What Strategies Ensure Export Marketing Materials Appeal Globally While Remaining Locally Relevant?
InternationalMarketing.io
What Strategies Ensure Export Marketing Materials Appeal Globally While Remaining Locally Relevant?
Crafting export marketing materials that resonate across borders is a delicate balance of global charm and local specificity. We've gathered insights from Marketing Managers and Directors of Sales, among others, to bring you six key strategies. From finding universally interesting angles to balancing global benefits with local customization, discover how to make your marketing efforts succeed worldwide.
- Find Universally Interesting Angles
- Adapt to Market Sensibilities
- Combine Universal Elements with Local Tailoring
- Conduct Market Research and Adapt
- Invest in Scalable, Localized Materials
- Balance Global Benefits with Local Customization
Find Universally Interesting Angles
Our team has learned that globally appealing marketing materials are all about finding the interesting angle—the component of the content that will spark interest even in people who may not be part of the target audience. Being locally relevant is about knowing your audience and speaking directly to those questions they have, even if they haven't articulated those questions to themselves. With this approach, it's less about knowing the particularities of global and local culture and more about knowing what resonates at various levels, depending on how connected a person may be to what you're marketing.
Adapt to Market Sensibilities
Imagine you are launching a new product in both Japan and Brazil. While the core message of innovation and quality remains constant, the presentation must resonate with each market's unique sensibilities.
For instance, when Spectup worked with a tech startup entering these markets, we emphasized Japan's appreciation for minimalistic and precise design, embedding clean lines and understated colors in their materials. Conversely, for Brazil, we infused vibrant visuals and dynamic elements, reflecting the country's lively and expressive culture.
This approach extends beyond visuals; language nuances, cultural references, and societal values are meticulously incorporated.
Combine Universal Elements with Local Tailoring
Ensuring export marketing materials are both globally appealing and locally relevant requires a two-pronged approach. First, we build a strong foundation with universally appealing elements. This includes focusing on clear, concise messaging that highlights the product's core benefits. Compelling visuals that transcend language barriers, like action shots or demonstrations, can also be powerful. Secondly, we tailor the message for each target market. This involves in-depth research into local preferences, humor, and cultural nuances. Collaborating with translators who understand the cultural context is key to avoiding unintentional faux pas.
Conduct Market Research and Adapt
One of the most important factors is to know your clients well. Conducting marketing research can be very helpful in understanding the needs of your market. As a brand, we have to define our targets, create a marketing plan, and monitor it. Afterward, comes the evaluation of the results to see if we are happy with what we have obtained. There are slight differences in each market, so we also have to be aware of that and make slight adaptations to meet each market's needs.
Invest in Scalable, Localized Materials
Being locally relevant requires understanding the distinct nuances of the area of the world you want to target, and investing in materials that can be scaled to your key regions.
Your first step as a marketer is to identify your key regions and strictly target your materials to these areas.
From there, create a centralized marketing document that includes core information about the campaign or product (think the who, what, why, when, where, and how). When creating your core marketing materials, leave room for localization. Write in plain language and avoid acronyms to create space to be locally relevant.
Engaging or hiring local marketing teams will ensure your materials are locally relevant and tailored to your key markets. If you don't have the budget to hire a local team, you'll need to invest time in researching your target regions. If you try to build one piece of content that appeals to everyone around the world, it will broadly be relevant to no one.
Balance Global Benefits with Local Customization
Striking the balance between global appeal and local relevance is crucial for export marketing materials. Here's how PanTerra Networks approaches UCaaS marketing for international audiences:
Global Appeal: We highlight the universally appealing benefits of UCaaS, like seamless communication and flexibility across locations. Features like video conferencing and instant messaging resonate with any organization, regardless of region.
Local Relevance: Our marketing materials go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. We tailor content to specific regions by:
Localization: We translate materials into local languages for a user-friendly experience.
Culturally sensitive messaging: We adapt messaging to resonate with local business cultures and communication preferences.
Highlighting relevant features: We emphasize UCaaS features that address specific needs in each market, such as time-zone management for global teams or compliance considerations for data privacy regulations.
By understanding these aspects, PanTerra Networks ensures our export marketing materials are both globally appealing and locally relevant. This approach allows us to effectively connect with international clients and showcase how UCaaS can empower their business communication needs.
