Even though content marketing trends seem to change overnight, the goal of reaching your target audience generally stays the same. Brands that want to reach a global audience need to continually engage and inform. It can take a lot to make your content stand out from the crowd. Here’s how the pros do it.
Tap Into Major Sporting Events
It can be tricky to figure out how to relate to an unfamiliar global audience. Differences in cultures can present big roadblocks. It’s difficult to know how to be mindful when targeting a brand new culture and part of the world. One good way to overcome these barriers is to launch a campaign when the entire world is interested in the same thing. Few things draw interest from so many countries as major sporting events, like the Olympics or the World Cup.
Continue to Check Out Global Markets
According to MarketingProfs.com, the United Nations found that over 50% of the population isn’t able to regularly access the Internet. However, many of those areas that can’t currently access the Internet are gaining Internet access. It’s helpful to regularly check into global markets to see if you should start targeting audiences there. You may also need to find ways to translate website language into new languages.
Use Localization in Global Campaigns
It may seem strange to focus on localization when you want to reach a global audience, but according to LinkedIn, it can really help your marketing efforts. By creating individual campaigns that are targeted to counties, you can have an overall big impact on a global level. The best way to do this is to create one major campaign that can be then adapted to fit specific geographic areas. By setting up localization teams who have experience with certain demographics, content can be adapted as needed.
Use Social Media Where it Matters
Not every single country is big on social media, but in the countries that do use it quite a bit you should make sure to have a social media presence. According to BrightTalk.com, the United States and the United Kingdom place social media marketing at the top of their list of most effective marketing tactics.
Speak the Language
If you don’t personally speak the language of the countries you’re targeting, then you should hire a person or team of people who do. It’s extremely difficult to converse with people in foreign countries by using translation tools alone. It’s best if someone can speak the language fluently. Content marketing requires a high, complex level of language.
Be Respectful of Cultural Differences
When you want to reach a global audience, it’s necessary to understand the many cultural differences in the different countries where you have a presence. There are differences when it comes to all types of things, like laws, fashion, holidays, pop culture and even the seasons. Be culturally sensitive to these differences and make sure that the content you release is appropriate for the country timing-wise.
Cater SEO to the Specific Country
While Google may be the biggest search engine in the U.S., it’s not necessarily the leader overseas. For example, Naver is popular in South Korea and Baidu is what people in China use. When creating your SEO strategy, don’t base everything around optimization for your favorite search engine. Make sure you’re optimizing in ways that will make a difference in different countries.
In order to keep a global audience interested, they need to be engaged on their platform of choice. From informative blog posts to helpful webinars, it’s worthwhile to do what it takes to keep a global audience interested in your brand.
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This guest post is courtesy of Greg Dastrup.