Marketing strategies for big brands and small or medium business need to have some differences if they want to show results. While world-famous brands target people from the whole globe, SMBs mostly target their local community. This is where localized content marketing comes in.
Localization marketing is targeting everything from software development to ads but the aspect of localization strategy you need to pay extra attention to is the content. High-quality content is the one which will bring you some loyal customers so it is important that you adapt it to their needs.
How to approach content localization?
Content localization is a cultural adaptation of the content to a specific geographic area.
According to some research, 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company which provides a personalized experience. One of the best ways to personalize customers’ experience is to customize the content based on their location.
Depending on the area you are targeting, content localization can be viewed from different perspectives. It can include:
- Translation – Targeting different communities which use different languages demands that you translate your content. Translation doesn’t need to be included if your business is based in a community where English is the only dominating language.
- Localization – This part of content localization refers to adapting the content to a specific area. It doesn’t necessarily need to include translation but it does need to appeal to a local community.
- Transcreation– It includes the full process of re-writing the content and even changing the original message in order to adapt it to a specific culture.
As you can see, your content localization process depends on the community and culture you are targeting so it can’t be generalized.
However, there are certain approaches and localization strategies that will help you to attract and engage customers in any case.
Keep up with local studies, statistics, and news
Doing research on the area you want to target will help you to direct your localization in the right way.
It can help you to reveal some important facts that will determine the direction of your strategies. For example, look into information about which nationalities are present, which languages are spoken and in which percentages, which jobs are the most common, which are some of the likes and dislikes in that local community, and so on.
Here are some of the localization strategy examples of how statistics can influence your localization process:
- If most people speak English, you won’t have to translate your content
- If most people don’t like a certain event that happens in their city, you can create content that agrees with their opinion
- If most people earn money from tourism, you can create content that will give them helpful information
Some of the sources you can use to collect data are annual studies, print local news sources as well as online local news, googling the information, etc.
Even if you can’t find specific statistics, you can use local news to inspire your content creation.
Adjust content to local nationalities
Providing ccustomers content in their native language is extremely important. This is backed up with the fact that 87% of non-English speaking customers would not buy from a website which is only in English.
That is why after you have finished your research on nationalities and languages used in the targeted location, you need to adapt your content accordingly.
For example, if you want to target Miami you need to have your content translated in Spanish. Otherwise, you will lose a large number of potential customers.
Based on theAppia platform’s controlled test,86% of the localized campaigns outperformed the English campaigns in both click-throughs and conversions.
Understandably, people want to understand everything in order to make a purchase so even if they do understand English somewhat, it is unlikely that they will buy your product without the translation in their native language.
Even if there is a minority of people who speak a different language, you still need to cater to their needs.
If you decide to translate your content, it is best to find a translation review website where you can choose localization services such as PickWriters in order to achieve the best result.
Besides enabling people to have a better understanding of what you are offering, you will also show them that you care about your customers and respect different nationalities.
Localize social media content
Focusing content localization only on your website, won’t get you the desired result. You need to pay attention to the ruling marketing channels – social media platforms.
What is marketing without social media? Nothing.
Keep your Instagram posts related to local interests and even post on Facebook in multiple languages. Whichever platform you use, just make sure that the published content is also localized and adapted.
Take as an example one of the most successful brands in the world of marketing – Coca Cola. Their Instagram page for Japan is heavy on colorful product images andon the other hand, the page for Brazil mostly focuses on candid content in the form of videos and images.
Engage your customers by posting about some trending news in their community and ask them to join the discussion. We all know that people love to publicly share their opinion. Once they comment on their post or like it, their friends and followers will also hear about your business.
Another way in which you can take advantage of social media is to pay online platforms to boost your ad. Even though this requires spending some money, it will get you noticed much faster.
Give the customers’ what they want
What you need to be aware of is that producing locally-relevant content demands much more effort and thought than creating general content.
You need to give the customers the type of content they would really want to see.
From trending news to local attractions, you should cover it all.
For example, if there is a certain festival in your town that everybody silently hates because it blocks the city, this can be your opportunity to create some great content. Use this to your advantage. Let’s say that you sell earphones. You can create content that goes something like this:
- 5 Tips to Avoid Annoying Crowd During the Festival
Then simply include your product as one of the little helpers that will make that whole festival experience less tormenting.
Show them that you are one of them and you will get them on your side.
Some final thoughts
It is indisputable that any business who wishes to improve its marketing strategy needs to adopt the localization process. As you could see from above-mentioned examples, by localizing your content you will not only adapt it to your customers’ needs and wants but you will also show that their wishes are important to you.
There is not a person in the world who would prefer generic content rather than a personalized one. That is why you need to apply these localization content strategies and prepare for some great things!
The post Localized Content Marketing — The Guide to Attract and Engage Customers appeared first on Digital Media News & Training.
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