Email localization: Time to elevate your email marketing

Whether you’re a global business or a small company, localization can significantly enhance your connection with international customers. There’s usually a lot of talk surrounding processes such as website and mobile app localization, but there are lots of other elements that may require your attention too. We’re here to talk about what email localization is and how it ensures your emails feel personal and thoughtful, respecting local customs and preferences.

Email localization and why it’s important

Email localization is an important component of marketing localization. It involves adapting email content such as newsletters to specific cultural, linguistic, and regional preferences so that it resonates with your target audiences in different markets. As we always like to mention, localization offers tons of benefits. And it can boost your email marketing efforts too!

Primarily, email localization enhances the customer experience. When people receive emails in their native language, tailored to their cultural nuances, it creates a sense of connection. This is known to foster trust and loyalty. Additionally, it was found that localized emails tend to have higher open and click-through rates.

When content is relevant and engaging, people are more likely to interact with it… and likely to convert! Moreover, it’s always best to be consistent when it comes to localization. If you do it across all of your marketing (and non-marketing) channels, localization can only strengthen your brand’s reputation.

Where to start with email localization

First and foremost, you need develop a good localization strategy. Start by pinpointing your target markets. When doing this, consider factors such as market size, growth potential, and how well your brand aligns with local cultures. It’s important to prioritize your efforts.

Then, delve deep into understanding your target audience. Marketers usually develop detailed customer personas to grasp their language, cultural preferences, and buying behaviors. You need to know all this if you’re looking to create email content that’s truly resonant.

Once you have a clear picture of your target market, select the appropriate languages. You’d typically prioritize based on market potential and available resources. Make sure you have a skilled localization team that includes language experts, translators, and cultural specialists. If needed, partner with external localization agencies.

To maintain brand consistency, establish a localization style guide. Outline guidelines for terminology, tone, and formatting to ensure a unified message across all localized content. Think about the commonly-used tools for localization too. You need a suitable localization platform to manage translations, workflows, and quality control.

Common challenges

From the accuracy of the translations to ROI calculation, email localization has its fair share of hurdles. Translating and adapting content into multiple languages is not a straightforward task because words and phrases often carry different connotations in different languages. Plus, you also need to consider cultural sensitivity; what works in one culture may not be appropriate in another.

Maintaining consistency is another challenge. You need to make sure that brand voice, tone, and messaging remain consistent across multiple languages. Technical constraints, such as character limits and email client compatibility, can also impact the localization process. For instance, text expansion in some languages might lead to layout issues.

Localization entails not only linguistic and cultural expertise but also significant time and financial investment. Smaller companies with limited resources may have a hard time allocating a budget for localization. Plus, it’s quite a challenge to measure the ROI of email localization to determine if it was all worth it.

Localize your (email) content with POEditor

As mentioned, you need a localization management platform for adapting email content for new markets. POEditor can help with the process by offering a solution to streamline your localization workflow. Our platform supports multiple file formats, provides features such as translation memory, glossaries, and allows for many integrations – from Git hosting platforms to machine translation engines.

Furthermore, POEditor’s robust collaboration tools facilitate efficient teamwork. Multiple users can work simultaneously on a project, and real-time updates ensure everyone is on the same page. Our localization platform also offers quality assurance checks, helping you identify potential issues before the final product is released.

Would you like to know more about specific features or how to integrate POEditor into your email localization workflow?