“If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen sie Deutsch sprechen.” This famous quote is from the former West German chancellor Willy Brandt. The second half of the phrase means “then you must speak German.” He expressed a truth in a fabulous way, that if you want to sell, you have to talk to your customers in their languages to keep the communications going on.
How many times you have lost your future customers without even knowing anything and still keep spending more and more money on commercials, promotions and other marketing expenses? Statistics show that most of your commercial fees are useless unless you really communicate with your target customers, well we also have to be sure ahead that your product has chosen the right customers. Then the only work left to you is to find them and show your values. But why, people always make wrong decisions all the way long and without even knowing them.
Define “your customers” and “in their own languages”
First of all, define your target customers, who they are, what they do, what they like and so on, all aspects of their lives may influence the acceptance of your product or services.
Second, define language. Langue here is not just daily tool we use to communicate. It also include the exchange of cultures, values even life philosophy. In a such materialized world, people have already bought so many things or services to fulfill their lives, with limited life space, what can we do, what are we going to do about it? The best answer is living a simpler life, with fewer things, so people are getting smarter than before, unless something is truly useful to their lives, they won’t let them into their daily life so easily. Language here contains the genetic meaning of language, English, French, Chinese or Italian.
The language you use in marketing should not include the whole genuine culture but your core value to your target customers. Then what is talking to your customers in their own language? That means the language they understand and accept not only by understanding but by thinking in the same way as the life they choose to live. It’s not easy, I know, but it worth everything you are paying on the marketing.
Why talking to your customers in their own languages?
This is just the truth we all know which has been reemphasized many times by marketers from social or economic reasons. If you have never thought about it, the numbers will open your mouth. Wait, you can’t speak foreign language, you don’t know where to find a good one to work for you yet. Mars Translation has numbers of talents on over 108 languages. They can solve your problems on translation, interpretation, voice-over, subtitling and desktop publishing. Yes but before you hire them, you must have your strategies marketing your products. With a specific and practical plan, all your marketing purposes will be achieved easily by great localization works.
Choose Your Target Markets
Localization can be a cumbersome process so it can help to limit your efforts to your most important target markets at first. There are also many useful analytic tools you can use to see where people are visiting your current site from and you should also decide whether you want to target your markets by country or by language.
It needs some research on which languages are widely spoken than other countries, for example, nearly 1.2 billion people (around 16% of the world's population) speak some form of Chinese as their first language. Other varieties of Chinese are influential in many regions, for example Hong Kong and Macau and Southeast Asia like Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. And always remember, though the huge number of people speak different accent of Chinese, they all understand the Chinese characters, especially the simplified Chinese. It will be much easier for you to tailor your content and keywords to use in the target markets. No matter the appropriate cultures, customs or images they like or dislike.
Interact with your target customers
Find out where your customers spend their time and what they are looking for. We have discussed in the beginning that you should first define your target customers, now you won’t regret the efforts you have spent on it. It’s much easier to know their preferences after you have targeted them. For example, the most important is to know where you can set communication with them, for example, social media.
You are able to find out how they are communicating on different platforms and the way they use their languages. Remember when adults complaining about they don’t understand what their kids are talking about? They are not using the “same” languages already. Same language means they can fully understand each other. For example, Facebook is the school playground where gossip, lifestyle issues and occupation, you’re more likely to find information about news, events, and interest groups on Twitter.
People are driven by what they want. They are only going to come onto your site if you have what they’re looking for. In most cases, this would be one of two very simple things: You’re answering their question; you have an insight into something they are interested in. The deeper and richer content you can offer your audience, the more likely they are to return to you as a trusted source.
Customize Your Content
Finally, it's time to localize your content. This can be done with automatic translation programs, but working with native speaking translators will generally yield better results. Pay special attention to foreign language keyword research and placement and make sure all the details are all appropriate to the target market.
Localization can be a daunting prospect but if you plan ahead you can easily streamline the process. It can also be a valuable way of reaching new customers, making it worth all the time and resources you spend.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Nelson Mandella
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