Extend Market Reach With Multilingual Marketing

The English language now accounts for less than 13% of internet searches within the EU and less than 10% across Asia. Businesses who only market themselves with web sites written in English are clearly missing out.

In order to compete in a global market, and attract new overseas customers, you have to make it possible for people to find your web site in a language they feel comfortable with;

A simple five-language site can put your business in front of an additional 412 million internet users; creating thousands of extra visitors to your site, leading to a potential four fold increase in generated sales.

Multilingual marketing works, simply because people will always use their native language first when searching the internet.

THE ISSUES

The English language is no longer sufficient for companies that want to trade internationally. More and more businesses are recognising that marketing campaigns, written in the language of the target client, are strategic to successful overseas development.

Key facts...

1 in 5 UK exporting companies have lost business due to their lack of language or cultural skills.

80% of UK exporting companies cannot conduct business overseas in even one foreign language.

75% of the world's population speak no English at all.

Over 70% of UK trade is with non-English speaking countries.

Yet...

Internet users are twice as likely to stay on a web site, and four times more likely to buy when addressed in their own language.

Export sales of companies that make an effort to understand each nations' way of life, consumer tastes, culture and language are growing by, on average, £290K per company per year.

YOU NEED TO SEE A RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT

Adding value in a competitive environment

Consumers spend, businesses invest. If your business is looking to implement a multilingual marketing programme, then you will naturally be seeking a tangible return to justify the investment.

Offering products and services in multiple languages can have a tremendous impact on the long term growth and development of a business. The results achieved are tangible, and can be measured in terms of increased sales revenues, enhanced customer loyalty, additional revenue streams and more.

Some examples of attained value are:

Increased Market Presence: English language web sites can only reach out to 16.6% of EU consumers. Localising web site copy into German, French, Spanish and Italian makes a site visible to 74.1% of the European population. This simple step can generate a five fold increase in customer acquisitions, leading to an overall improvement in brand awareness and market share.
Improved Asset Utilization: Multilingual marketing campaigns can easily be piggy-backed onto a company's existing website. Current packaging and promotional material can also be adapted for multiple languages, therefore broadening the product appeal and enhancing customer loyalty.
Reasons to embrace multilingual marketing:

• Improved Operational Efficiency
• Global Business Integration
• Enhanced Consumer Loyalty
• Increased Market Share
• Improved Customer Retention Levels
• Increased Competitive Advantage
• Minimal Risk
• Increased Sales Per Customer
• Additional Revenue Streams
• Increased Profit
• Leveraging Existing Assets

THE MARKETING FUNNEL

How multilingual marketing works in practice

The principle of the marketing funnel is based on the premise that cold prospects enter at the very top, and are guided down the funnel towards the point of sale. An initial enquiry turns into a warm prospect, which turns into a qualified lead, which turns into in a sale. Along the way, all the non-serious prospects are filtered out until you are left with a smaller number of actual sales coming out at the bottom.

The number of sales made, in relation to the number of initial enquiries, is known as the conversion ratio. For example, if you have one sale for every twenty enquiries, then your conversion ratio is 5%. In order to plan an effective marketing campaign, a business should know how their funnel operates at all the different levels, and what the overall conversion ratio is at the end.

Under the marketing funnel principle, there are only two ways a business can develop and grow; either by increasing the number of prospects entering the funnel at point-of-interest, or by improving the conversion ratio through improved sales strategies.

The internet is now regarded as the most commonly used entry point for any sales funnel. When someone finds your site online, you have the chance to influence their decision and lead them towards a sale. However, if your website is only written in English, then the only people who can find you are those who search the net in English, and that severely restricts the impact that your business can have.

Fact: 99% of people search the internet in their native language.

Multilingual marketing using a European web site can generate a five fold increase in the number of customers entering your sales funnel, resulting in a significant increase in new customer acquisitions and an overall improvement in brand awareness across the EU.

For many years, this type of international marketing campaign was the preserve of the large multinationals, but technology advances, and web site leasing options, are now allowing businesses of all sizes to expand into lucrative European markets in a professional, cost effective manner.

In today's business environment, multilingual marketing can give you the competitive advantage you need to generate long term business growth.