young women on Twitter of any culture or language, that is
simply a captivating picture of the purse being sold; and in bold above the image was a link to
their multilingual site where each woman could for herself find the price that was relevant to her.
Also to consider when you are reaching out to an international mass audience would be time
differences and current events in that location. If an economic crisis is taking place it is not likely
that they will have many consumers in that location, however if they were to advertise a fantastic
deal as a result of the economic crisis the likelihood increases.
Social media marketing can make the job of a salesman ten times more difficult,
however they are reaching the demand of a mass amount of consumers at one time. In this career
if successful, many times you can see immediate results. Not only do you want them to want to
but the product, but on sites like Facebook and Twitter you want the viewer to be so enthused
that they “re-tweet” or “share” the post, and by doing so help expand to an even larger audience.
It is vital in this career to be fast, effective, and worldly. As a social media marketer if you know
how to sell the product and are familiar with your audience sufficiently to meet their needs and
grasp their attention, you are almost guaranteed success and much of the work once you’ve made
a post is done for you. As said before, no two audiences are exactly alike, but if you make the
effort to study your audience, their culture, and their language in 140 characters odds are you can
fascinate them. With that being said, if you are in this career and simply translate these posts and

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make no alterations to fit that audience they may not understand the post and in the end be
offended by the miscommunication. Social media has been a very positive and effective
advancement in our communicative world. In social media no one gets the short end of the stick,
all companies have the same chance to reach an online consumer, and social media allows an
individual to communicate internationally as well as be an international consumer with no
limitations or distance that UPS and some shipping information, gathered online can’t fix. As a
result it is in the marketer’s hands to inform each “friend” and “follower” of what is available to
them and make a successful advertisement. The success if a product on a global scale is in their
hands and without being able to carry a conversation to show interest in the consumer and
advocate for how it fits their individual needs, the marketer must make it appeal to them and feel
individualistic in 140 characters or less.

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References
Benefits of a multilingual website. (2008, August 28). Retrieved November 5, 2014.
Daoud, H. (2014, July 16). 8 Essential Elements of a Social Media Marketing Strategy |
Retrieved November 4, 2014.
DeAmicis, C. (2014, November 5). Welcome to the murky world of social media
marketing. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
King, C. (n.d.). Social Media Marketing Across Cultures - Cindy King's International
Business Blog. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
Lee, K. (2014, April 7). The Social Media Frequency Guide: How Often to Post.
Retrieved November 5, 2014.
Olshevskaya, O. (2014, April 23). Cultural Influence on Social Media Marketing: A
Glocal Approach. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
Read, E. (2013, February 19). US Social Network Users by Age Group - New Statistics
From Pew - Mature Marketing Matters. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
Social Networking Eats Up 3 Hours Per Day For The Average American User. (2013
January 9). Retrieved November 5, 2014.

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