Content marketing is a powerful tool that lets you tell your brand’s story in multiple formats. Blogs, social media posts, e-books, white papers, infographics and videos all work to expand a business’s organic reach. When mixed with some tried and true search engine optimization tactics, content can work hard in attracting and converting potential customers.
When simplified, a content marketing strategy is based on the simple idea of producing relevant, timely and informational content that answers your audience’s questions and solves their problems. In a world where consumers rely on technology for almost everything, a cross-platform content strategy increases engagement and conversation around your brand.
But what if you are an international brand, and want to expand your reach to a new market while strengthening your brand image? That’s where a global content marketing strategy can help.
Global content marketing is when a brand propels its image and story at an international level and tailors its content on a country-by-country basis. As there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all content marketing solution, global marketing allows for a business to think at a more significant, international level while boosting brand awareness with new customers.
This just goes to show the importance of global content marketing, as developing an international strategy lets brands address their target audiences with ease. It’s important to remember that companies often don’t have just one target audience, so focusing on a global strategy can allow them to segment their audience accordingly. You can create a bespoke approach based on specific challenges, opportunities and languages spoken, which can help create a better overall strategy.
Plus, going to these lengths allows for a company to connect with its audience on a more personal level. The members of your global audience may not all speak the same language, share the same culture or face the same challenges. A global strategy can help address these individual concerns based on geographic location.
With this in mind, here are some tips on how to create a unified content marketing strategy that works within multiple global markets.
How to Develop a Global Content Marketing Strategy
1. Assess Your Global Audience
The first step to any marketing strategy is to plan, but you need to assess your global audience before you can take any actionable steps. After all, without taking a proper look at your global audience, how will you know what to create?
Take a look at how you’re currently targeting your audience. When doing so, be sure to ask yourself the following:
• Do you account for the needs of a global audience in designing your content? If not, why?
• What type of customer knows of you on a global scale?
• What is your target audience in the United States, and will your target audience be the same globally?
• How familiar is your brand on an international level?
• Who do you want to reach in the future?
• Where do your prospective customers live?
• What languages do your prospective customers speak?
• How will this global audience help you reach new business goals?
• Are there any cultural differences and/or restrictions that can get in the way of your current messaging?
• Do you need to tailor what you currently have to appeal to more consumers globally without being offensive?
The answers to these questions will help propel you forward and give you a place to start when developing the details of your content marketing strategy.
2. Determine What Channels You Need to Reach Your Global Audience
Once you have determined your target audience, you should be able to define the most relevant channels for you to broadcast your content on. Depending on the demographic of your audience, you’ll want to advertise on different formats, such as blogs, social media platforms, webinars and videos.
As your team brainstorms content ideas and marketing channels, keep in mind that what works in the United States may not work elsewhere. Different countries have their own separate social media platforms, and social media strategies that work in some cultures may not work in others. Being aware that not all social media platforms are created equal will ensure that you don’t invest in a content strategy that won’t offer stability in the long term.
3. Plan How Your Global Content Will Be Distributed
Social media should not be at the forefront of your content distribution strategy. While social media offer an easy way to get your content to the masses, different countries may have other channels that they use and prefer. For example, XING is a popular online business network in Germany and is more popular than LinkedIn in the United States. And while both platforms do basically the same thing, advertising on LinkedIn to German consumers isn’t worth the effort when they all use XING much more.
Market research can help you investigate what publications and websites users in your targeted countries consult. Or, if you are looking for ideas, you can even directly reach out to your users. Ask them questions about their favorite ways to consume content, and then work from there to distribute your content, right to where your audience already is.
4. Decide If You’ll Need Content in Different Languages
Simply speaking, you can’t expect to reach new audiences if you don’t cater to their culture and language. While English is one of the most commonly spoken languages worldwide, you cannot assume that every single person in your target audience has native fluency. So, you’ll need to decide whether to create content in multiple languages and dialects.
One simple way to leverage content in different languages is through content licensing. This is when you are allowed to use content that has been created by somebody else (who maintains legal ownership) for your personal business use.
When licensing multilingual content of the kind offered by NYTLicensing, you don’t have to worry about content production at all. The content comes completely finished, and you won’t need to deal with translators, as it will already be written in the foreign language of your choice. This adds another benefit, as you won’t have to hire a translator and determine how well the original material has been a translated.
5. Define Local and Global KPIs
In order to stay consistent and on track with your marketing plans, you’ll need to have key performance indicator, or KPI, goals for your entire global strategy as well as for specific countries. When you have the metrics of your performance in front of you, you’ll be better able to map your trajectory and find room for optimization.
Performance in different markets needs to be interpreted in different ways. To do this, break down your KPIs by country as much as necessary. Take page views as one example. How many page views are originating in one country, as opposed to another? Is there an increase in sales in one continent versus another? That’s because of the massive cultural and behavioral differences between audiences in those locations. People in Asia may be more likely to inquire about a product over the phone right away, where European website visitors may be more open to exploring a brand through online channels and therefore have a longer customer journey to conversion. Look for patterns, then double down on what you find to create the best KPI for you.
6. Focus on Authenticity
At the end of the day, all global consumers are tied together by one thing: their emotions. It can be hard to remember that customers are people behind a screen, but in reality, your digital consumers are looking for a connection. They want to find a brand that they feel is listening to them and fostering a connection. So above anything else, be authentic in all of your messaging.
7. Consider Licensing Global Content
Not every organization has the resources available to develop content for multiple countries and multiple languages. But with licensed content, you don’t need to go through all the extra hassle, as the content creation and translation is completed for you! This not only saves you time as a business owner, but ensures your message is being accurately translated.
By leveraging editorial content from The New York Times and other renowned publishers, you can feel confident that your audience receives accurate and rich content that targets their expansive cultures and personal interests.
Final Thoughts
When developing a global content marketing strategy, you’ll want to think global and act local. There’s no need to be overwhelmed with the fact that you are producing content for multiple countries, instead, take your local perspective and amplify what you are already doing.
What does this mean? Simply acting the same with your global consumers as you do with your local consumers. Use what is working for you now, but make it engaging to those of all cultures. Content can be as versatile as you need it to be, and licensed content from NYTLicensing will help you achieve those goals.
