Localisation and your influencer strategy
Influencer marketing has become a key component of companies' marketing strategies. Influencers allow brands to reach segments they couldn't otherwise reach, or those it'd be difficult to make an impact on. What's more, these celebrities become brand and product ambassadors, which means they can act as spokespeople to introduce brands or products in new markets when a company embarks on an international expansion strategy. But if you choose the right influencers for your company, yet fail to localise your content, product, and communications, your whole strategy could fail. Stay tuned, because we're about to tell you how to use localisation to make sure your influencer marketing strategy is a success.
Before we begin, let's talk about influencer strategy.
An influencer could be described as a person who has a certain amount of credibility in a particular area, and who - thanks to their presence and influence on social networks - has the potential to influence others about their brand. Choosing the right person adds something essential to a company's communications - something that will give potential customers the extra motivation they're lacking to make a purchase... credibility.
How to choose the right influencer
When a company decides to embark on influencer marketing, they need to remember that not everyone will be the right fit for their brand or digital strategy. It's important to do some research, and select an influencer who's a good fit with the brand's values, style, tone, and personality. And as well as thinking about corporate image, it's important to take these other factors into account when choosing an influencer:
- Their capacity to generate opinions and reactions on issues relating to your brand. To do that, you need to analyse their audience interaction rate.
- Their audience's potential. Look at the level of similarity between your target audience and theirs. Prioritise quality over quantity to maximise useful impacts.
- Their audience's participation rate. There's no use going with an influencer who has a passive audience that doesn't interact with them, and even less so now with the rise of fake influencers who losing brands more than 200 million dollars.
Culturally adapted campaigns
A good influencer marketing strategy can be the key to successfully introducing a brand, presenting a product, or promoting an event in a foreign country. Taking advantage of a celebrity's visibility, popularity, and credibility, is the quickest route to penetrating an international market and breaking down any barriers the new market may present.
But we mustn't forget that an influencer is merely a spokesperson for a brand's messages - it's up to marketing and communications departments to develop a strategy that's adapted to the new target market. Differences in culture, belief systems, and the conventions of each country mean it's important to localise campaigns. Not doing so could lead to a crisis in a brand's reputation which could firmly close the doors to the brand in that country.
That same happened to Dolce & amp; Gabanna last November when she decided to collaborate with Chinese actress Zuo Ye to appear in a promotional spot for a fashion show in Shanghai. In this case, the choice of influencer was just right, but the message was wrong. An actor appeared in the advert trying to eat Italian food with comically large chopsticks, resulting in an image which was branded disrespectful, offensive, and racist. In fact followers were so disgusted, and there was such an avalanche of negative comments aimed at the actor and the brand, that one of the most prominent shows in the luxury goods sector was cancelled as a result. Zuo Ye, commented recently that taking part in the campaign has ruined her career in the Asian country.
Localise your e-commerce landing pages
So there's no point having the perfect influencer on board if you don't design a localised, adapted campaign which will have the desired impact on your new audience.
As we've said before, a successful marketing strategy with international influencers is going to put your brand in touch with a quality audience, and this is going to translate into a considerable increase in both traffic to your landing pages, and conversions on your e-commerce site. Taking this into account, it's essential to offer all the information on your products or services in your new market's native language. So steer well clear of machine translations and put your trust in native professional translators, who can transmit your brand's messages perfectly and get the impact you're looking for.
To make sure your foreign visits result in conversions, and ensure the buying process doesn't generate a lack of trust due to poorly adapted content, we recommend localising your e-commerce site to offer products, reviews, and even payment methods that are familiar to your new target audience.
Think about the rise in shopping via social networks
Consumer habits are changing rapidly, and the internet is accelerating all these changes - to the point that it's now possible to buy products without even leaving social networks. If we take into account the potential of influencers on social networks, and the rise of tools such as Facebook Store or Instagram Shopping meaning people can buy products or services directly through social networks, it's clear that the potential for converting new foreign customers - using impacts from international influencers - is growing at a staggering rate.
If you need translation and localisation services don't hesitate to contact us. We can help you through the internationalisation process, adapting your content to any language, and always working with native professional translators who specialise in your sector.
