Culturally Customized Content
International web marketing and online based international business development rely heavily on culture customized content to create effective lead generation funnels and get sales.
Very simply, if you want to communicate effectively with different cultures in different countries you need to adapt your communication and your content. This is how you can begin to build cross-cultural relationships through your online business.
Reaching Clients With Content
There are a few different names used to describe the same basic type of marketing:
- Content Marketing
- Educational Marketing
- Information Marketing
How To Get The Content For Your Marketing
There is a trend in businesses outsourcing content creation. As Junta42 said recently, content outsourcing is getting the second largest marketing budget today.
This trend in outsourcing content creation is estimated to expand.
International Content Creation
The question is, how will businesses that outsource their content approach content for international audiences?
Will this international content be outsourced to:
- Content creators, or
- Translators, or
- Culture-customizers?
Choice Of Communication
First lets, look at another question. The choice of customizing your content to foreign markets.
I am often surprised by marketing managers who take the easy road of using a translation service.
Most of the large American companies I have dealt with will have their communication go through their American corporate communication or public relations Vice President and then translated.
This translation might be forwarded to the marketing manager based in the foreign country for input as a courtesy measure. Unfortunately I have yet to hear of any recommended changes being implemented.
This results in very little communication being culturally customized to the local culture.
Large companies have a very difficult issue with their corporate branding. This leaves their foreign marketing departments more work to catch up.
Loss For Some, Opportunity For Others
It is also a wonderful opportunity for the smaller, or more flexible businesses, to create more effective communication in foreign markets.
Culture-customized content will always resonate more than content created for your own domestic market.
Different cultures respond to different things. The communication you need to get the most out of one specific market will be different to the communication you need in another one.
Yes, it takes more effort to get the culture-customized content. It also takes more expertise and experience in your foreign markets.
But it will bring in more sales and will give your company a stronger presence in that culture.
How To Customize Your Content For Different Cultures
Now let’s go back to my question about how businesses will outsource the content they need for international markets.
There are two problems:
- Marketing managers in one country find working with a translation company easy to do.
- Most translation companies say they have translators with specific industry knowledge.
I have been one of those marketing executives.
Always get a mother-tongue speaker of the language you need. If your translator speaks the language you need as a second language and it is for communication with your clients… well you have just given your competitors a nice present.
I’ve hunted down the good translation agencies, bought the translations and had to work with the results.
Now, I have worked with a few large multinational companies with in-house staff capable of writing the documents needed in the foreign language. But time is a big factor when it comes to translations.
There is something I noticed. Translated documents were rarely as good as when they were done in-house with the right person.
Inside experience and expertise count enormously when creating culturally customized content.
Get Rid Of The Risk
After about 10 years in international business I decided on another tactic. My language skills will good enough for me to see the difference in marketing and cross-cultural communication needs and the best work any translation service could offer me.
My new tactic required prior planning in the beginning and some creative thinking. Afterwards I learned to keep my eyes open. I also began to know exactly what I wanted from a business and marketing point of view.
Whenever I need a document in another language, I look for the perfect person to do the job. I pre-select the person I want to work with.
- We have to have the same business outlook.
- The person has to have excellent writing skills.
- The writing style in the foreign language has to be right for the job.
- The person has to understand the objectives.
- The person must be able to communicate these objectives into the other language.
I often now turn to a professional friend or colleague. I also have my favorites.
Just because you
- Speak the language does not mean you will write what the market needs.
- Work in the same industry does not mean you will know how to communicate what the market needs.
- Have the right qualification does not mean you will get the communication right.
You might think I’m fussy with translations. No it’s not fussy.
It’s a question of eliminating risk. I do not like risks.
A marketer wants his campaigns to be successful. In my past experience, I have often eliminated at least 30-40% of the international marketing risk by having content written by the right person.
Eliminate a very large percentage of your risk.
Find the right person to create your culturally-customized content.
Need International English content? Drop me an email.
Brush up your international skills…
Read more on Culturally Customized Content:
- A Different English For Your International Audience
- Americans Need International English Too
- Customize Your Content For Different Cultures
- Customizing Content For Your Clients
- Do You Use English Or American Spelling?
- Multicultural Marketing And Colors
- The 2 Main Reasons Why Companies Do Not Have Good Foreign Language Content
- The Phases Of Cultural Communication You Go Through To Increase International Sales
- Translations, Foreign Language Content and Culturally Customized Content
- What Is Your Culture On The Social Web?
- Who Should You Get To Write Your Foreign Language Web Content
- Writing Info-Products For International Readers
Use these skills in your international strategies on the…
Get International Clients International Sales Road Map:
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Step 5 – Connect With Your International MarketsConnect… |
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International English• What is international English and what can it do your for business? This is part of Step 5 of Get International Clients. |
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Culture Customized Content• How can culture-customized content increase your international sales? This is part of Step 5 of Get International Clients. |
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Cultural Web Tools• How can you connect faster with your international clients? This is part of Step 8 of Get International Clients. |
