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Localization and Marketing: The Key to a Successful Global Content ...
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8. Create a local calendar. “This will not only help you stay relevant but also help you increase engagement and gain trust.” 9. Make decisions based on data.
4. Adjust your goals. “But when you enter into a new market, you should consider that your customers are likely to start the buyer’s journey from the top of the funnel.” 5. Do keyword research.
In Market entry
We’ve talked before about what it takes to create a successful content strategy: clear objectives, a well-defined target audience, thorough keyword research and a consistent tone of voice, just to name a few. “Nevertheless, when a brand is trying to reach new markets, following these steps is just not enough.” In case you were wondering, yes, that’s the cue for localization in marketing.
In Market entry
A company should localize its content whenever it enters a new market. “Market is not a synonym for language, so probably a one-size-fits-all localization won’t do the job for different countries.” 1. Localization for Market
1. Greater engagement. “It’s not about communicating a message (translation), it’s about engaging with someone (localization).” 2. Better SEO.
What is Localization? “In marketing, localization has different meanings. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to stick to the one related to adapting content. According to SEMrush, localization is the process of taking content already created for your main market and adjusting it to fit your new target market’s needs.” It sounds simple, right? Well, it’s not that easy to create a successful localization strategy in marketing. Most companies just make it to the UX translationphase and fail to actually localize their content.
Spoiler alert: you don’t need to use Google Translate (or at least you shouldn’t!). “We’ve talked before about what it takes to create a successful content strategy: clear objectives, a well-defined target audience, thorough keyword research and a consistent tone of voice, just to name a few.” Nevertheless, when a brand is trying to reach new markets, following these steps is just not enough. Mainly, because two new factors need to be considered: language and cultural context.
We’ve talked before about what it takes to create a successful content strategy: clear objectives, a well-defined target audience, thorough keyword research and a consistent tone of voice, just to name a few. “Nevertheless, when a brand is trying to reach new markets, following these steps is just not enough.” In case you were wondering, yes, that’s the cue for localization in marketing.
We’ve talked before about what it takes to create a successful content strategy: clear objectives, a well-defined target audience, thorough keyword research and a consistent tone of voice, just to name a few. “Mainly, because two new factors need to be considered: language and cultural context.” In case you were wondering, yes, that’s the cue for localization in marketing.
1. Define your target audience. “While there may be some similarities, I can assure you that you won’t be targeting the same segment in every country.” 2. Create your brand’s voice and tone guidelines.
Let’s say you have a produce business in the U.S. and you want to start selling a variety of fruits in this region. You would think that creating one localized website for all these countries is enough, but as we’ll see in Google Trends this is not always the case. “While “banano” is the most searched word in Colombia, in Mexico it’s practically unknown.” So, before choosing a Spanish version (over a Colombian or Mexican localization) think about who you are trying to sell to. You may have the best product, service or banana, but if your audience doesn’t find or get you, you won’t sell anything.
Now, let’s see how these trends look in the U.S. market: “The point here is that the user intent is completely different.” Not convinced yet? Let’s take a look at one last example.
If you do it correctly, they will all end up arriving at your French, American and Mexican job sites. You just have to understand how your potential customers are looking for what you sell. “Even though these little nuances have nothing to do with linguistics or translation issues, they are crucial when localizing content.” What Are the Benefits of Localization in Marketing?
Interesting, right? “You just have to understand how your potential customers are looking for what you sell.” Even though these little nuances have nothing to do with linguistics or translation issues, they are crucial when localizing content.
2. Create your brand’s voice and tone guidelines. “Your values and vision should be universal—but the way you convey them? Probably not.” 3. Get familiar with regionalisms and cultural don’ts.
2. Create your brand’s voice and tone guidelines. “Adapt your guidelines to match your target audience’s way of speaking.” 3. Get familiar with regionalisms and cultural don’ts.
2. Create your brand’s voice and tone guidelines. “Your messages and content should sound natural while staying true to your brand’s personality.” 3. Get familiar with regionalisms and cultural don’ts.
8. Create a local calendar. “One important step for a successful global content strategy is to include local holidays and other important trends for the target audience.” 9. Make decisions based on data.
Here’s what it would have looked like if IKEA had trusted this job to Google Translate: “Although the Google Translate version is grammatically correct, it sounds stiff and it’s considerably lengthier (111 words versus 81 words in the Mexican version).” By the way, what is it with the year of foundation? It looks like Mexican IKEA is 10 years older than U.S. IKEA.
Here’s what it would have looked like if IKEA had trusted this job to Google Translate: “The lack of personalization and the inadequacy to the website’s design would turn this copy into a bad user experience.” By the way, what is it with the year of foundation? It looks like Mexican IKEA is 10 years older than U.S. IKEA.
4. Adjust your goals. “But when you enter into a new market, you should consider that your customers are likely to start the buyer’s journey from the top of the funnel.” 5. Do keyword research.
4. Adjust your goals. “If they’ve never heard of your brand or service, you’ll need to create a strategy more focused on discovery or education phases.” 5. Do keyword research.
7. Leverage your existing content. “Well, if your Australian audience is searching for “decorating ideas on a budget” and you have already created 10 different DIY decoration guides for your Italian site, you can use those to write a new post specifically for that target language, user intent and keyword research.” 8. Create a local calendar.
6. Benchmark. “Analyze their content performance and learn from their success and failures.” 7. Leverage your existing content.
To say that any of these phrases is utterly annoying would be something of an understatement. So, instead of turning this into a ranty blog post, I’m going to show you what to do when you’re trying to target an audience that doesn’t speak your language. “Spoiler alert: you don’t need to use Google Translate (or at least you shouldn’t!).” We’ve talked before about what it takes to create a successful content strategy: clear objectives, a well-defined target audience, thorough keyword research and a consistent tone of voice, just to name a few.
In marketing, localization has different meanings. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to stick to the one related to adapting content. According to SEMrush, localization is the process of taking content already created for your main market and adjusting it to fit your new target market’s needs. “Most companies just make it to the UX translationphase and fail to actually localize their content.” To show you how it’s done, let’s take a look at IKEA’s brand content. The U.S. and Mexican versions both present a quick introduction to the store’s evolution and vision.
1. Define your target audience. “This is not a copy-paste of your main market audience.” 2. Create your brand’s voice and tone guidelines.
3. Get familiar with regionalisms and cultural don’ts. “If you don’t want to get involved in a major social media backlash and a possible PR failure, make sure to know regionalisms and cultural faux pas.” 4. Adjust your goals.
5. Do keyword research. “Don’t just translate your keywords into your target language—and for that matter, don’t necessarily target the same keywords in different countries that speak the same language (again, I direct to my earlier banana point).” 6. Benchmark.
5. Do keyword research. “Take some time to understand user intent and the way people speak in different countries.” 6. Benchmark.
7. Leverage your existing content. “Please don’t just translate your content. Use it cleverly.” 8. Create a local calendar.
6. Benchmark. “They have already gone over this path, so they know what works and what doesn’t.” 7. Leverage your existing content.
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