The perks of local marketing – why international businesses should localize their content

As customer engagement and retention have increasingly become top priorities for CMOs, it’s become clear that consumer-facing content needs to be highly relevant and targeted...

  1. chevron left iconThe perks of local marketing
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censhare Editorial TeamOctober 20, 2015
  • Content Marketing

As customer engagement and retention have increasingly become top priorities for CMOs, overtaking awareness and acquisition as key growth drivers, it’s become clear that consumer-facing content needs to be highly relevant and targeted to see successful conversion rates.

For brands with a global presence, targeting takes on an extra dimension as the brand message has to be articulated across multiple markets, and adapted to suit each one. For ecommerce businesses, having a localized 'shop' is critical for conversion, as 72.4% of global consumers prefer to shop online in their native language – and 55% only buy from websites with information in their mother tongue.

So, how can online businesses adapt to meet consumers' preference for a 'closer to home' experience?

The obvious first step is to build local teams who can translate all copy across all channels and marketing materials. However, careful attention should also be paid not just to translating content, but to truly localizing it (ensuring it reflects cultural norms and nuances in the target market) and, in some cases, originating new content if a concept or campaign won't translate well from one market to another.

Research conducted by NPR Digital Services found that localized, geo-targeted posts on Facebook are six times more likely to be liked, shared and commented on than non-targeted posts. Within the US fast food industry, where big chains often operate many franchised stores across different states and vast distances, the benefits of geo-targeted content are immediately apparent.

Snack chain Dunkin' Donuts works with regional and international partners to localize content across 31 Twitter and Facebook accounts. Jessica Gioglio, Dunkin’ Donuts social media manager, says it's a sprawling but essential (and effective) system: "It is important that we are able to share information with our local fans about events or special promotions that may be happening in their hometown and to have that open dialogue with them."

In the world of "glocal" marketing, where brands need to offer localized and targeted content to successfully engage their audiences, it's clear that intelligent technology is needed to manage the additional resource (local teams) required, and to co-ordinate the publishing of localized materials and assets across multiple accounts and channels. Find out how censhare is helping Endress+Hauser Group to efficiently manage its communications across 47 countries, for a truly "glocal" presence, by watching our case study video.

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censhare Editorial Team

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