While globalization has connected the world like never before, successful localization requires more than surface-level translation. By aligning content with different cultural insights, brands can overcome barriers to create authentic multi-local engagement.
In marketing, optimal familiarity can relate to the ideal level of brand recognition and consumer exposure to a product or service. Achieving optimal familiarity in this context means ensuring that your website and content resonate and are relevant to local audiences in each target region.
Race for alignment
Localization should reflect the preferences, habits and values of the local market. Prioritize organic search goals that align with business goals. To capitalize on high-value SEO opportunities, you need to test and measure initial efforts. Then scale what resonates. Regularly refresh your audience and travel research to stay relevant as behaviors evolve.
Machine translator, human editor
Machine translation is a great way to scale your presence in different markets. However, machine translation often falls short of capturing nuances. Inaccurate translations can create a feeling of unfamiliarity and mistrust, undermining brand ownership efforts. Your workflow should always include local experts or native speakers to ensure that the end result provides a culturally nuanced translation. An innocent phrase in one country may be offensive or silly in another. In-depth cultural knowledge, sometimes even at the sub-national level, is crucial to avoid such pitfalls.
Internal search is a hidden threat to proper detection
If your website’s internal search engine is not localized, it can drastically affect the user experience. Be sure to adapt the search algorithm to local needs. Brand names may vary. often, people use a brand name instead of a product name to describe a product (Kleenex, Whiteout, Frigidaire). You must ensure that your internal search engine is able to return results for these queries. Otherwise, customers may feel that you are not conveying them and you may lose a sale. By adapting the search algorithm to local needs and taking into account variations in product brands and terminology, you align your store with local, familiar customer expectations.
Be careful with offers
Avoid blanket promotions that exclude certain areas. Limiting access to offers due to geographic restrictions is extremely frustrating for customers.
Brands often face this problem when running contests or offering coupon codes. Instead, segment promotions by local language to present relevant offers. This may require region-specific landing pages, geo-targeted emails or personalized on-site messaging.
If regulations restrict certain promotions, be upfront about appropriateness to manage expectations. For example, the restrictions around Quebec’s strict language laws are understandable if they are clearly explained in advance.
Set up tracking to track promotion success by country and tweak based on response rates. Continually optimize to improve the relevance of offers for each local location you serve. Local deals require extra effort because you have to take into account local holidays, customs, color symbolism and laws, but they drive the engagement. McDonald’s is known for adapting its menu and promotions to suit local tastes and preferences around the world. For example, in Japan, they offer seasonal items such as the “Teriyaki Burger” to cater to local tastes, while in India they have a range of vegetarian options to cater to cultural dietary preferences. But they overcome this with their marketing strategy by adapting ads to various cultures worldwide.
