There’s a boatload of advantages to conducting business on the internet. When compared to a physical location, overhead is virtually nil. Analytics software gives you a constant line to your metrics, allowing you to tweak your strategies, pricing, and marketing on the fly. Perhaps most importantly, the internet gives you access to the largest consumer audience in the world: the internet users that make up a quarter of the world’s population.

Of course, actually reaching those 3 billion-plus people isn’t always so simple. Not only are you competing with millions of other online businesses, but you’re also competing against cultural differences and, of course, the good-old language barrier. The good news is that if you can gain a foothold on the latter by bridging the gaps of language and culture, you’ll likely find yourself rising above any competition that failed to do the same.

This is precisely why multilingual marketing is something that every entrepreneur should think about. To clarify early on, I’m not saying that every business owner should drop what they’re doing to start translating their websites into Mandarin Chinese. Not at all. I’m only stating that every business should consider their options. Before going down that road, there’s a few questions you can ask yourself to help determine…

Should I Use Multilingual Marketing?

• Does your product or service have a potential audience among speakers of other languages?

Not every business will benefit from multilingual marketing, although you’ll need to examine your own offering closely to make the call. (Example: If your business is selling books about Social Security in America, and they’re only printed in English, then you probably wouldn’t see a lot of benefit without first translating your product.)

Focus groups might even be in order – it’s best to determine the viability of the idea before spending too much time or money on it. If you’re specifically targeting emerging markets, then this equation changes. You will need multilingual marketing to reach the bulk of your audience in places like China and Argentina.

• Do you have the means to execute a multilingual marketing strategy using your existing resources?

Maybe you already have someone in your organization who’s fluent in another language…or a spouse, friend, or member of your family. If so, translating your existing material might be as simple as giving them a call. (Just bear in mind that you get what you pay for, and if the person doing the translating isn’t already an employee or partner, you might want to pay them.)

• If not, do you have the budget to pay for the necessary work?

If you don’t happen to have a translator on board, then there’s the option to outsource the translation. This can be costly, but more notably, translation work is notoriously slow to turn around. If you decide to hire out translation services, be sure to verify all expenses and deadlines before moving forward.

• Are you willing to deal with a potentially frustrating array of new challenges?

Translating your business’ marketing material into a language that you don’t understand can be fairly challenging for other reasons. For one, you’ll need to give up some amount of control and assurance, as you’ll never be completely certain how the copy “reads” to a native speaker. This also makes it difficult to keep brand identity and tone consistent.

Then there’s always the matter of the product itself, as well as customer service. What will happen if a dozen potential customers contact you in a language that you don’t understand? How about a hundred? Will you have someone on hand to either translate or respond to those messages?

This all might seem a bit daunting, but there are rewards to be had. If you’ve answered the above questions and determined that multilingual marketing is worth exploring, then there are plenty of positive possibilities:

Improved Global SEO

Adding multiple language versions to your website adds to your overall content, as well as its ability to be indexed by search engines. More pages and content means more opportunities to rank, and the correct design will essentially increase the depth of your website by a factor of n: the number of language versions that you’ve published.

Consider this as well: Imagine the boost to your traffic and SEO if yours is the only website of its kind that’s available in your chosen languages.

A Foothold in Emerging Markets

Emerging markets – primarily China and nations in South America and the Middle East – are not heavily saturated with English speakers. If you’re intent on reaching these markets, then you really don’t have much of a choice. You’ll miss out on opportunities while businesses that do have multilingual marketing run circles around you.

Higher Conversion

To put it simply, you reach people more effectively in their native tongue. Not only is this a matter of convenience for many, but it’s also a matter of building brand equity. Multilingual marketing shows concern and care – a true willingness to work with that segment of your audience. It not only gives you a broader reach, but it builds trust and loyalty for your brand.

Ready to start pursuing these opportunities? Let’s go over a few best practices for executing a multilingual marketing plan!

12 Tips for Multilingual Marketing

• Assemble Your Team

As I mentioned previously, you’ll have a leg-up on the game if you already have multilingual people in your sphere of influence. Family, friends, employees – do some research to see who can contribute to translation and content creation. If you can’t think of anyone currently, you may want to make that factor part of your future hiring process. For now, try looking into freelancers to fill the void.

• Repurpose Your Promotional Strategies

Anything you’ve used to promote in the past is potential new content once translated. Contests, reader/viewer polls, and anything else that prompts interaction should be harvested and considered for use in your new market.

• Target International Distributors

If your product or service is ready to go for consumers who speak a different language, then consider using the channels of distribution that work best in their Amazon is not the top retail site in China, nor is Google their most-used search engine. Do your research and modify your offering to fit the landscape.

• Work the Social Media Angle

The benefits of social media marketing cross over, but with a multilingual approach, you’ll now be hitting a whole new spectrum of consumers. Consider making social media pages or profiles for each language segment. You may also be able to post in different languages on the same profile, but your target audience will determine how effective that strategy is.

• Don’t Forget YouTube!

Develop a YouTube channel for your new audience. This is easier when you have in-house help, as your translator can also be the public face of your business in that market. Remember, video marketing is trending massively into 2016, so you don’t want to leave it out of your overall plan!

• Multilingual Blogging

You don’t just want to translate old content into new…although that’s a great way to get started without spending a lot of money. Having your translators create new blog posts for your multilingual page is a great way to make sure you’re targeting issues that matter to your new audience.

• Partner Up

Penetrating into new markets means looking for new opportunities for collaboration. Find other businesses or organizations that align with your company vision but aren’t normally approached by non-native businesses. (Regional NFPs are a good example.) You can give them exposure outside of their region, while they help you reach people in your new audience.

• Translate Your Ads

Don’t forget to translate all of your social media ads, banners, emails, and whatever else you’ve been using for marketing. Unless there are some serious cultural barriers in play, there’s no reason why what you’ve already perfected can’t be put to work in the new region.

• Know Your Market

Speaking of cultural barriers, you should do plenty of research to make sure you’re playing the right cards (and not overstepping any boundaries.) You’ll also want to ensure that you fully understand the differing “pain points,” values, and buying habits of people in your new audience. There’s more to translation than just vocabulary and grammar, after all!

• Get Your Site in Order

Make sure your site is properly translated and welcoming to your new audience. You don’t want to attract new leads to your offering and then lose them when they hit your website! Remember that a properly translated website with the right markups will also help your global SEO.

• Strive for Consistency

One of the challenges of multilingual marketing is maintaining a consistent brand image across all of your properties, no matter what language its in. Direct translations can lose their subtext – or entire meaning – very quickly.

• Work on a Customer Relations Strategy

Don’t neglect the possibility that consumers in your new audience will reach out to you. Strive to have a plan in place for responding to emails and calls in the foreign language. You may be able to avoid issues with this if your product is “self-contained,” but be wary! You know how one of the most common complaints you’ll see on reviews is that the user “tried to contact customer service but they didn’t speak English?” Well, that frustration works both ways! One bad review can hurt you in any country.

Don’t miss out on potential market share. Take your product or service international through multilingual marketing, and there’s a good chance you’ll relish in the rewards. Plan carefully and follow through with mindful execution, and your chances of success will greatly improve.