Affiliate marketing allows us to work in many different industries and across a variety of niches. It also allows us to touch different markets and jurisdictions if we so choose. However, in doing so, we need to make sure that we take the time to put localisation in place across sites and content.
Localisation is a vital part of attracting and retaining interest in your affiliate brand. Regardless of the affiliate niche you wish to work in, you need to ensure that all of your sites and content are correctly localised for the market that you want to work in.
What is localisation
When you launch in a new country or jurisdiction, you will tailor your content and operations slightly to best suit that new area. After all, no two countries are the same, and what might work for one will not be best practices for another.
Localise your content and you will be providing the services and experience that those customers expect. Though this might be mean that you end up with different operations across each of your jurisdictions, it means that you will have happier and more fulfilled customers across each of them too.
Why is localisation necessary?
As we said, no two countries are the same. You need to make sure that your affiliate marketing content appeals to everyone, but there are some things that are best put in when you are tailoring to certain markets.
Just take a look at different cultures and how they approach things. France and Germany might share a border but the two peoples could not be more different. The same can even be said for countries with some shared features – Americans and Brits might both speak English but you would never market to one of these parties in the way that you would with the other – it simply would not work.
If you don’t market to these new markets in the way that they expect, this new potential audience is just going to pass by with no interest. Though you might have something interesting to offer them, if you cannot capture their attention in a way that works for them, any affiliate marketing materials just simply won’t get the traction they need for success. Whether you are an affiliate manager or just a partner, you need to know how to reach out to any audience and capture their attention.
What can localisation look like?
When localising your content and operations, there are several ways in which you can do so. They can include:
- Site domains
- Language support
- Currency support
- Local support hours
First up are site domains. You should be setting up a new website for each jurisdiction anyway, but make sure that you pay attention to small details like your domain. It is not enough to just translate your existing site – create a new one with the right domain extension for the jurisdiction.
Speaking of translation, make sure that there is good language support in place. Hire native speakers to not just create the content for your website but also to work in your customer service team. If a customer gets in touch with your company, they will then be able to deal with someone who speaks the language they are most comfortable with. Along with this, you need to ensure that the support is available during business hours of your chosen jurisdiction. This might not match up with your own working hours, but it is vital to have that support in at the ground level, unless you intend to offer 24/7 support.
Finally, make sure that currency support is in place if you intend to accept payments of any sort. Rather than just accept payments in one currency, like the American dollar, make sure that you offer payment processing for the local currencies of your chosen jurisdiction.
A question of compliance
Finally, localisation is vital as it could be a crucial part of compliance. Every country has its own rules in terms of advertising standards. If your affiliate niche is a highly regulated one such as iGaming, you also need to ensure that you are meeting the local laws of that jurisdiction, no matter what they might be.
Compliance is an issue that cannot be ignored, and so it is vital that all affiliate brands know what is expected of them in terms of advertising standards. In complying with them, you will also be on the right step towards creating content localised to the markets you are targeting.
Affiliate marketing is great as it really allows you to create campaigns that could be seen all around the world. When creating affiliate marketing content for a new jurisdiction, ensure that it is fully localised throughout.
Want some help scaling up your affiliate marketing program and taking on an international market? Get in touch with Affiverse’s agency today.
