Are you localizing your content strategy, or have you considered doing it? The reality is, if you genuinely want your business to capture new markets, you must tailor your content to local audiences in order to achieve global expansion. Avoiding standardization, it is crucial to customize your message for each specific local audience, all while clearly maintaining your brand’s identity. To accomplish this, the role of a web translation and localization agency is both invaluable and indispensable in today’s landscape.
Incorporating localization into your content marketing strategy
To effectively integrate your content marketing strategy across different locations and diverse audiences, you must approach it by considering the language, culture, legal requirements, customs, beliefs, and traditions of each of the audiences you intend to reach. Put simply: you need to respect the unique characteristics of each local audience.
For this purpose, it is advisable to integrate the localization process right from the outset of content creation and development across the diverse formats intended for use in the campaign. This approach enables you to kickstart the strategy simultaneously.
Translation is one facet of the localization process, which encompasses:
- Employing the most fitting terminology and language style.
- Adapting all graphic components.
- Converting currencies and units.
- Ensuring seamless integration between web design and the extent of the translated content.
- Implementing appropriate formats for addresses, dates, and times.
- Adhering to the prevailing legal regulations in each location.
Flawless localization is crucial to accomplish the objective of every content marketing strategy: engaging the target audience and earning their trust and faith in the brand.
Mistakes avoided through professional localization in content strategy
Technological progress and globalization bring us closer together like never before. However, each region still holds onto its distinctive elements: languages and linguistic variants, norms and customs, and so on. These are factors that no company should ignore, as they are crucial to prevent any offense or the delivery of an inappropriate message that could damage the brand's reputation.
These are the most common mistakes:
- Standardizing content. All content should be perceived by diverse audiences as tailor-made for each of them.
- Neglecting to localize all the elements and layout. It is vital to translate and localize graphics, audiovisual materials, sizes, currencies, measurements, etc. Also, consider reading direction and format appropriateness to prevent any confusing or ambiguous elements for users.
- Overlooking color and symbol implications. For instance, the color red symbolizes strength and passion in Western countries and signifies good luck and prosperity in China. Conversely, it represents danger and anger in Japan, and mourning in certain African countries.
- Failing to adapt the brand's vision and values to resonate with the audience. This task is the most complex for localization professionals, as they must retain the brand’s defining identity while aligning it with local criteria, values, and preferences.
- Disregarding ongoing localization efforts. Rather than being static, the process demands regular content updates in line with evolving audience trends and preferences. This encompasses metadata and the integration of new communication channels.
An effective content strategy, combined with the professional and expert localization services offered by Linguaserve, is the cornerstone to engaging and building loyalty among local audiences.
