Writing for International Audiences

Producing high-quality, compelling content, in general, is a challenging task. This is taken up to another level when writing for international audiences.

Now you might think it’s as simple as taking your current content, giving it a quick translation, and publishing the results for your global audience. Yet this audience is made up of more than just different languages, but also different cultures, expectations, and abilities – and having a deep understanding of these is essential for the job.

This guide features an assortment of tips and recommendations when creating content for an international audience. Not only will this help to avoid embarrassing situations that could potentially alienate global customers, but effective international writing has the ability to convince and convert.

What are the challenges when writing for international audiences?

There are numerous challenges faced when writing for a new international audience. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. However, there are a few aspects you may have overlooked – and that’s why we’ve put the spotlight on them below.

Language

Okay, this is an obvious challenge that’s not going to fly under the radar. Yet there are several challenges that fall under language and how users interact with it. For instance, say Kenya is a new market you want to expand into. Even though many will read content in Swahili, they find it easier to search for it in English – and you have to cater to this approach.

Another point to remember is translating certain terminology. In certain cases, technological terms like software, hardware, and Bluetooth are first learned by users in English. As a result, they may be unfamiliar with what these words are when translated into their native language.

Tech fluency

This is an element that can be easily overlooked. It is easy to assume that everyone understands the capabilities of technology, but this isn’t necessarily the case in places where tech fluency is less common. Dragging, swiping, and other mobile gestures may be unfamiliar to users. As a result, it’s important to use visual cues when necessary to clearly illustrate what you mean.

Audiences

There are many countries out there. There are even more languages. Simply put, you cannot target every audience with your international content. You have to be selective in which audiences to focus on.

Understanding this is where research comes into play. You have to study current user locations, see where potential opportunities exist, and use this to pick the right international audiences for your business.

International content: top tips to remember for success

Along with factoring in the challenges above, there are various things to consider when writing – or editing – for international audiences. To make the task a little easier, we have put together the following list of top tips to remember when producing international content.

Remember cultural differences

In answer to your question, yes, we do have hamburgers and fries in England, but we call French fries ‘chips’.

You can always turn to The Simpsons for guidance, and the above response from Ringo Starr to Marge’s fan letter helps illustrate cultural differences are everywhere between languages. Even if England and the United States are incredibly similar 99% of the time, that 1% difference has to be accounted for when writing for international audiences.

Of course, these cultural variations can be a lot more significant than what a certain foodstuff is called. A lazy, straightforward translation of your content, for instance, could even anger a whole nation if it is deemed culturally insensitive.

Go with clear language

If you are an experienced writer, you’ll understand there are effective methods to add life to your webpages and blog posts. This can be done by choosing to use informal language, slang, idioms, and culture-specific phrases. While an approachable, conversational tone is effective when communicating with a local audience, the effectiveness is lost once you start going global.

There are various reasons why this is the case. Sayings become lost in translation. Phrases fail to hit the mark because international audiences don’t have the context behind them. There are also some expressions that can even be impossible to translate.

With this in mind, it makes sense to avoid informal words and phrases when constructing written pieces for a global audience. You should also keep sentences simple and concise. If you start going above 20 words for each sentence, it can become trickier to understand.

Just remember that going with clear language doesn’t necessarily mean you have to kill your writing style. There’s still a place for eloquent, engaging content that shines bright.

Small changes matter

Your primary focus will be on ensuring your content is clear and matches the culture of your target audience. With that said, there are small changes that you still have to consider when putting together content for international audiences. These include:

• Specify the currency a specific country uses.
• Find out if the country uses imperial or metric units.
• Go with global examples rather than local ones when possible.
• Make sure your phone number is in the correct format. You need to ensure your contact details are right, particularly if your content has convinced a user to continue their buying journey.

Admittedly, some of these aspects won’t come into the equation with your own content. Yet when potential issues do crop up that can confuse your international audience, it’s essential you make the required changes for seamless consumption.

Forget about machine translations

Machine translations are a fantastic tool. They’re an excellent way to gain an understanding of what a foreign language means in your own native language, whether you are translating a webpage or a sign in a different country.

What they’re not excellent for, however, is translating your content ready for it to be published in a different language. In fact, it’s very much the opposite. Machine translations are far from accurate enough for the task. This will result in sloppy, incoherent content that makes your business appear amateurish and unprofessional.

Simply put, machine translations are good for getting an idea about how certain content works. They can also be used when translating certain website elements – such as 1 or 2-word page titles like ‘Home’ and ‘Contact Us.’ Just forget about it when it comes to the meat of your content.

Hire a professional

With cultural differences in mind and the need to avoid machine translations, there’s only one path to go down: bringing a professional on board. With a professional translator and writer taking care of the work, you can be assured it will be produced with the care and attention required. It’ll also be at the quality necessary to successfully grab the attention of users and push your business into a positive light.

The good news is you also don’t have to hire a permanent employee for this job. You can hire a specialist agency or freelancer whenever required to translate your content. Just make sure you don’t cheap out on this aspect – even those offering this service can still do a sloppy job if they don’t possess the proficiency and experience necessary.

Remember time zones and seasons

Your content is ready to publish. It has been translated and refined for the international markets your business is targeting. Now it’s simply a case of uploading this content for these audiences to consume, right?

Wrong.

You have to pay careful attention to the time zones of each audience. Your content will fail to generate the traction you expect if it’s published in the middle of the night, for instance. As you will know, publishing your content is not a case of doing it at any time – it needs to be done at the ideal time.

Due to this, it’s best to understand the time zones for each international market and schedule the content to be published at a prime time for maximum impact.

It’s not just time zones you have to be aware of, either. You also have to remember the potential changes in seasons between each market. For example, when it’s wintertime in the UK, people are all wrapped up with big coats, scarves, hats, and anything else they can get their hands on to stay warm against the elements. Yet, at the same time, on the other side of the world in Australia, it’s summertime and bikinis, shorts, and surfing are the order of the day.

The result: you have to be careful what you write about and ensure it matches up to the season in targeted markets. Failure to do this won’t just see your content miss the mark, but it’ll also lead to a lot of confused readers wondering why they received ads for snow boots in summer!

In summary

Writing for international audiences demands a lot of care, attention, and hard work. Yet this effort is worth it when you consider the potential rewards available. With the right international content strategy to promote your products and services, it’s possible to grow your business exponentially. Along with boosting brand awareness, you can start generating sales all across the world.