At SaaStr Enterprise event, Smartling’s VP of Sales and Director of Customer Success co-hosted a hyper workshop about the top three trends they deem critical to create a globalized content and consumer engagement strategy.
The Top 3 Trends to Create a Globalized Content and Consumer Engagement Strategy > Watch Now
Today, brands cannot build a consumer engagement strategy without incorporating globalized content. We live in a digital world where global expansion is happening rapidly and you need to be ready to meet customers where they are. You need to be ready to reach them through words. We are constantly engaging with friends, family, co-workers, products, and services on screens, through text.
The top three trends to create a globalized content and consumer engagement strategy are:
Video
It’s a must! Not only is it quick and effortless to consume but it accounts for 80% of internet traffic. On YouTube alone, 1 billion hours of video content is consumed – and that is more than Netflix and Facebook combined. Since its launch in November 2019, Disney+ made quite the splash clocking in 100 million new, and it has more to do with than the release of Hamilton. Disney+ has adapted to 59 new markets at the time of their launch, which allowed them to dominate the streaming space.
However, not all video needs to be feature-film worthy quality. Just look at what selfies have done for the Kardashians!
In all seriousness, raw, personal videos, and simple animated tutorials get the job done. When you think about video, think about where it will be created and where it will be delivered. If it’s a tutorial for e-learning or to sell your product, you’ll want it to be accessible in your viewers language.
The most cost-effective way to produce video? With subtitles. This will save you on studio time, VoiceOver actors, and countless takes of the same video. With subtitles, videos can be easily translated into your audience’s language.
While your video might reach far and wide it can be difficult to determine its success. To understand a video’s success, first you need to think about what you’re trying to accomplish. Is it conversions and sales? Web traffic? Engagement to help improve brand?
Once you know your aim it will be easier to decipher and if you have a TMS (translation management system) you can pull reporting from there to see how much you’re spending on translations, how quickly content is being accomplished, and more depending on your provider.
User Reviews
We all read them, we all (maybe?) write them, we all love them! And because of that, they are essential to conversion. 72% of buyers will not make a purchase without reading a review. For software, 5 million people visit G2 monthly in search of product reviews and community insights.
What happens when someone can’t read the reviews? They’ll likely walk away, which is why reviews need to be looked after like any other piece of content on your website or that is customer facing. Making sure that your buyers can read reviews in their languages is a way to show empathy and understanding among your customer base.
When it comes to managing the translation and value of these reviews for global users, using something like machine translation is a fast and cost-effective way to ensure those words resonate with your global audience.
Language Translation
We’re biased, but this is perhaps the most important – language translation. Gone are the days of emailing files back and forth with translators, and hello to the days of translation being a fully automated process integrated with most content management systems.
It’s unsurprising given the fact that the translation and localization industry has doubled in size over the last decade. Language translation drives ROI which is proven in a study from CSA Research titled, “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy”.
- 65% of people prefer content in their own language, even if it’s poor quality
- 73% want product reviews in their language
- 40% will not buy in other languages
It’s imperative to speak to all of your customers when you’re able to translate your content. Using an integrated language service team and software with a centralized hub will allow you to deploy and manage content from one place which improves speed and quality. Additionally, it helps to have a translation or localization team.
At what point is a market big enough to warrant starting a localization team? It depends on the company but once a market hits $500,000 it’s worth having someone look after the market. Perhaps you see the potential, and you put someone there to get ahead of the growth.
Once a market reaches $1 million, you’ll want to have 2+ people managing the market. And up it goes, with markets of $20 million boasting localization teams of 20+ people.
Watch the workshop in its entirety here.
*Want to understand how Smartling can help with all things translation and localization? [Set up some time to chat with a member of our team.](https://www.smartling.com/meeting-request/)*
