Using Localized Email Marketing Strategies

With more and more companies looking to email as an inexpensive marketing option, it's important to maximize the way email marketing is being used. One of the best ways of doing that is to localize email content. The facts, however, show that many companies aren't taking advantage of that strategy.

According to a recent report by Marketing Sherpa, twenty-one percent of large organizations and fifty-eight percent of small to medium businesses don't localize their email content by region, country or language. That's unfortunate, because without customized content, most messages sent will never be opened.

Giving Email Local Flavor
Here's what's meant by localization of email: it simply means using images and content familiar to a local area, as well as emphasizing products a specific area is likely to buy. Here's an example of how generic email marketing could really miss the boat:
A manufacturer of several types of pleasure boats notices an upswing in interest from a certain part of the country. They're able to track that regional interest via an email newsletter subscription form on one of their websites.
They don't, however, carry this attention to detail through in their subsequent marketing to those new prospects. The email marketing campaign launched to this region is for large, very expensive yachts most often seen in marinas on the U.S. east or west coasts. What they're missing is that their new subscribers were to a fishing publication. They're also mostly from a region of the southern United States where a large new lake has been created, fueling an interest in bass fishing boats.
By sending invitations to purchase luxury yachts rather than fish and ski boats to this demographic, their email campaign is dead in the water. That may be an extreme example, but their mistake is repeated all over the world by companies who don't take the time to localize their email content.

All Language Isn't the Same
Another way email marketers can appear clumsy and unprofessional is by ignoring the subtleties of language from country to country. This isn't to say that all email must be translated into the native language of every country (although this is a great idea if your business is truly international) but even when marketing to English-speaking customers, there are nuances of language to consider.
In the United States, we've grown used to aggressive sales tactics. We may not always respond to them, but they are a way of life in America. On other continents, though, that constant push to sell, sell, sell may have the opposite result.
Another way to quickly offend by email is to disregard cultural prohibitions of certain products. If your product can't even be shipped to a country, it's foolish to spend time and money creating email campaigns for that area.

A Picture's Worth...
A quick note about using images in your email marketing. Never assume that images you're using in one region or country are appropriate for all areas. Take some time looking at websites representing the countries of origin for your email opt-ins.
American websites have a particular look to them, as do French websites, Indian websites and websites representing Asian companies. Pay close attention to the graphics and images most often used by companies from each area. Try to duplicate that look in your localized messages to those countries or regions.

Are You Tracking Regional Data?
Everything we've said so far is with the assumption that you're actually tracking where your email opt-ins reside. With the easy availability of email list management applications, there's no excuse not to.
Consider the advantages of knowing not only the geographic region of your prospects, but also the local customs, languages and preferences. A little marketing research can go a long way toward crafting a successful localized email marketing campaign.
That, of course, is the goal of having good email tracking. It's one thing to send one million messages per week to prospective clients, but it's another thing altogether to actually have a high percentage of those messages opened.

Crafting Your Best Localized Campaign
If you're already working with Internet marketing specialists, they should be suggesting localized content for email marketing campaigns. If you haven't taken that step and are still creating those campaigns yourself, here's how to increase both your open rate and clickthroughs.

• First, commit to no longer depending on huge, shotgun style email campaigns for sales. Very few products are universally appealing; you're much better off targeting specific groups of prospects with localized copy.
• Second, use your email list management application to produce reports about which regional groups are producing opt-ins. Spend the money to have your marketing specialists or your staff research the buying preferences in those areas. Also, learn what language barriers and cultural norms might be keeping localized groups from responding to your marketing.
• Third, use the information gathered to craft several localized email marketing campaigns, rather than one large, generic one. Again, if you're working with Internet marketing consultants, they should already be helping you do this.
• Fourth, as email open rates and sales figures begin to come in, track the success of your localized campaigns. It's possible you'll need to tweak content and images a few times to hit just the right note.

By approaching your email list in regional blocks with localized content, you have a much better chance your email messages will be opened. As you achieve higher open rates, your sales conversion rates should begin to climb accordingly. And that, of course, should be the goal of any marketing campaign your company creates.

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