How localization can be used to create an effective email campaign
It’s no secret that the more you know about your audience, the more effective your email marketing strategy can be. And one big way that you can do that, is through email localization. No matter the size of your business, it can always help to keep an eye on your audience’s location and ask yourself how you can cater to them and create a personalized email marketing experience.
It’s easy enough to use localization in email marketing, and it can really improve the customer experience. Many email marketing platforms are able to gather data on where your customers are when they open your emails. But you can also use data from any other digital marketing channel you are using. If you gather the data, customizing emails can be done at scale and improve customer engagement and boost sales.
Location factors to consider
There are many things to consider when you are creating emails for different areas of the world. Here are some of the major things to focus on when using email localization.
1. Language
It’s sometimes hard to remember that English isn’t the most spoken language in the world. And even if English is fairly prevalent in the world, people prefer to buy in their native language. Knowing where they are reading your emails can be a strong indicator of what language they are speaking, but translating into a different language isn’t always enough. You have to understand how to speak conversationally with your audience. Many countries that speak the same language spell things differently, or might typically favour certain words over others. It’s useful to consider that when you are writing for a specific area. Especially if you’re writing for an international brand. You want them to relate to you and this is one way of making sure that you do.
2. Culture
Around the world, or even just different states or provinces can have very different cultures. While something may be appropriate in one country, it may offend others. Understanding what is okay and what isn’t as important to maintaining positive relationships in different areas. Whether it’s a joke you’re making or an item you’re selling, know what’s appropriate. Ensure that you are considering these in both the way you speak to them and the images you choose.
3. Time Zone
If you know where your subscribers are, you can make sure you are sending emails at the right time. Do you want to send the email in the morning before they go to work? If you use location data you can automate the emails to be sent based on their time zones. That way they don’t miss the email because it came in the middle of the night and their inbox has flooded with emails since ours arrived.
4. Spam Laws
It’s very important to know where you are sending to because there are different guidelines depending on what country you’re subscribers are in. Spam laws don’t care where the email was sent from, only where they were opened. The big ones to focus on are CASL (Canada), CAN-SPAM (US), and the GDPR (EU). Whether or not you have subscribers in these areas, it is also considered best practice to follow these ones.
Creating and customizing email campaigns
There are different ways to approach to localization in emails. First of all you can create an email and choose to only send it to certain segments based on locations. That way people aren’t getting emails completely unrelated to them. But if you want to run one campaign across many different locations, you can tweak one email to work for all by using merge fields and dynamic content.
Merge fields are simple. They work by inserting a certain piece of information into the text. This is most commonly used to insert someone’s name into the text. On the back end it would look like this: Hi [Contact.First Name]. But for the subscriber they would see their first name in place of that. You can add a subscriber’s location into the content of the email in the same way. This can also be used in the subject line.
With dynamic content you can do a lot more. This is so that you can create certain sections of an email that are only seen by a certain segment. That way you can create one email and make all of the alteration in it, instead of making one for every single segment. It’s a great way to keep your campaigns organized and allows you to save time.
Content Ideas
Knowing where your subscribers live allow you to learn things about the area you are targeting. You can customize emails for your subscribers that display offers or content that may encourage them to buy now or take action on the email which you sent.
One example of using localization is through a weather forecast. Uniqlo does this in the following email. By starting off a forecast, Uniqlo is not only adding useful information related to the product but they are showing their audience what problem they are solving.
This email from Ritual is another great example of how localized content can really create a relevant experience for the subscriber. Ritual uses their data about their location to show the different popular spots to eat nearby and show where people in that office typically eat. It’s a great way to combine personalization tactics to really hit home.
There are many ways that you can incorporate your subscribers’ location data into the email using merge fields and dynamic content, but it’s also a great way to help understand you’re audience. If you send out the same email to different areas you can look at the data from a location standpoint to help you understand the culture and needs of people in certain areas. Did they respond poorly in one city when the same email did really well in another? Overtime, looking at the location data can give you insight into how to communicate with certain areas around the world.
By segmenting and altering your emails based on location, you can have a better understanding of your customers. You can make sure that your emails speak to them not only in a way they understand, but in a way that they can relate to.
Have you tried any of the above tactics? Or have you seen great results from a target campaign? Share your ideas and results below, we would love to hear from you.
