What you need to know about multilingual content marketing

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Finally figuring out content marketing and finding some semblance of continuity can feel like a huge win. So, we hate to break it to you that you’re only just scratching the surface. The next big thing is multilingual content marketing, and you’re going to want to get a head start on it.

What is multilingual content marketing?

As the name suggests, multilingual content marketing refers to a content marketing strategy that is adapted to account for multiple languages in other parts of the world. So, instead of just producing content in English, you’re producing content in French, German and Chinese to reach untapped customers in regions where these languages are native.

One important thing to note is that you don’t have a content marketing strategy and a multilingual content marketing strategy. The multilingual content marketing strategy becomes the content marketing strategy. Under that umbrella, you have English content, French content, German content, Chinese content, etc. Everything is combined together, and the hope is that you’re able to develop a cohesive message that resonates with your customers regardless of the language.

Some people in the industry don’t like the phrase “multilingual content marketing,” because they feel it puts too much emphasis on language and not enough on cultural differences. If you’re just translating content into different languages, you aren’t accounting for the other important intricacies that matter.

For example, you can translate an English blog post into Chinese, but without accounting for cultural differences, your new blog post will miss the mark. This is why some marketers prefer to use the term “multicultural content marketing.”

As expert Eric Ingrand puts it, “Multicultural content marketing — marketing which takes into account the cultural values and beliefs of the target market — builds trust and helps potential customers overcome their suspicion of foreign brands.”

We’ll stick with the term “multilingual content marketing” in this article because it’s the phrase that most in the industry use; however, do note that you have to account for multicultural elements as well in order to be successful. Ingrand is spot on in his definition.

Five tips for better multilingual content marketing

Whether you’re just getting started in multilingual content marketing or you’re looking to revamp your strategy and make it more effective, we’re going to provide you with some tips to assist in laying a strong foundation.

  1. Keep things simple

“A main advantage of using content across different languages is that Google doesn’t pick up on duplicate content in different languages,” marketer Christian Arno says. This means you can write the same article in different languages and get added value each time.

The issue is that writing 10 or 15 articles for 10 or 15 different websites isn’t practical or cost-effective. “So the trick to writing easily localized and translated content is to keep it simple and general by avoiding specific local references (such as local news events or…

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