How Retailers Can Use Localization to Optimize Global Marketing Campaigns

It's not news that there's a big global market for retailers to tap. Any business that has an online presence is aware that there are huge sales opportunities abroad, from Brazil to China, Germany to India, Japan to France. The real challenge is connecting with these foreign audiences.

The internet has flattened competition for retailers, big and small, and that means you have to build a personal connection with each shopper rather than compete for their wallets based on price. As competition in e-commerce continues to grow, global marketing campaigns have to become more tactical and focused.

Increasingly, going global actually means going very, very local. When you're launching a campaign in a new country, for example, it's no longer enough to just translate the copy on the offers and products. You have to think about how each product will be received in each country and create a localized purchasing experience that makes shoppers feel comfortable and engaged as they make their decisions.

Global marketing campaigns can help brands break into new markets, but only if they localize content well before any major launch. Here's how retailers can do that:

1. A truly localized website: Many retailers think they can get away with using Google Translate to connect with prospects in other countries. However, anyone who has actually used the tool recreationally knows that depending on it for professional translation is a big risk.

Translation can make or break a global marketing campaign. You can spend all the money you want on advertising, but if visitors to your website can't understand it, they won't go through with a purchase.

Shopping cart abandonment rates spike as soon as consumers feel confused or wary of a website. A quarter of shoppers will abandon a cart if the website navigation is too complicated. Not only that, three-quarters of shoppers prefer to buy products in their native language.