Are you looking to grow your business internationally? If you’re looking to increase awareness of your brand, why limit your plans to just your home territory? There’s a great big world out there, packed with international customers just ready to contribute to your coffers.
Obviously, if you’re going to court international audiences, you’ll need to take care of the fundamentals first – things like ensuring you have suitable online business payment systems in place. With those practicalities taken care of, it’s time to put your foreign growth strategy into action.
Start with website translation
Those little website language selector buttons that you use to change a foreign site to your native tongue are the result of a huge amount of work. Let’s say you want to expand to Germany. In order to offer German language selection on your site, you’ll need to engage German translation services to deliver the entire website in German. Not only will you need the translation to be accurate and precise, you will also need your German translators to handle the technical side of the project, from exporting and importing strings to ensuring your prices are showing in the right currency and at the right price after conversion.
Finding an English to German translation service to work with can be daunting. There are a lot of individuals and agencies out there offering professional English to German translation, but not all have the experience, broad range of skills and localization expertise that you will need. Is there a demand for German translators? Absolutely – huge demand. And also a huge supply of translators. Do your homework and choose your English to German translation service carefully to ensure the company you select ticks all the right boxes.
Marketing material localization
As well as translating your website, you’ll also need to translate and localize your marketing materials. This is where, in addition to using an accurate German translator to get the language right for your marketing materials, you also focus on adapting them to suit the audience you’re targeting. The idea is that your marketing materials will read as though they were originally written for German-speaking audiences. The same is true for any country into which you plan to expand – your target market needs to feel that they are your priority, no matter where your business is based.
Connecting with customers in this way is key to a successful international growth strategy. No matter how large your brand, customers like to feel a local, personal connection with it. Localizing your marketing materials will help you to create that sense of connection and win more customers as a result. This applies whether they are written marketing materials, radio adverts, video ads or any other form of marketing.
Culturally aware social media campaigns
More than half the world now uses social media – 59% as at July 2022. As such, if your company wants to get in front of international audiences, social media is an excellent way to do it. That said, there is a huge number of brands out there also vying for users’ interest across all social media platforms. This is why your social media campaigns need to shine in every respect, from the language you use to the ways in which you show you are culturally aware and relevant.
What is the best German translator? For social media posts, it may be tempting to use the social media’s sites built-in translation tool, but that doesn’t always deliver reliable results. The best translator for nuanced delivery of social media campaigns is a human translator with a deep understanding of the local culture and current events. That way, you’re benefiting not just from the translator’s language skill but from their knowledge. This is a powerful tool in the battle for market share. It means you can create social media campaigns that tap into popular culture and truly resonate with consumers.
Localized holiday campaigns
Getting your offers and promotions right can do a huge amount to win over international customers and grow your brand. One essential part of your approach is adapting your offers to suit each of the countries you want to operate in. Every country has its special holidays and special traditions, so while a blanket approach to certain offers might work, you’ll also need to take account of local happenings.
Let’s consider Thanksgiving. It is a localized holiday that is celebrated in the United States, as well as in Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Liberia. In 2022, Thanksgiving Day saw online shoppers in the US spend a record $5.29 billion. That compares to an average daily spend of somewhere between $2 billion and $3 billion.
For companies that got their Thanksgiving Day promotions right, including coping with a significant increase in online demand and fulfilling all orders swiftly and accurately, this single day provided a huge opportunity. Happy consumers are often loyal consumers, so companies that won over new customers on Thanksgiving Day could go on to benefit in the coming months and even years. All thanks to localized campaigns focused around a single holiday day.
Of course, all of these steps to international success need to be underpinned by strong business credentials. You can only grow your brand over the longer term when you have decent products and provide a good service. Increasingly, businesses also need to take an ethically upright and sustainable approach to their operations. They need to treat their staff, suppliers and other contacts with respect, as well as their customers. All while being conscious of their environmental footprint. In this day and age, when gossip and rumours about a brand can spread so far and so fast on social media, such factors cannot be ignored.
One final piece of advice when it comes to growing your international brand: monitor your progress. By measuring the results of your attempts to grow your business, from email marketing campaigns to social media video content, you can understand what works and what doesn’t. Also, don’t forget to opt for the ior service if you want to get complied in both the national and international market.