Sales are skyrocketing in your home country, and your business is ready to go global (ooh la la).
Instead of simply translating popular ads into a new language, think strategically about your target market. Are there significant differences in demographics? Who are your competitors, and how are they performing? What cultural phenomenons may influence sales? Context is everything—and when it changes, so should your strategy.
Ready for takeoff? Here are three steps you can take to fuel your marketing efforts (and achieve sky-high ROI).
1. Cater to consumer psychology.
Imagine you’re the CEO of an online hiring marketplace. In two years, you’ve onboarded 150,000 American job-seekers to your platform—and now, you’re preparing for a Scandinavian launch.
By digging through data, you discover that Denmark has the world’s healthiest work-life balance. In competitive U.S. cities like Manhattan and San Francisco, your best-performing ads emphasized career advancement—a raise, a promotion, a spot in that coveted corner office. But success-centric messaging may not cut it in Copenhagen. Since family, mental health, and self-care are top priorities for Danes, your new ads might emphasize a shorter commute, remote work, or positions with better PTO policies.
Your service is the same, but your audience is completely different—which means your messaging should be, too.
2. Learn the lingo.
Launching a new market means building trust with thousands of complete strangers. As an outsider, you need to earn a place in your audience’s world. One way to do that? Talking the talk.
By studying local lingo, you can learn how your target audience really speaks. What slang is second-nature—and, perhaps more importantly, which words should you avoid? For instance, advertising “apartments” to Londoners is just flat-out silly. And Long Islanders live on, not in, Long Island—tell them you serve “the best bagels in Long Island,” and they’ll tell you to get out of town.
According to AdWeek, personalization can reduce acquisition costs by as much as 50%, lift revenues by 5 to 15%, and increase marketing spend efficiency by 10 to 30%. Customized copy indicates that you care—and that makes your company worth caring about.
For an example of customized marketing, look at this recent campaign by Monday.com.
To create this subway ad, marketers needed more than just a list of Manhattan’s cultural icons. They needed context: how locals truly think of (and talk about) Times Square. Beyond facts, they needed feelings. Which brings us to our final point…
3. Make it human.
While acting locally, remember to think globally. Each piece of customized content should tie back to your mission statement, creating one unified brand voice.
Show customers that opening new markets isn’t only about closing sales. Prove that your company transcends global boundaries by targeting human problems—and providing human solutions.
English is English. Danish is Danish. But emotions are universal. Unlock them, and you can speak any audience’s language—no Google Translate required.
Ready for sky-high ROI? One small step with MarketSmiths could mean one giant leap for your company—fuel your creative efforts with copy and content that takes off.
