Being global means being local to a multiple degree. Building a truly global brand might be a hard task if you don’t consider each of your overseas markets individually. After all, with one message and one branding targeted at everyone, your products and ideas won’t attract enough attention and fail to generate enthusiasm of your consumers. Starting from market research and an image of your target customers, you can adapt and modify your products, packaging, websites, slogans or logos to be more effective and successful. Including localisation into your marketing strategy will help you achieve your objectives faster and smoother.

With localised content as an integral part of your marketing plan, you’ll be able to:

1. Gain loyalty of your target consumers

Brands that understand and respect local traditions and customs are more likely to gain trust and loyalty of potential customers. To achieve it, verify if your products and services are aligned with the local culture. Depending on your target market, chances are that your product names might sound vague, distant or even insulting. Double check every single detail on your packaging and website to make sure your consumers won’t be discouraged by unfortunate names or unclear cultural references.

 2. Reach more fans and followers

Localising your marketing strategy extents also to your social media profiles. Translation and adaptation of your website and marketing materials won’t do magic without targeting your local consumers via social media. Regular updates in the language of your Facebook fans or Twitter followers are more likely to increase engagement rates and build strong connections with your consumers. This is also a good method to attract more fans and followers, which can convert to your loyal customers.

3. Prove your local presence in every region

You can only become a part of a new group, environment or society if you act and think alike. To market your product on a new or existing market, you’ll need to prove that you’re close to your consumers. Merely translating all your texts and materials to the language of your target customers won’t prove that you’re just around the corner. Offering local customer support, joining local events or being sensitive to cultural nuances will definitely help you build a local brand on every single market.

With a growing number of brands deciding on global marketing and global presence it’s easy to ignore the importance of being local. Your marketing strategy, regardless of the target country, has to be based on a strong market research, with all local characteristics, opportunities and challenges. Once your goals, budget and a measuring system is clear and defined verify your strategy again to see if there’s a place for localisation. Localised content will help you establish your brand in close and distant markets, with local aroma and unique flavour.    

Photo by D. Pawlak

Dorota Pawlak

Dorota helps digital brands infuse their content with a local touch. She is a localization consultant, translator specialized in IT, prompt engineer, and a book author. Dorota teaches online courses on localization, writes for her blog and a Medium publication. She also runs a Small Biz AI, a Substack newsletter for freelancers and small business owners ready to discover handy AI tools.