The goal of a marketing strategy is to connect with your audience. But people around the world have vastly different wants and needs. There are countless cultures to be mindful of. Some people may see 100 marketing messages a day and others may see 1,000.
So whether you’re reading this on the sofa, at a desk in your makeshift study or trying get some work done while at the same time avoiding the kids as you work from home, below are four aspects of your global strategy that you should be regionalizing:
Digital Marketing
A global digital marketing strategy is much more than mapping out timezone distributions. Arguably the most challenging aspect of a global marketing plan is strategizing for digital marketing because digital consumption varies so much in different regions. Where a U.S. audience may be more likely to convert via social media, a UK audience may be more likely to convert through longer form articles. It’s crucial to know your local audience and what they want to see online, so you can be that go-to resource for them.
Content Marketing
Content marketing can be one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience. To make the most out of your content, start with a global version, but encourage satellite offices to regionalize as necessary because no one knows their local audience better than them. While keeping consistent with corporate brand standards, regionalizing content marketing can mean adjusting anything from spelling to idioms to tone. Among our global BBN offices, we frequently have quick culture checks where we run copy and ideas by regions just to make sure there are no associated negative connotations that we may not be aware of.
PR
On the media front, we know that journalists are drowned with countless press releases and news updates from all in-house communicators and agencies on a daily basis. In order to get your news picked up by a journalist, you have to hit the right spot - and that is applicable to all regions. There’s also particular etiquette to be aware of when working with journalists in each region. We tend to leave it to our satellite offices to work with the journalists they already have relationships with, especially because journalists are more inclined to pick up news from a local, trusted source, rather than an unfamiliar email address from another country.
Inbound Marketing
One piece of your regionalization strategy you may be glossing over is inbound marketing. People around the world want to be contacted in different ways – not everyone will have the same reaction to the same email marketing campaign. Part of knowing your target audience is knowing how to grab their attention and get them to react to it. Because of this, your inbound strategy may vary in different regions.
Differences in language and culture are what make the world the big and exciting place that it is. As global marketers, we have to become masters of reaching and connecting with our audiences – no matter where in the world they may be. One global strategy won’t do it, but regionalized strategies will.
