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Content marketing has taken off as a method of expanding brand visibility. Companies big and small know that they need content to bring in customers and revenue.
Blogs, social media posts, website copy, videos, and other types of content can decide whether a business thrives or fails. While companies need a steady stream of content to ensure success, they should also consider where their content is being experienced in the world.
Using Language as an Example
Companies that want to expand internationally (or domestically) can use content marketing to promote and sell their products and services, which provides easier entry into foreign markets. First, however, these companies must evaluate their content marketing strategies and create specific content for each market.
Some companies simply translate their content into a market’s commonly spoken language. Other companies don’t even bother translating the content at all.
This is a Catch-22 situation. Companies that don’t translate their content at all run the risk of alienating the very audience they hope to attract, but simple language translations without further research into culture and deeper meanings might result in awkward text, videos, and advertisements that feel “off”.
Sometimes, words have different meanings in different countries despite the common language—for example, the difference between “chips” and “crisps” in the United States and Great Britain.
Some popular catchphrases in English might not translate well into another language (and vice versa). In fact, some translations might be offensive in a different market’s native language. Insulting a local market can be avoided through proper research that can help create marketing content that caters to the tastes of a target audience.
Translating content can only take a company so far in getting a foothold in a foreign market. Creating a comprehensive content localization strategy can help make the target audience in a particular market pay more attention to a product. Content localization can make content culturally and geographically relevant and improve consumer understanding of your products and services.
What Type of Content Should Be Localized?
You can localize all content and marketing materials—social media posts, advertisements, digital media and videos, influencer promotions, etc.
This includes more “serious” technical content like product specifications, instructions, and legal and contact information. Though this side of content localization may not help you improve your sales numbers, it has other benefits. For example, it enables you to comply with a region’s legal regulations, allows customer service issues to be resolved more quickly, and ensures that your products are being used and enjoyed correctly no matter who purchases them. User experience matters!
All of this can go a long way in generating positive brand awareness, increasing a company’s chances of attaining sizable market shares in a broader range of markets.
When Should Content Be Localized?
In an optimal situation, the culture, language, and characteristics of people within a particular geographic area should always be considered during your content strategizing process. Content localization can be a time-consuming process, but it can help improve your visibility, brand awareness, and customer journey. Furthermore, increasing relatability, understanding, and accessibility can convert more web traffic into paying customers.
Since people expect content to cater to their language and cultural norms, companies should make localization ‘just another step’ in their content marketing process.
A company should first evaluate its products or services to determine if they are appropriate or desirable in certain areas. If they are, then content localization strategies should immediately be employed. There’s no reason not to localize your content from the very beginning!
Companies that have already launched their products in international or unfamiliar markets but haven’t localized their content should consider their strategy moving forward. Engaging the local audience is essential if you want people to buy what you’re selling.
Why Is Content Localization Important?
Companies that localize their content can get an edge over competitors who don’t. Embracing content localization can increase brand awareness and improve your company’s authority in its given industry.
If a customer in an international market sees content that speaks to them without any translation mistakes, they might view the company that made the content as a leader in their field. In fact, 57% of consumers care more about their ability to get information in their own language than they do about price. So even this small amount of content localization can build trust in a company.
Trust is an essential factor in the purchasing process. If a customer’s trust in a company is high, they might be a source of repeatable revenue – all because that company chose to localize their marketing content properly.
Takeaway
Content localization is the process of modifying content to cater to a specific region’s sensitivities, language, and cultural preferences. It’s an integral element of content marketing and can be effective even when marketing in different geographic areas in the same country (Example: Los Angeles vs. rural Nebraska).
Companies that want to succeed in areas outside of their home territory can adapt all of their content to help improve their chances. If you’re looking beyond your local geographic borders and are tweaking your marketing strategies accordingly, you’re probably already enjoying the benefits of content localization.
