Going global: how to streamline international content rollouts
A key challenge for today’s brands is communicating with their customers in a way that speaks to them. That means understanding what makes them tick and fulfills their needs. Even for a medium-sized business operating in one market, putting a finger on that and then delivering it, is a serious challenge in itself.
But what about when brands need to convey their message on an international scale? A key issue for multinational companies today is achieving both quality and quantity when it comes to rolling out their content on the global stage.
Global content: the quality versus quantity dilemma
Multinational brands work across a number of markets: that means they may have multiple websites in different languages, catering to users with a wide variety of backgrounds, cultural identities and preferences. When those brands have a central piece of content to roll out, like a new product launch, there are a number of knock-on effects to be aware of.
First, there’s the language barrier. The content itself needs to be translated in a way that doesn’t just convert the language, but also localizes it — all whilst preserving the original brand message. Organizations often don’t have the editing capacity to handle the localization of content in-house, so this may need to be outsourced, generating costs and lengthening time-to-market for that all-important product announcement. To overcome these challenges, brands need to integrate general translation and domain-specific language translation into the same content lifecycle.
Secondly, there’s the question of timing. For an announcement like a product release, timing is everything. Brands must align their content rollouts according to different campaign schedules and across different markets, ensuring their content is published at the right time regardless of time differences. This takes serious organization, coordination and expertise to get right.
And thirdly, there’s the long term management issue. Brands already need to keep an eye on an exploding number of channels where they’ll be reaching users across the customer value chain. Multiply that by 6 markets and we’ve got a sizable task on our hands. Many organizations focus on the initial launch of an international content rollout but fail to think about the ongoing management task beyond. We’re talking multilingual customer communications cross-channel, international performance tracking and constant optimization on a global scale: all of which require constant oversight.
What’s the key to internationalizing with confidence?
At Netcentric, we work with multinational brands every day. And we’ve found that it’s key to create a content structure that allows the business to be dynamic and responsive to the evolving global landscape in front of them.
That starts with your platform. Adobe Experience Manager offers multi-site management capabilities that help marketers and product teams to roll out and manage content across websites and timezones more effectively and rapidly. It’s the architectural gold standard for companies wanting to go global with their content without diluting their message.
However, many companies invest in platforms like AEM and expect a turnkey fix for their content rollouts. Accessing the full power of a high-tech business asset like AEM requires expertise, cultural shift and experience.
That’s where Netcentric can help
Not only do we help install an architectural blueprint for smooth content processes, but we also help brands outline a clear content structure, including multi-site management and content automation, that reduces maintenance efforts and acts as quality control for international content.
We start by defining content types, such as distinguishing between marketing and product content which require different audiences and treatments. Then we establish whether there’s the need for integrations, such as translation management, Adobe Assets, integrations with job portals, or with a product information management system to supply data about product announcements or updates. With AEM, content can be localized before rollout, so only minor adjustments are required and can be made easily and efficiently using AEM’s simplified review and approval process.
Next, we get to work creating a tailor-made AEM solution that helps your business roll out content and launch new markets rapidly and at scale, without compromising on the quality in the process. That way marketing teams can focus on injecting creativity and innovation into content marketing that generates leads, rather than managing the granular details of internationalizing that creative output.