The Importance of Content
Content has always played a vital role in business strategy, even before the digital transformation when print was the primary marketing method. In today’s highly competitive market, quality content is more crucial than ever to stand out. For vendors aiming to promote their products and services globally, high-quality multilingual content is the key to making them appealing and engaging to potential buyers in their own language. As a result, creatives and multilingual creatives have a significant responsibility, and their role can be demanding. Therefore, it is imperative to create a well-thought-out international content strategy before writing any content. While this post mainly focuses on digital content, many of the concepts discussed are still relevant in print media.
Conducting Content Market Research
To succeed in providing engaging and influential content, the first step is to put yourself in the customers’ shoes and understand what they are looking for and how they are most likely to absorb it. Each industry has its own “best practices” for content delivery, which can vary from country to country. Online resources provide ample research material specific to your industry. However, you may find that existing methods or platforms are saturated or that your innovative approach hasn’t been tried before. In such cases, it may be worth exploring new strategies or conducting A/B testing with untested methods.
It is crucial to recognize that services and products are perceived differently across the world. Understanding how the local market perceives your product, competitor’s product, and industry is vital in developing effective content. If there are stigmas or common misconceptions associated with your offerings, your content should address and dispel them.
If you require assistance with market research, services like those offered by the British Library can help you collect and compile relevant data. However, comprehensive data for your industry may already be available online from reputable sources. Investing time in finding such data can save you from duplicating work that has already been done.
Thorough research is the key to a successful multilingual content strategy that resonates with your target audience.
Tailoring Content to the Audience
Choosing communication methods is based on the type of customers you want to target and where they can be found. Depending on the medium you use to deliver content, you can specifically target your audience. For example, social media platforms like Facebook are popular among young, tech-savvy individuals. Facebook’s granular audience targeting options allow you to present your message in a more direct manner, assuming the audience already possesses industry knowledge or relevant terms. This eliminates the need to “draw them in” as you might do with general print advertising.
“Don’t treat your customers only as demographics and income brackets; talk to them the way they talk to their friends and use the same tools they’re using, whether that’s Line, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Facebook, or WeChat. Global marketing is about fully understanding and appreciating the nuances and unique demands of different regions.”
Taylor Howard – Alibaba
One advantage of a global campaign is that while it may have been exhausted in a particular market, it may be a fresh approach for a new target market. This can save you from reinventing the wheel. However, it’s crucial to ensure that the key messages are localized to the target market. Simply assuming that direct translations of English concepts, for example, will work in China is a mistake that should be avoided.
Adapting Content to Different Platforms
When determining where to place your content, it’s essential to consider the restrictions and considerations specific to each platform. For instance, Twitter has a character limit, which requires concise and to-the-point messaging. A short piece of content, like this one, can serve as a headline grabber to quickly capture attention and direct users to longer content or a product page.
On the other hand, Facebook allows for longer content, but it’s important to consider whether users would want to spend 20 minutes reading a Facebook post or if they would simply move on. For Facebook, it’s more effective to engage users and foster interaction before directing them elsewhere.
LinkedIn generally maintains a slightly more formal and business-like tone, often relating to B2B dealings. Each social media platform offers different options for incorporating images and videos, which can be used strategically to grab attention. The appropriateness of certain content elements may vary based on the platform and its specific content requirements.
Building Brand Expertise and Trust
Social media channels aren’t solely for engaging users and diverting traffic to blog posts or calls-to-action. They also provide an excellent opportunity to build a sense of expertise and trust in a brand. By consistently posting relevant and engaging comments on industry-related events, an industry-focused Twitter feed, for example, can gradually build trust over time. When that same feed eventually offers content related to products and services, people are more likely to listen and take action.
Consideration for Global Target Markets
It’s important to note that not all social media platforms are available in every potential global target market. For instance, in China, it’s crucial to be aware of platforms like Sina Weibo (新浪微博), while in Russia, Vkontakte (ВКонтакте) is prominent.
Printed media, such as magazines or billboards, necessitates different considerations compared to digital platforms.
Localizing Content for International Markets
At this stage, you should have a clear understanding of your target audience, where your content will be presented, and the platform-specific considerations for engagement. However, when taking a successful content marketing campaign that has generated attention in one market, such as the UK, it’s important to recognize that the same campaign cannot simply be replicated for the German market. Translating marketing campaigns literally from English to German often fails to capture nuances, local references, and even the sense of humor. The process of adapting content to suit a specific market is called localization.
To ensure your content resonates with the target market, it’s crucial to involve someone with local market knowledge. They can provide insights on cultural considerations and fully grasp the original message of the content. Only then can they successfully localize the content for a new language and culture.
Importance of SEO in International Content
When creating any web content, it’s essential to prioritize search engine optimization (SEO). SEO-friendly content increases the chances of being found and indexed by search engines. This principle applies to international content as well. We are currently working on a detailed post about international and multilingual SEO considerations, which will be available soon.
To summarize
Planning a clear international and multilingual content strategy is vital. The plan should be developed before creating the content itself. It’s crucial to have subject matter experts generate the content to ensure its quality and accuracy. Additionally, the