Localization's impact on the awareness phase in the Customer Journey

One of the topics I often discuss is the danger of treating localization as an afterthought. Globalizing a product involves more than just translating content.

To make a product successful beyond the local market, several things need to be done correctly in various phases, and one of the phases that is often overlooked but, from my perspective, is one the most crucial relates to the awareness phase.

“The customer journey consists of actions your customers take before and after they make a purchase, and it should be part of your overall marketing strategy.”

— MailChimp

In the awareness stage, potential clients become aware of our company, product, or service. This can happen passively, like when we see an online ad or watch TV, or actively, like when a client needs something and actively searches for it. For example, if a client needs an app to monitor their eating habits (wink, wink), they'll start searching for apps in the App Store or on a website.

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The awareness phase is one of the most important steps in the customer journey because its primary goal is to introduce potential clients to a new market to a product or service. It's the starting point for connecting with an audience. However, the awareness phase is often forgotten from a localization perspective.

Many companies assume that a product designed for their domestic market will work well in international markets with just localization. But before a product reaches the well-known development phase, when typically localization activities begin, there are quite a few things that need to happen.

Here's where the opportunity lies, we can connect our localization activities with the awareness phase.

What opportunities does this present, you might wonder?

It's about sparking the curiosity of potential clients so they become users. For this reason, speaking their language and adapting our awareness phase from a Localization perspective become super important in this context.

There are many activities in the awareness phase that can benefit from a partnership with localization activities. Let's explore what they are!

Why Localization should play an important role in the customer journey

At the awareness stage, potential clients become aware of the existence of our digital product. Our strategy should focus on creating content and spreading the word through various channels while ensuring that the content is localized, considering cultural fit.

 In the awareness phase, there are different elements that actually can benefit from a partnership with Localization activities to maximize potential reach. Examples of this material are:

·     Media coverage

·      Advertisement in multiple channels

·      Instagram posts/tweets social media in general

·      Microsites

·      Ebooks

·      Video

·      White-papers

·      Industry Reports

·      Podcasts

·      Infographics

·      Product Demos

·      Webinars

·      FAQs

If we want to penetrate a new market and we present our material in English, we are failing to create a great first impression, and you already know what they say about making a great impression; there won't be another chance 

Also, from a strategy perspective, there are different aspects to consider; the following infographic summarizes what we need to consider to increase the awareness of our potential clients in local markets. 

The importance of localization awareness metrics in your client journey

In my latest post about Common Localization KPIs pitfalls, I mentioned that 'what doesn't get tracked cannot be improved,' and in the case of seeking metrics in the awareness phase, it's no different. We have to measure the efficiency of our localization efforts.

Using localization metrics in the awareness phase of the customer journey is highly beneficial, as it provides insight into the effectiveness of our Localization efforts to attract new clients in new markets. These metrics serve as markers that help us gauge how well our messages are reaching and connecting with people in different parts of the world.

We can assess if our websites are drawing more visitors, if people are appreciating and sharing our posts on social media, and if local influencers are aiding in spreading the word.

Using a metaphor, we can think of these metrics as trying to find a method to count how many people open the door when we knock – these measurements help us understand if our attempts to speak the language of our clients are working. This, in turn, lays the groundwork for potential clients to get to know us, like us, and perhaps even become our clients.

Helpful Localization metrics to implement during the Awareness Phase from a localization perspective might be the following. There might be more, but these one I think these are a good starting point

1.     Website Traffic (Localized Pages): Monitoring traffic to our localized pages is a valuable indicator of our product's potential. Tools like Google Analytics can be used to keep an eye on the number of visitors, page views, and bounce rates. Increased traffic on these pages signifies that our localized content is gaining attention.

2.     Click-Through Rate (CTR): CTR measures the percentage of users who click on our localized content after viewing it. A higher CTR indicates that the content is compelling and successfully encouraging users to explore more about our product.

3.     Downloads of Localized Resources: If we provide localized resources such as ebooks or PDFs with info about our product or company, tracking the number of downloads is important. This metric reflects the interest and engagement with our content.

4.     Social Media Impressions: Social media impressions represent the total times our content is displayed on users' screens. It can be a valuable metric for estimating the potential reach of our localized content during the awareness phase, as higher impressions suggest that our content is being exposed to a larger audience, thus enhancing awareness.

5.     Influencer Reach: Influencer reach measures the number of people within an influencer's audience who have been exposed to our product through the influencer's content. If we collaborate with local influencers, monitoring how often they mention our products in their content is significant. Influencers can have a substantial impact on brand awareness in their respective communities.

6.     Email Campaign Performance: Email campaigns can contribute to awareness by capturing newsletter subscriptions. When users sign up for email newsletters, they express an interest in staying informed about our brand and products. This initial contact can be viewed as the beginning of their awareness journey.

7.     Search Engine Ranking: It's essential to keep an eye on how well our localized content ranks in local search results during the awareness phase, as this helps make the content more discoverable to our target audience.

8.     Social Media Engagement: We can examine engagement metrics on our social media platforms for localized content. Measure likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates. An increase in these interactions during the awareness phase indicates that our localized content is resonating with our audience.

Summary

In conclusion, localization is often overlooked when digital product makers take their first steps in the client journey.

However, considering the cultural differences and habits of consumers in different countries is crucial, as these habits vary significantly depending on the market we aim to enter. English might be fine if you want to buy things, but it’s not the right language to use for people who want to sell things.

This just reminded me of the powerful words Nelson Mandela once said, 'If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart”

@yolocalizo