“Latin America has the fastest growing internet population in the world”
“Latin American internet users spend an average of 10 hours on social media a month, five more hours than the world average.”
“The power of social media in Latin America is unstoppable.”
Those are just three quotes from The Spark Group “Social Media in Latin America 2015” article. As someone who lives in Latin America and travels across the region, I couldn’t agree more. So how can you use social media to help your exports in Latin America? Here are just 3 tips:
1- Market research.
There is so much information out there if you just know where to look. Whatever stage of market research you are at (screening the markets or in-depth analysis), social media platforms can be incredibly powerful sources of information, and of testing, too. Some examples:
A celiac support group in Brazil on Facebook. Great source of information and contacts.
– Researching the gluten free market for a UK client, Facebook was a great source of information, from new stores opening to support groups, from events to newsletters
– Scoping the beauty industry across the region I used the main blogs in each market to see what they were talking about and how – this can also help you later on when actually entering the market, consider it research with a touch of PR…
2- PR
Just starting up in Latin America? Maybe you’ve only just appointed a distributor, or you’re starting to sell directly yourself. And you could do with some free coverage, some clever PR, but maybe you can’t yet afford an agency, or are actually looking for one.
Blog Couture, Uruguay/region – to find about branding, retail, events, beauty and more.
Guess where journalists spend hours and hours these days? Twitter, of course. A great place to (gently and cleverly, this could backfire!) get your products/brand/services known…
3- Building a network
Admittedly, networking only online or on social media is not going to get you too far, but it’s a start. Remember to connect with people you meet on LinkedIn and use Twitter to keep in touch and build a network. Use social media to ask questions. From hotel recommendation for your business trips to experts in particular sector, we’re all connected…
How has social media helped you export?
Leave us your comments below!
