the blueprint for global content...
TRANSCRIPT
The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing: How Leading Brands Are Globalizing Their Demand Generation
2The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
“In today’s world, the buyer is in control, looking for whatever information they want, when and where they want it.”
- Kate Lacey, LeadFabric
In an age where marketers are striving for
more personalized marketing, nothing is more
personal than language. People naturally expect
communication in their native language, and they
avoid situations in which they are forced to do
business in a foreign language, even one as widely
used as English.
“In today’s world, the buyer is in control, looking
for whatever information they want, when and
where they want it,” says Kate Lacey, Director
of Professional Services at LeadFabric, a lead
generation and marketing consulting company.
“If you’re in a local context, you certainly expect
content in your local language.”
The need to extend your marketing globally has
never been more dire, and the rising volume and
complexity of marketing programs are adding to the
challenge. What’s a demand gen marketer to do?
This eBook will provide:
® Tips for creating global-ready content;
® Best practices for globalizing even the most
challenging types of content; and
® Essential techniques for streamlining the
translation process
The challenges of today’s demand gen marketer are defined by three key trends:
Introduction
International Markets are Surging English-Only Marketing Turns Off International CustomersBuyers Abandon Websites
Content Marketing Is Exploding
33%
31%
12%
10%
9%
5%
The navigation is not in my language or the site keeps reverting to English
I accomplished what I came for and left
The site requests too much personal information
The site is slow to load and crashes
I abandoned the shopping cart due to transaction problems
There was too much animation or too many graphics
20%
16%
2005 2015
U.S share of world GDP per year
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Can’t Read, Won’t Buy: 2014 Common Sense Advisory Survey of 3,000 global shoppers. International average.Content Marketing Institute’s 2015 Benchmarks,
Budgets and Trends—North America report.
of marketers are producing more content than they did a year ago
Marketers use an average of 13 tactics.
70%
13
3The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
Best Practices For Global Content Marketing Success
If you have global aspirations, your localization should go beyond the language to encompass cultural and regional nuances as well.
The first step to global success is to create
marketing content, from the start, that can be
“localized” to suit international markets. Here
are some dos and don’ts for creating
global-ready content:
R Do be careful about the use of numbers, colors,
and animals. They have different meanings in
different cultures. For example, the color yellow
is associated with mourning in Egypt.
R Do avoid culturally unique expressions. Phrases
such as “barking up the wrong tree,” “take a
rain check,” and even “help yourself” may not
translate well.
R Do keep cultural and social norms in mind.
The picture on your website of the professional
woman with the unbuttoned collar may not go
over well in some countries.
R Do design with translation in mind. Leave
enough space for multilingual captioning and
don’t embed text in the graphics.
Q Don’t use maps, flags or references to regions
involved in border disputes.
Q Don’t create content devoid of any humor or
cultural references just for the sake of easy and
accurate translation.
® You need a more nuanced and thoughtful
localization strategy beyond simply
translating your copy.
® You might need to swap out imagery,
idioms or color schemes to convey the
desired message and brand experience.
® You might determine that some assets are
simply not appropriate for all geographies.
4The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
Launching a global content marketing strategy requires a carefully orchestrated plan.
Consider these steps:
Decide whether to localize your website by language or by geography
One early decision you must
make is whether to localize
your website by language or by
geography. Marketers should
consider whether the same
French language website will be
used for customers in Eastern
Canada, Western Africa, and
Southern Belgium. You also need
to consider the different channels
for doing business — you may
have a different sales and
fulfillment process in Paris than
you do in Montreal.
Most companies start with
English, followed by 11 “Tier 1”
languages that account for
more than 88% of the online
economic opportunity, according
to Common Sense Advisory.
Every company is different, and
you may identify strong markets
where it makes sense to provide
support for some less
common languages.
Include search engine optimization (SEO) in your localization strategy
Just as you would localize any
other marketing asset, SEO
keywords should also be vetted
by a language and locale expert.
Localized SEO keywords should
be added to your terminology
database, a resource used
by content creators to ensure
message consistency and
keyword density.
Most importantly: Do the
keyword research in each locale
and language because you
might uncover some unexpected
results. For example, in Italy, the
hybrid term for cheap flights —
“voli low cost” — has eight times
more search traffic than the
straight Italian translated phrase,
“voli economici.”
Mobile app localization represents a powerful opportunity
In countries such as China,
Russia and Brazil, where mobile
phones are the primary means
of Internet access, a modest
investment in translating your
mobile app can be a much
more important first step
toward market penetration
than translating other long-
form documents and traditional
websites. Mobile apps typically
have stripped-down content and
functionality and, therefore, are
often surprisingly economical
to translate.
You need to consider SEO, mobile and whether to localize by language or geography as you map your translation strategy.
SEO strategy can vary widely by region, particularly in countries that have strong competitors to Google.
Naver Coverage in
Korea
Baidu Coverage in
China
Yandex Coverage in
Russia
Is Not The Only Game In Town
80% 70% 60%
Source: The Webcertain Global Search and Social Report 2013, Dec. 4, 2013 http://internationaldigitalhub.com/en/publications/
the-webcertain-global-search-and-social-report-2013
5The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
Forrester estimates that 60 seconds of video
is worth 1.8 million printed words. Video is an
incredibly powerful medium and is a growing line
item in most content marketers’ budgets, but
many still consider it to be too difficult to localize
and translate. Here are common ways video can
be localized:
Voice-Overs
Voice-overs generally require hiring a “voice talent”
(a person trained in vocal talents) to record in a
professional studio environment. This audio can be
localized in two ways:
® Voice-over only. The video’s original voice
audio track is turned off, and a localized
voice-over is applied in its place. This method
can pose a problem if talent is speaking
on-screen, because lip movements may fall
out of sync with the translated audio.
® Voice-over and original. Also known as
“overdubbing,” this is a technique where the
volume of the video’s original audio track is
turned down so the listener can still hear it
while the localized voice-over is layered on
top of it. TV newscasts use this technique
frequently. You hear the original speaker start
in their language, then after a few seconds,
that audio track is turned down, while an
interpreter speaks over it. This allows the
viewer to hear the original speaker’s tone,
while understanding the interpreter’s words.
Subtitles
Subtitles are translated text strings displayed
on-screen. Subtitles work best when the video has
little other on-screen text or action commanding
the viewer’s attention, and when the pace is not
too rushed.
Don’t overlook video as you translate and localize your content library.
Strategies For Localizing Video
6The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
On-Screen Text
On-screen text refers to translatable words that
appear as part of the video, such as animated text,
titles, or text that appears as part of a graphic.
Provide The Original Project File
In general, you should always try to provide your
video localization vendor with the original video
project file (Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere,
Adobe Elements, etc.) used to produce the video
output. If you have the original video project file, it
can be quite easy to localize trickier aspects like
on-screen text and audio, but otherwise it might be
necessary to reproduce the segment.
Video localization can seem complex and daunting.
However, given the power of the medium and
the investment you’ve already made in producing
the video in the first place, the additional cost of
localization can be surprisingly modest and the
impact of extending it to international markets can
be great.
Watch any news program to see an example of on-screen text.
7The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
Brand marketers know that they cannot always
control the message. Social media outlets and
product reviews contributed by customers have
become important drivers of customer perception,
especially given the shift to self-education during
the purchase process.
Brands should be prepared to engage in these
conversations, which are happening in multiple
languages. Customers acting as company
advocates can be powerful brand ambassadors
on social media.
Positive reviews can be translated to amplify the
voice of satisfied customers. TripAdvisor, the well-
known travel website featuring user-generated
reviews of destinations, lodging and restaurants,
is a great example.They translate their customer
reviews into 13 languages to increase the impact
and effectiveness internationally. It is tremendous
volume — two billion words per month! But the
move has paid off in increased user dwell times and
a reduction in bounce rate from 70% to 25%. They
use automated machine translation to process this
huge volume cost-effectively and in near real-time.
TripAdvisor translates customer reviews into 13 languages. The payoff: increased user dwell times and a reduction in bounce rate from 70% to 25%.
Social Media And User-Generated Content
8The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
Most organizations have “de-centralized”
translation management. Many groups within the
company — marketing, packaging, documentation,
product development, legal, etc. — have the need
to translate content to other languages. Each group
works with their own translation vendors without
ever “comparing notes” about processes, costs,
and terminology. Organizations with de-centralized
translation management often can’t even get an
accurate estimate of how much money they are
spending as a company annually on translation.
When you centralize your translation management,
you create a translation services group or “center
of excellence” within your organization. When the
individual departments have translation projects,
they hand the project off to the translation
services group, which applies standardized
workflow processes, approved terminology
and style guides, and works with a short list of
approved translation vendors.
Should You Centralize Your Translation Management?
Manual Translation Process:
Automatic content transfer between systems
Manual export/import and copy/paste between systems
Translation Management Software:
Automatic cost reporting & tracking
Manual (or no) cost reporting & tracking
Automatic task assignment, document work flow & notification
Manual communication through emails & attachments
Automatic project status tracking/ audit trail
Manual project status tracking
Automatic application of Translation Memory
Manual (or no) application of Translation Memory
Automatic updating of Translation Memory once translation is approved
Manual (or no) updating of the Translation Memory
5 - 6 manual steps... everything else is automated!
Over 30 manual steps!
9The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
Why centralize?
® Standardization of terminology for
consistent global brand messaging.
“There may be several different ways to
translate the same phrase,” points out Lacey
from LeadFabric. “The other interpretations
may be literally correct, but you want to get
the correct nuance every time.” Consistent
terminology use and tone of voice is the
cornerstone of building an effective brand.
® Process automation for speedier
completion. Translation Management
Software can be deployed to define
workflow processes and efficiently move the
job between project managers, translators,
and reviewers. These software systems can
automate processes and speed
project completion.
® “Translation Memory” cost savings.
Computer Assisted Translation (CAT)
software has a feature known as Translation
Memory. Each time a translation project is
approved, the software “remembers” the
approved translation for specific words and
phrases. The next time a translation project
is initiated, the CAT software runs the new
document through the Translation Memory
and any exact matches are translated
automatically and at a reduced cost. As time
goes by, the Translation Memory gets more
and more powerful and saves you more and
more money. If Translation Memory can be
leveraged across the entire organization
(marketing, packaging, documentation, etc.),
then the impact of Translation Memory on
cost is multiplied many times over.
® Cost-effective vendor management.
Centralization can contribute to improved
visibility into all translation costs across the
organization, and it gives you the ability to
negotiate collectively, based on volume, for
the lowest possible cost per word.
10The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
Marketers are making tremendous investments
in content. But those content resources are
not working to their full potential if they are
only accessible to English-speaking prospects
and customers. Marketers must reach a global
audience, and each audience member expects
content in their native language addressing their
local needs.
If marketers don’t take a global view of their content,
their competitors will be happy to fill the gap.
While there are tremendous challenges associated
with content translation, there are powerful
processes and technologies that can make it cost-
effective to translate content at scale.
Conclusion
11The Blueprint for Global Content Marketing
201 Edgewater Dr.
Wakefield, MA 01880
411 State Route 17 South
Suite 410
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604
201.257.8528
Delivering a culturally relevant and personalized experience to international
customers relies on your ability to speak their language. SDL’s integrated
language platforms provide the technology and services you need to deliver
local language content across every step of the customer journey.
Demand Gen Report is a targeted e-media publication spotlighting the
strategies and solutions that help companies better align their sales and
marketing organizations, and ultimately, drive growth. A key component of the
publication’s editorial coverage focuses on the sales and marketing automation
tools that enable companies to better measure and manage their multi-channel
demand generation efforts.
About SDL
About Demand Gen Report