Cultural Considerations in Multilingual Digital Marketing
In today’s universal marketplace, businesses who wish to go global are turning more and more towards using social media platforms and other digital marketing methods such as emails, blogs and web campaigns. These channels empower businesses to engage in real time and create a dialogue with influencers and buyers in small bits of content.
The speed of technology and the worldwide reach it encompasses means that digital marketing and online advertising have become powerful ways to engage new customers and enter into new markets as well. The key to success is to ensure that any digital content or materials that are created are multilingual in nature and have been culturally adapted to suit local markets.
To ensure a successful multilingual digital marketing strategy, it’s important for global brands and marketers to pay close attention to new markets societal norms, their culture and style. It is also important to understand if and how these may vary between traditional physical marketing and that of digital marketing techniques.
Here are some cultural considerations regarding multilingual digital marketing, media and platforms.
Emoji’s and Symbols
We are seeing more and more companies and marketing campaigns using graphics and emoji’s to represent messages to users. When localizing digital marketing message or campaigns, it is important to ensure that these graphic representations are not offending users within other markets.
For example in India, Africa and the Middle East, don’t use an emoji depicting just the left hand. They consider the left hand unclean, and so it should never be used for anything publicly. The popular “thumbs up” emoji is seen as a sign of satisfaction in the West; however, it is highly offensive in some Middle Eastern Countries. The “OK” sign is considered very rude and vulgar in Brazil, here a “thumbs up” is more appropriate. In many cultures, pointing is impolite, so it is best to avoid it entirely. If you wish to convey a gesture, use the entire hand. This is especially important if you wish to draw a customer’s attention to “sale” button or “subscribe” within email campaigns.
Color and Clothing
If you are in the e-commerce industry and wish to branch into new markets via a new fashion line or new store, there are some important things to consider. Some cultures pay close attention to clothing. For example, it is important to be well-dressed in Italy and the UAE, casual clothing is considered impolite. In Malaysia, do not picture people or emoji’s in yellow, as this color is reserved for royalty. In China, you will make a better impression by wearing red than white. Red is considered lucky within China and white is associated with death.
These color associations should also be considered and incorporated into any social media platforms you may have and within the themes of any email campaigns or local website design. These adaptations will help your brand and business integrate successfully into the new market and create brand association with your target market.
Names and Titles
These are very important when considering multilingual email campaigns. Most Western countries will ignore or dismiss emails which start with no introduction or generic placement of just “hello” or “dear customer.” Personalization of emails and targeted content is important when localizing your digital marketing. Keep in mind that different countries have particular cultural expectations when they are being addressed in any communication.
In China, it’s culturally accepted to use appropriate titles and family names until you are invited to use their given names. So when creating an email campaign, make sure you abide to these practices. Businesses should also consider that Chinese names typically have two parts. Traditional Chinese family names are placed first with the given name coming last, this is another aspect to consider when arranging name and title fields on any email platform. In France, it is also appropriate to use titles and last names until you are specifically invited to use first names as these are typically only used by close friends and family.
With shrinking global barriers and the spread of high speed technology and communication, multinational businesses need to adapt and localize their traditional and digital marketing to suit their new markets. Good quality translation and localization are important for your multilingual digital marketing strategy, it also enables you to effectively reach your desired customers in a culturally accepted manner.
