Culturally Customized Communication To Transition To A Global Market Internet Business

Last updated 20 August 2008

This is the third part of a series - Transition To A Global Market Internet Business. Read the other two parts here:
1 - Internationalize Your Website
2 - Localize Your Website

International Development With Internet Marketing In Three Easy Steps

Once you have a localized website adapted to each of your target markets you will want your international clients to feel more familiar with your products and services. You will want to improve the level of communication with your foreign markets.

Your website is now localized. It is already on their territory. The best way to deepen your relationship is to communicate with your foreign markets solely in their language, and to communicate exactly how you would if you were your local competitor.

Foreign Language Communication Strategy

The better you know your foreign markets the more options you will have. At the very minimum you could organize an email campaign in their language. Before doing this, make sure this would be appropriate in their culture. Will your target market read your emails, how would they read your emails?

Foreigners targeting North American business men might be surprised at how many of them use tiny little Blackberry screens to read emails. A country like France with high ADSL penetration might forget that other countries are not so lucky and they should therefore send appropriate content in their emails.

Easy, Low Cost, Multi-Channel Communication Each Month

Once these elements have been defined, create a simple communication strategy in the foreign language. With a little thought and preparation you can come up with a foreign language communication plan for minimal investment in time and money.

Take advantage of the possibility of re-purposing content to be used in different formats both online and offline. Come up with ways to get your international clients to interact with you, plan beforehand to get feedback and track results.

• Online events
• Surveys
• Competitions
• Ask for feedback campaigns

Use incentives to improve responses. Think of the foreign appeal your incentives might have. This can often translate into something low cost. Tie this with your own local events.

Example Based On A Monthly 2-Page Newsletter Written

One cost effective solution is a monthly 2-page newsletter with 4 articles written by a foreign native marketing professional. This monthly newsletter can be repurposed into several formats using the same content. This will give you a variety of communication touches in your foreign market each month:

• Monthly Newsletter – online and in print
• Weekly Emails
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Monthly Surveys
• Product Reviews
• Case Studies
• …and more, with variety over the year

• An entire international client lead generation strategy only by investing in one 2-page translation.

This can work very well if combined with a local event, international exhibition or some other way clients can interact with you.

A great bonus is getting your writer to use foreign language keyword optimization

This foreign language communication campaign will increase your understanding of your international markets even further. A valuable asset for any business. You will be ready to move towards a fully customized foreign website.

Website totally customized to local cultures

You will need to analyze your market potential again. Do you understand what incites your foreign market to buy your product? If so, then it is time to look at translating your entire foreign language website.

Your own knowledge of your international market will make it easier for you to determine which web pages can be translated and which web pages should be exchanged for pages written in the foreign language by industry experts. Your foreign website will probably not look exactly like your original local website.

Adaptation Phase

Creating a foreign language website can be done in stages. Remember to always think of how your foreign visitors may react to this.

• Welcome them
• Acknowledge their needs
• Show them what you have in place already to help them

You may or may not have a fully multilingual staff, explain this appropriately somewhere on your website.

“We particularly appreciate all of our foreign clients. Unfortunately we are not able to have staff to speak to you in your own language on a full time basis. Please leave us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can”.
You Have Control Of Your International Development

As your business grows and defines itself, you will set up an appropriate structure and find the partners best suited to your business requirements.