by Tim John, Director of Business Development at Intrawelt
Creating the right strategy is one of the main ways to expand your customer base. Your strategy is an explanation of why you are creating content for your audience and how you can make a difference above every other company out there. It’s about building up your audience to get your desired outcome and a great return on investment. Without a content marketing strategy in place, you’re just ‘another company’ fighting for custom.
A national content marketing strategy is all well and good, but it limits the people you could potentially reach. How can you make that all important global switch to generate more leads and dominate your industry worldwide?
Global content marketing gives different brands the opportunity to expand their audience. Well, saying this, why doesn’t every business take this path? Unfortunately, with language and time barriers being an initial issue, it’s not always that simple. Expanding with an international strategy is worth it so long as you can overcome some minor hurdles.
Creating the right content.
Coming up with the content and throwing it into a free online translating tool isn’t enough. Neither is guessing what people are punching into a search engine to fuel your website’s content. Having said that, it can be difficult for a lot of businesses to get hold of the right resources to manage content in their global content marketing strategy, so taking the time to plan ahead effectively is essential.
Translation services.
It’s crucial to overcome those language barriers when going international. However, how do you know what to translate? Are translation services well within your budget? Have you got the capacity to ensure each piece of content is translated, and that it will deliver a significant return on investment?
Using suitable and reputable language translation services such as Intrawelt can tick all the boxes and ensure your international efforts can be understood by your extended audience. They can provide top translation and interpretation services to businesses worldwide.
Scheduling tools.
What happens when you need to churn out content targeting a country with a different time zone? Don’t worry, you’re not expected to set your alarms early in the morning to make sure it’s posted while they’re on their daily commute or lunch break. Whether it’s your social strategy or the next informative blog post on your website, ensure you schedule effectively to gain maximum exposure. Do a little research into when your international audience are active and when they are more likely to see your content.
Sites, URLs and keywords.
A big thing to consider is where your content will be situated. Is an entirely new website and URL needed to cater for the needs of your international audience? Would you prefer a global gateway? Think about how your extended audience will navigate to their preferred site location and whether it will have a similar feel to it as your main site. It’s also a given that different audiences have different thought patterns when it comes to searching for services online. Make sure you research the different search engines they’re likely to use in a specific location as well as the most popular key words and terms.
Getting to know your audiences.
Through the advancements in technology and marketing in general, it’s becoming easier to target the right audiences globally. Take paid social media targeting and search engine ads for example; we can target new areas with a click of a button. From being fluent in the relevant languages to understanding who you’re really targeting, you need to get to know your audience to have a chance of branching out successfully.
Smart targeting.
Targeting new places doesn’t just have to be a case of spinning a globe and choosing where you land. See where your current traffic is coming from using Google Analytics; where would an entirely new international strategy be beneficial? This isn’t just limited here; research which social channels a country uses the most often. Think about catering for the needs of each area and what they need to see to feel supported.
Move forward with a global content marketing strategy.
When it comes to creating that flawless international strategy, you need to convince your new audience that you can deliver. You need to develop a trusting relationship by giving a personalised and optimised experience. When thinking about a global content marketing strategy, remember the following:
- Review your business goals
- Create the right content and obtain translation services.
- Know your audience and what they expect.
- Target the right channels to grow your current traffic.
Tim John is an industry expert with 14 years of sales experience of which 10 years in the translation industry. He has worked for some of the most successful translation agencies in the world in sectors like Legal, Financial, Pharmaceutical and E-commerce. For the last two years he has operated the UK Sector for Intrawelt expanding their client base as Business Director.
