How can one obtain further global reach without necessarily having a strong presence in countries other than their own? By creating and implementing a multilingual content strategy that will target various languages.

The numbers!

Over 3 billion individuals have access to the internet! That means that 40% of the world’s population are active online and most are using internet browsing to research services or products that they will later use or engage in. This means that, as a business, in order to stand out from the noise, you have to talk to people in their language – literally. Despite the fact that a multilingual content strategy might not be suitable for all website or campaigns, it is important to find out if anyone within your target market is speaking another language. Even if a small percentage are, this will create the opportunity to reach out to these individuals and perhaps you’ll discover a valuable untapped niche.

User experience

It is not a secret that customers will normally respond best to marketing that is addressing them in their own language. If any of us were to read up on a product or service in a second language, it is highly likely that we would lose interest or possibly misunderstand part of the content being provided. These individuals are the decision makers and if you are not speaking to those who are making the purchases, you are not targeting the right audiences.

How does it benefit a website?

In addition to speaking to the right audience in a language that they feel totally comfortable to communicate in, there is also the opportunity to make your website more visible when it is offered in various languages. A multilingual website can result in increased performance on search and social portals. The more pages that your website has, the most it can be ranked, therefore giving it a higher result.

Emerging markets

For some of us reading this, our first language is English, but for many around the world, English is their second language. Emerging markets are a prime example of areas where English is not generally used. It is likely that many of your competitors are using localized content in their marketing strategy in order to gain a wider customer base and reach out to those who could be interested in a product or service, but might not speak the language you are advertising in.

Creating and implementing a multilingual marketing strategy will make sure that you have your share of the marketplace. By translating and localizing your message, you will be able to develop a strategy that uses multiple channels that streamlines your online marketing strategy into a more universal message.

Author Box

Sekari, an innovative Search Optimized Content Marketing Agency headquartered in Dubai with offices in Cape Town, South Africa and Amman, Jordan. We continue to pave the way in delivering multilingual, localized native content marketing campaigns and outreach in 30 languages through our proprietary network of 33 partners around the world.