Digital localisation for global reach

Digital localisation for global reach:
10 guiding principles for success
SUSANNE DIRKS, E-VORSPRUNG CONSULTING
WWW.EVORSPRUNG.COM
E-VORSPRUNG CONSULTING

Different countries,
different social networks
Example: Germany
Example: China
Example: Russia

• Susanne Dirks MSc BSc, German in Ireland since ‘93
• e-Vorsprung Consulting since 2013
e-Vorsprung
Consulting
• Web presence internationalisation and localisation
• Digital marketing strategies for export markets
Digital strategies for
export markets
• Range of markets, in cooperation with partners
• Focus markets: Germany and DACH region
Foreign language and
English-speaking
export markets
• Consultancy-led, business value focused approach
• Independence, pragmatism, partnering
Business-value
focused approach

10 guiding principles for
successful digital
localisation for export
markets

The bad news
 If you don’t localise your website, you seriously
limit your growth opportunities
 Translation is only one of several parts of website
localisation
 It’s a big and often complex project – requiring
commitment from senior leadership, resources,
and stamina

Start with strategy:
Think globally, act locally
1

Vision and Mission
Goal/s Web Goal
SMART
Objectives
Strategies Tactics
ThinkGlobally: Vision, Mission
Act Locally: Goals,Strategies,Tactics
E-VORSPRUNG CONSULTING 8

Special considerations for IrishSMEs
Constraints: Budget, People, Skills
Operating model varies between countries
Home market vs. export markets

International digital strategy:
A balancing act
Maximise and
leverage global
commonalities
Cater for local
and leverage
local differences

Strive for efficiencies:
Internationalise before
you localise
2

Website localisation strategy:
Internationalise before you localise
Globalisation
Inter-
nationalisation
Localisation
Internationalisation is a design process that ensures a
product/website can be adapted to various languages and regions
without requiring engineering changes to the source code.
Localisation is the process of adapting a product / website /
content to a specific locale or market.Translation is only one
of several elements of the localisation process.Source: Gala

Planning with a global website in mind:
A little work goes a long way
 Global design template
 Software technology choice
 Domain strategy
 Simple language
 Pictures & text
 Date/time/address format

Example:Global design template
FACEBOOK, ITALY FACEBOOK, ISRAEL

Example:
Design for linguistic differences
Not good for internationalisation Internationalised, ready for
localisation

Get ready internally:
Assess and address
internal challenges
3

Look inside: Examine the ‘new you’
Ireland
Strong
Strong
Strong
Direct
End customer
Team: Offline,
online
Buy
Few
competitors
Key questions:
 How strong is your brand ?
 How strong is your network ?
 How good is your list of references ?
What RTMs are you using ?
Who are you marketing to ?
 How are you marketing ?
What is your call-to-action ?
Who are you up against ?
Export Market 1
Weak
Weak or N/A
Weak
Distributors
Customers &
Distributors
?
Sell my product
Lots of competitors

Example: Brand awareness abroad
Ireland DE Competitor
(example) brand in
DE
Established B2B* 320 40 5,400
Established B2B/B2C 2,400 90 N/A
Youngish B2B* 140 50 5,400
Youngish B2C 3,600 10 40,500
Examples of monthly search volume for main brand name:
• Had translated website for Germany

1.Web presence plays a different role
and needs modified approach.
2.Web presence is often more
important in export markets.
3.Typically, web visibility is harder to
achieve in export markets.
Impact of
different internal
business
environment?

Sharpen your saw:
Get ready for a different
business environment
4

Key differences
 Demand patterns
 Industry behaviour
Competitive landscape
 Routes to market

Different demand levels
Countries Population (m) Search volume
United States 329 9,900 201,000
Germany 82 3,600 246,000
United Kingdom 67 1,600 301,000
Canada 37 1,600 22,200
Australia 25 1,600 18,100
Austria 8.7 260 22,200
Ireland 4.8 90 22,200
New Zealand 4.7 390 3,600
“ERP Software” “GDPR” (“DSGVO”)

Different demand patterns
Buying abroad motivations
Source: Google Consumer Barometer

Industry behaviours:
Understand and leverage local patterns
 Modus operandi
 Key Influencers
 Key events
 Key publications (offline/online)
 Directories
 Key agencies and other organisations
 Key website for information exchange
 ‘Digital meeting places’

Example: Different organic competitors:
“Nebuliser” (“Vernebler”)
Top 5 results
on SERP 1
Google.de –
316k results
Google.co.uk
-
5.9 MIO
results

Finding, assessing, and beating
competitors
Who are your
competitors?
How visible are
they ?
How do they
achieve
visibility?
What local
web presence
do they have?
What can you
learn from
them?
How can you
differentiate
yourself?

Leveraging the distributor-RTM:
Making each other’s web presence work
What is the
impact of your
new local
website on your
distributors?
What is the impact
of your distributors’
website on your
local website?
How do you want
users to perceive
the relationship
between the two
website?
Can/should
you input into
your
distributors’
website?
Are the
opportunities
for joint
campaigns?

1. Typically your micro business
environment works differently in
export markets and this impacts
your web presence and e-
marketing.
2. Special attention needs to be paid
to local demand, competitors,
distributors, and industry.
Impact of
different micro
business
environment?

Cultural localisation:
Tune into local culture
5

Tune into local culture
CULTURE INFLUENCE HOW
ALL OF ITS MEMBERS:
Perceive
Think
Value
Act
E-MARKETING AIMS AT
GETTING PEOPLE’S:
A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
“The web is not a culturally
neutral medium … a website has to be
designed for a targetted customer
segment … Local adaptation should be
based on a complete understanding of
a customer group’s culture …”

Cultural dimensions by Hofstede –
a compass for website localisation
Ireland in comparison…
Hofstede’s 6 cultural
dimensions
Can and must be
addressed via:
Web design, content,
language,
features/functionality

Example Russia: Website design
addressing ‘uncertainty avoidance’
KEY PRINCIPLES
Minimal ambiguity
Clear navigation
Structured information
Predictable user journey
No pop-ups
No non-essential info
Explicit language
Clear images

ExampleAlibaba:Adapting colours and
overall design to cultural preferences
ALIBABA.CN ALIBABA.COM

ExampleAldiGermany:
Popular marketing

Example Nivea:Using pictures most
relevant to respective target markets

Linguistic localisation:
Speak the right language
6

‘Translation’ of content is a key
requirement of successful localisation
 Less than ¼ of Internet users are native English
speakers
 Leading global website offer an average of 30 languages
 Non-localised websites can’t be found by Google
 .. and lastly ..

... your customers expect your web
content to be localised for them

GoogleTranslate is not the solution
Food forThought:
1.Who has the 2nd
most globalised
website in 2018 ?
2.Did they use
GoogleTranslate ?
3. How does a
poor translation
like that make
you feel about
the company?

Key options for localising text content:
Translation – Transcreation - Copywriting
Translation
Trans-
creation
Copywriting
SEO SEO SEO SEO SEO SEO SEO SEO SEO SEO SEO

Transcreation example – the challenge

Transcreation – solution approach

Considerations for localising text content
SEOScope
Approac
h
Resource
Ongoing
work
Quality
control
Creating
valid, fresh,
persuasive,
relevant
quality
content for
local users
and search
engines

Localising language for same language
markets is important for buy-in and
visibility
English is used in Ireland, UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, but there are
differences:
Spelling words Using right words Avoiding wrong words
British
English
American
English
Purse Purse
Nappy Nappy
Jumper Jumper
Suspenders Suspenders
Etc.

Content localisation:
Provide locally relevant
content
7

Content plays a central role and
needs to meet many requirements
Content
requirements
Well-
written &
struct-
ured SEO-
focused
Appealing &
CTA-focused
In local
language
Fresh &
relevant
Right
message
Suitable for
target
audience
Add value
Accurate &
correct
Build
trust

Target market focus:
AGerman supermarket in Ireland

ExampleAldiChina:
Locally relevant content and images

Add local appeal for buy-in
Content localisation by Red Bull:
Examples of Irish and French site

Locally relevant content for local appeal
Germany
Ireland

Localised content and topics
Ireland UK

Localised product offering
Dennison Trailers,
UK/Ireland
Dennison
Trailers,
Germany

Trust building content is key
Top 3 brands (2018) in Russia, Netherlands, and Ireland

Examples, localised content for trust
Edelmann Trust Barometer 2014
L
O
C
A
L

Local visibility:
Make your website easy
to find
8

Optimise for
locally dominant search engine
SEO
Technical
Domain
Server location
hreflang,canonicals
Sitemaps
Google Search
Console settings
Onpage
Keyword research
and strategy
Web text, links,
URLs,meta data
Offpage
Relevant quality
local links
Google, for example:

Local e-marketing:
Choose suitable local
strategies for your goals
9

Vision and Mission
Goal/s Web Goal
SMART
Objectives
Strategies Tactics
Guiding principle:
Think globally, act locally

Campaigns work very differently in
different markets – example: Adwords
 Campaigns often perform very differently
 Germany
 Saudi Arabia
 UK
 Campaigns should be focused on one market only
 Campaigns typically need to be re-created rather than localised
 Different keywords
 Different adgroups
 Different adtext

Stay focused on goals:
Measure progress and
adjust course
10

Leverage your data to adjust and
fine-tune your approach
Goals
Objectives
Strategies
Tactics/
Actions
Resources
Measurement
Data
Insights

1. Start with strategy:Think globally, act locally
2. Strive for efficiencies: Internationalise before you localise
3. Get ready internally: Assess and address internal challenges
4. Sharpen your saw: Get ready for a different business environment
5. Cultural localisation:Tune into local culture
6. Linguistic localisation: Speak the right language
7. Content localisation: Provide locally relevant content and messages
8. Local visibility and SEO: Make your website easy to find
9. Local e-marketing: Choose suitable local strategies for your goals
10. Stay focused on goals: Measure progress and adjust course
Data
Insights

The good news
 It can be done step by step, with quick wins along the way
There are opportunities for cost savings and synergies
 It gives you a real chance of success in export markets
 It typically brings additional benefits for your home market
(website)

ThankYou
Susanne Dirks
e-Vorsprung Consulting
sudirks@evorsprung.com
Ph. 086-2375131
e-Vorsprung Consulting -
Successful web presence for
export markets
www.evorsprung.com

Digital localisation for global reach

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