It’s a small world, but getting your marketing message out there is no small feat. Language barriers and cultural differences can present significant difficulties. Europe alone contains 44 countries with 24 official languages and more than 200 spoken ones.

You might be wondering if it is worth going through all the trouble to create social selling messages in multiple languages. The short answer: Yes! After all, 75% of consumers prefer to buy products in their native language. If you’re looking to improve your revenue from outside your native country, it’s a good idea to personalize your message to consumers who live in countries where you do business.

However, good marketing localization involves more than cutting and pasting copy and using Google Translate to convert it to another language. Here are some tips for making your localized messages effective.

Mold your social selling message to each location.

It’s important to know the local customs and subtleties of language when you create marketing pieces. For example, holidays usually play a big part in marketing, whether it’s the Labor Day Clearance at the local furniture store or a meaningful blog about what Father’s Day means to you. However, Labor Day is strictly American, and Father’s Day is not so important in Germany.

Similarly, each language has its own slang words, but you can’t assume everyone around the globe knows them. Just because “bad” sometimes can be used as “cool” in America doesn’t mean citizens of other countries know this as well. This particular example could cause your message to be interpreted completely opposite to its intent.

Use local influencers to build trust.

Building trust with consumers is more critical now than ever. People want to put their money into companies that reflect their values. Less idealistically, they also want to know that your products or services are of good quality. This is where social media influencers can make a difference. Using the services of local influencers (AKA nano influencers) can give your brand instant credibility by showing you are trusted by a person the locals trust. In fact, 69% of brands say nano influencers have boosted their customer engagement.

Tell the right stories in your content marketing.

Storytelling is a potent social selling tool, but only if the stories are relevant to your audience. Including local details can make all the difference in the effectiveness of your stories. The point of storytelling in marketing is to engage customers on a personal level. If your story is too generic and “one size fits all,” it won’t play well with your audience. Take the time to research the various locales you’re targeting to spice up your storytelling with some local flavor.

Fit your digital marketing visuals to the location.

Visuals are a big part of digital marketing. When sharing with audiences in various locations, be sure to use images that will appeal to them and be inclusive of their culture. For example, don’t use a photo of deep-dish Chicago-style pizza when marketing to New Yorkers. And don’t use a photo of pizza from either of these cities if you’re marketing to Italians. Aim for diversity in your choice of human models to include in your images. You want to ensure that your audience can see themselves in the pictures and buy into the story you’re telling.

Our experience with global marketing

Here at Ready for Social, we have staff members across the globe, from the U.S. to Germany to Croatia to The Philippines. We customize social selling content in English, German, French and Spanish, which rank 1, 2, 3 and 5 in the top languages used for international business communication, comprising 77% of the total.

We understand the importance of having native speakers write in these languages. We make it a point to have our remote staff get together physically when possible to learn from each other’s diverse homelands and backgrounds. We’ve also added the ability to view our website in German and English.

If your business is considering going global, dive in! There’s much to be gained from doing business in many countries.

Share your experience with globalization or international marketing with us in the comments below. We hope you’ll contact us if we can assist you with your global social selling efforts.

Photos by Pixabay on pexels.com; Thorsten technoman on pexels.com; and Julio GM on pexels.com.