Global Content Creation: The Many Do’s and Don’ts

A fantastic way to market your brand is to create strong global content with the right global content strategy. Every brand, company, or product wants to succeed in its own market. It is easier to make your business within the realm that you know. This is the “comfortability zone,” or the area in which you first began to see success with your business.

What do you do when you want to branch out from your “comfortability zone?”

This is a major problem when it comes to businesses and brands. You have conquered what you set out to accomplish, so what comes next? Global content marketing is the answer. A successful brand deserves a wider audience. There are a multitude of steps to take when it comes to transitioning to a global scale. As is the case with any situation, there are also a number of pitfalls to avoid. No matter the circumstances, if you follow these particular do’s and don’ts regarding global content, you will begin to see your reach expand far past the “comfortability zone.”

global business

What Is Global Content?

The world revolves around content. It is not uncommon for a person to pass the time by staring down at their phone. The question then becomes, what is on their phone? That is where you want your content to be, regardless of your location or theirs.

With such a wide locational gap, you need a global content strategy to achieve your goals. This is a sort of global marketing plan that will allow you to overcome possible language barriers. This content is any sort of content intended for people who do not necessarily speak the same language as you. This is a tricky thing to accomplish, given that there are many barriers to entry for this scenario. You may not speak or write in multiple languages, but that should not stop you from reaching people globally.

What to Do When Creating Global Content

Putting a global content strategy into place will help your content’s reach. Global markets are constantly expanding, and the cultural lines between them are beginning to blur. Interesting content is interesting content, no matter the market it was originally created for. In order to successfully transition your content to a global scale, there are a number of do’s and don’ts to follow. All of these steps will soon allow your content to leave its “comfortability zone.”

global content

Do: Transcreation

The creation of global content is all about adaptation. This means that you must commit yourself to the act of transcreation. Transcreation is best defined as adapting content from one language to another. All in all, this sounds like a simple process. Trouble begins to occur because language translations are not exactly one-to-one. It is important to maintain the tone, style, and personal intent of your content while translating it. The way that you and your original content viewers interacted with your content needs to be present regardless of language.

There are a number of things to consider while transcreating. Your native culture possesses different nuances than others, so it is good to be sensitive to other markets. When transcreating, ensure that your content is:

  • Entirely legible.
  • Successfully optimized for the search functions of that area.
  • Adapted and aligned with the culture of that specific global market.

In doing so, you will have adjusted your content to appeal to a new market. Different cultures provide different responses to a variety of content. Adapting your content to each specific culture will allow it to interact with a new subset of people successfully. In short, this is what it means to create global content.

Do: Define Your Target Audience

Goals are important. It is always best to have an idea in mind before you blindly reach into the unknown. You know yourself, your content, and who your content currently reaches. When creating a global marketing plan, you’ll need to align what you’re aware of with where you want to be. What appeals to an age group in one culture may not appeal to that same age group in another culture. This is known as a cultural gap, and you must successfully analyze this gap to create global content. Define the audience that you want to target. This may require an abundance of research, given your unfamiliarity with certain cultures. Even so, this is one of the best ways for your brand to grow, making it entirely worth it.

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Do: Localize Keywords

SEO (search engine optimization) is incredibly important when it comes to any sort of marketing. The rules of SEO do not change when it comes to creating global content. You will need to identify the keywords that will best serve you in your new market.

It is possible to perform local keyword searches, which will help you in a multitude of ways:

  1. You will find comparable phrases to your keywords.
  2. You will come closer to identifying your target audience. Keyword information provides great analytical insight to specific groups.

With successfully translated keywords, you will be able to optimize your content for a new market.

Do: Develop a Content Plan

You know about transcreation, you’ve identified an audience, and you have the SEO knowledge to succeed. You now need to implement your skills.

The development of a global content strategy will allow you to keep all of your marketing plans in front of you. Ultimately, this will allow your content to succeed in the long run. It is best to think of a content plan as an outline of sorts. When creating your content plan, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Your overall objectives.
  2. The SEO guidelines you have set for yourself.
  3. The particular messaging of the market you hope to address.
  4. Branding guidelines (how you wish to be seen).
  5. Your overall target audience.

A great content plan will keep you on track. On top of that, it will allow you to succeed when working with a group. Everyone working on your content can keep themselves on the same page because of the content plan you created.

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What Not to Do When Creating Global Content

Just like any form of marketing, there are a few scenarios you’d like to avoid. The don’ts of global content creation are in place to make sure you aren’t tripping over yourself.

Don’t: Overextend Your Transcreation

That’s right, transcreation is an important step to creating global content, but it can also be a pitfall. When transcreating content, resources only need to be extended towards especially relevant content. Do not translate content that will not be directly seen by your newfound market.

Within your global content marketing, ensure that you only translate marketing that will appeal to your new market. If you find that it will not translate in its original form, do not perform any transcreation on it.

Transcreation does not need to be done for legal and technical documents. The general public will not see these documents. Only translate these documents to a different language if the need arises in that market.

Don’t: Fail to Do Your Research

Cultural barriers create many gaps when it comes to language. When it comes to creating global content, you will need to become intimately familiar with your new market. It is important to be familiar with the suitable imagery of a particular market. A simple gesture that you feel is a great joke can be incredibly offensive to a different culture. This could result in a horrible marketing mishap, barring your brand from that region for the foreseeable future. To avoid this, keep a couple of things in mind:

  • Attempt to evoke the correct emotional response.
  • Perform image localization. The changing of subtle details can be all it takes to do so.

Take the time to make sure your marketing is free of possibly offensive content. This could include particular animals, religious content, and various graphics.

Don’t: Ignore Popular Search Engines

Google is the most popular search engine in the United States. It would be unfair to assume that Google is the most popular search engine in Russia. In fact, the most popular search engine in Russia isn’t Google. It is Yandex.

The rules of SEO can ebb and flow depending on the search engine you are currently using. When creating global content, it is best to optimize your content for the top search engine in that region. This means not ignoring a variety of search engines you may not have previously encountered. Bing, Yahoo, Naver, Baidu, and Yandex are just a handful of other popular search engines in the entire world. Familiarizing yourself with the intricacies of these search engines will help you optimize your content.

global content creation

Successful Global Content Creation

Transcreation and translation are not exactly one-to-one art forms. There are many details that need to be correctly addressed when creating global content. The best thing that you can do is trust yourself. The only way that your content will succeed on a global scale is if you are intimately familiar with it. Only you will be able to say how it can best be serviced in any market. The do’s and don’ts of global marketing will help you succeed, but you will have to personally tailor your content to the specific needs of the market you hope to address. In doing so, your business or brand will begin to grow exponentially, and it won’t stop anytime soon.

FAQs

  • What is global content?
  • How can I create a global marketing plan?
  • What is the purpose of creating global content?
  • What should I include in a content plan?
  • How do you write global content?

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