Does Cultural Diversity Matter in Marketing?

Cultural diversity in marketing matters, especially if you want to reach a global audience and engage with them in a meaningful and effective way in order to successfully market your brand and increase sales.

However, cultural diversity is a complex issue – get it wrong and it can cost your campaign, get it right and your audience will support and strengthen your brand for the foreseeable future.

Here, at Creative Word, we are experts in cultural diversity and know how to help our clients achieve their global goals.

Below, you’ll find our helpful tips about cultural diversity in marketing including, how culture and language affect the success of your campaigns, how to be culturally authentic and accurate, and how professional localization and translation service providers can help.

 

 

Cultural Diversity isn’t just about Language

Cultural diversity in marketing isn’t just about language, but it is often the first consideration of many firms who are planning to take their brand global.

And with good reason…

Research by CSA (Common Sense Advisory) suggests that “75% [of consumers] prefer to buy products in their native language” and that “60% rarely or never buy from English-only websites”.

Customers want to browse your website, engage with your social media, and access customer services in their native language so they can fully participate in your brand and enjoy your products or services to the full.

Although language and culture are intricately linked, it is important to not assume that because one audience speaks a certain language then any other audience speaking this language will share the same culture – they won’t!

For instance, an Arabic speaking audience in the UAE will have slightly different cultural expectations to an Arabic speaking audience in Turkey so marketing campaigns should be localized for each audience to get the best results.

 

 

Use Authentic Cultural Representation

Consumers can spot an inauthentic or inaccurate cultural representation a mile away – and they’ll be sure to share your misfortune with everyone they know on social media!

Most brands can’t afford to make mistakes like this – it damages brand identity and integrity, and will cost you potential sales.

When venturing into a new market (or culture) always do your research; check regional dialects, find out dominant societal norms, investigate religious tendencies, learn familial and organizational (including governmental) hierarchies, and consider how your audience lives their daily life.

Similarly, when releasing a new campaign, make sure the photos, images and people shown truly represent your audience and are specific to the culture and region you are targeting.

Effective marketing campaigns are those that go straight to the heart (or head) of your audience which means you’ll need to totally ‘get’ them.

 

Language Service Providers

Language Service providers (LSPs) are ideally placed to help you achieve cultural diversity within your global marketing campaigns through the use of localization and translation.

An experienced, professional LSP, with in-depth knowledge of your required culture and language, will ensure accurate grammatical structure, use colloquial and vernacular terminology relevant for your target audience, and offer an accurate cultural parameter for your marketing campaigns.

Localization considers aspects such as:

Language/dialect

• Images/photographs

• People/race

• Currency

• Font

• Use of colour

• Design elements

• Date/time formats

• Tone of voice

• Cultural expectations

All of which must be tailored to fit the audience’s expectations to ensure a successful marketing campaign.

More information regarding localization (and what it entails) can be found on our blog page, or click on the link to go to our dedicated localization page.

You can also contact a member of the Creative Word team here for more specific advice, or an informal chat, regarding the professional language services we offer.

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