Don't advertise to a target, aim beyond

Aim Beyond Target in front of you

When I was studying modern Chinese economics in Changsha in 1998, I found a man to teach me Tai Chi and the basics of Kung Fu.

He always said, "unlike boxing (which he considered stupid and wasteful), in Kung Fu you must be flexible and conserve energy. Qi, the energy from within, should be focused when exerted. If you were to punch someone, don't aim for the nose, aim for a point behind the back of the skull."

Recently I've been wondering how this can be applied to Facebook advertising.

Instead of targeting people with specific interests in a country, how about looking at the diaspora of that nation as well?

In the fall we ran an ad that targeted Indonesians. Most of the Indonesian diaspora is found in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands. We found that we received visits and likes from Malayasia through Indonesia but nothing from Saudia Arabia nor the Netherlands.

The Indonesians living in Saudi Arabia are mainly immigrant workers and the Dutch group are either immigrant workers or older with ties to the old colonial system. The Indonesians in Malaysia tend to be younger university students who connect with friends and family through Facebook. So we targeted one and got another.

So what about the Chinese diaspora - the largest in the world?

The Mainland Chinese diaspora created the South East Asian Chinese and much of the base Chinese-American population. It also, by way of the Chinese revolution, created the Chinese-Taiwanese population. So, it's generational and wide spread.

Singapore as an ad target can be very effective at diasporatic targeting as it is home to Chinese, Malay and Indian diaspora. As a crossroads in Asia, just targeting Singapore could get you to Europe, India, and South East Asia - hit the target beyond what you aim.

Diasporatic "kung-fu" marketing

There is also a Taiwanese diaspora on the west coast of the USA, a result of the 1960s political environment in Taiwan. This one is also generational yet tied back to Taiwan through relatives.

The Hong Kong diaspora is tied to both Taiwan and Singapore through trade and to Australia, Canada and the UK through its former commonwealth status. At the time of Hong Kong's reversion to Mainland rule in the 1990s, fear arose among locals resulting in a spike in immigration to Canada and Australia. This population is still tied to their home city and keep in contact via Facebook.

If there are Chinese in a location, it is highly possible they are tied to family in Hong Kong, or Taiwan and using Facebook for communication. If they are from the PRC, then the odds drop but there is an interconnectivity between groups. (Sadly, Facebook cannot be used effectively in the PRC.) The entertainment industry is tied between these regions so you can find common interests among a wide range of the population.

The test would be to create content in Chinese or English and advertise to those three nations. The hope would be that the person who sees it, likes the page or content and shares it which helps it get seen in the diaspora.

So in this way you could advertise to Hong Kong and get Vancouver, target Taiwan and get Los Angeles, or get a click from India, Indonesia, Malaysia or the UK all via Singapore.

Imagine if Bruce Lee were a social marketer. Would he have just gone up agains the one opponent or would he also go after those behind the opponent?

Try it, share the results.