Going global is a multiple-step process that requires planning efforts, focused strategies, and local knowledge of the market you are going to reach.

By now, every brand knows that using English as the only key to reach international markets will only lead to a poor user experience and a low engagement rate.

Let’s begin with some stats:

• According to a CSA Research study, 76% of online shoppers (8,709 global consumers in 29 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America) prefer to buy products with information in their native language.
• According to Common Sense Advisory, 51% of business buyers would rather buy a product from a site with poor-quality localization than from a site that only has content in English.
• 56% of the consumers said the ability to obtain information in their own language is even more important than price.

What is the solution to enter new markets?

You might think that translation could be an excellent way to communicate with your international customers, but is it always the good option?

Let’s explore the benefits of multilingual content marketing and why it’s the best approach to take your brand global.

What is multilingual content marketing?

Multilingual content marketing is content marketing designed for international audiences. This means that you will craft content in different languages in order to attract a wider group of potential customers in other countries.

The goal is to create content for local search, by adopting targeted marketing and SEO strategies to reach a specific audience in a given area.

Multilingual content creation goes beyond mere translation. Nor only does it require your company to possess a good knowledge of local culture and social norms, but also a good domain of market trends, consumer behavior, and market analysis.

Examples of multilingual content marketing

Before exploring the benefits of a multilingual content creation strategy, let’s look at some examples.

Depending on the resources you have, you may opt for creating a content strategy from scratch for each market or adapting the existing one to match the new requirements.

Your multilingual content marketing strategy may consist of:

• Creating a new content strategy from scratch by focusing on specific locations.
• Translating existing content.
• Working on local SEO.
• Creating localized social media content.
• Implementing a multilingual customer service (e.g. a multilingual chatbot for your website able to support users in more than one language).
• Video subtitling or dubbing.

Multilingual content creation vs. translation: the best option for your company

Are you wondering what strategy to use for your internationalization journey?

As we mentioned in previous paragraphs, translation is an effective solution to reach global markets. The vast majority of companies, nowadays, rely on translation services to gain visibility abroad and communicate properly with their customers.

Nevertheless, it has some limitations.

Mere translation won’t help you achieve your marketing goals. You need multilingual content strategists with a solid marketing knowledge and language expertise.

Here’s what the ideal candidate looks like:

• They’re able to work on and improve user experience.
• They have excellent SEO skills.
• They have knowledge about branding and can help you establish credibility in a different market.
• They are good goal setters and are able to identify the right steps to help you reach your objectives.
• They are able to create localized content.
• They have tools to monitor your content performance.

Is a marketing translator suitable?

You can find a lot of marketing translators on LinkedIn and other channels, but how do you know whether they’re the right fit or not?

First, let’s define “marketing translation”. The term can be misleading, as it may refer to the translation of marketing-related material or the translation of copy where a marketing strategy is applied.

The best way to figure out whether a translator can help you or not is by asking them if they actually have a marketing training. In other words, are they marketers? Do they think like marketers?

Multilingual content marketing is effective only when there’s a strategy behind it. Translating content, being creative, and adapting it to the local audience is not enough. Before starting to work on the copy, you need an action plan; that is why it’s important to partner with a language professional who is also a strategist.

You may also like: 5 Things you Should Know about Marketing Translation

Good practices for a successful multilingual content creation strategy

What’s behind a strong multilingual content marketing strategy?

Here are some recommendations that can guide you through the process:

• Start a keyword research for each market you want to target, and create copy accordingly. Choose keywords according to user intent, volume, and difficulty, then start creating content based on the data acquired.
• Work with local content writers who understand cultural elements and are up to date with the current trends.
• Partner with local influencers that can drive attention to your brand.
• Stay up to date with cultural and linguistic changes, and speak the language of your customers. Adapt your copy to their way of speaking and use a language they can understand.
• Periodically review and refresh your content.
• Optimize live content for local search.