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Like any startup we envisioned business growth to look similar to other businesses. Find a market, build a community and go from there. But as a company lead by a an international and cross-continental team we had to think global right from the beginning.
When we were in the early business growth stages of Subly, we were based across Australia and the UK– two English-speaking countries, with dozens of non-English speaking countries in between. And our target audiences? Also, English-speakers, despite the global opportunity to instantly expand to every country between the two borders.
Why are we on a global mission?
In the beginning, it is challenging to perceive targeting more than what you know. Still, as we saw more business growth, we realised that the potential for more global audiences, in more countries, speaking other languages was massive, perhaps more enormous than simply the English market.
After all, when 75% of audiences browsing online aren’t native English speakers, we’d be crazy not to pursue the hundreds of people across the world who may need what we’re offering on a global level. So we did just that.
Even before we launched Subly Premium, we began experimenting with what global content could look like and what types of audiences we could be attracting for our business growth target. That’s when our Did You Know This Wasn’t English series was born.
How did we expand into new markets?
With a global team, we were lucky enough to have team members who spoke other languages and were willing to jump on the experiment to try something new in hopes of achieving global growth and reaching a wider audience.
Our experiment began with our team recording a vlog in their native language. We transcribed it, translated it into English, and posted it online. And, our engagement showed evident signs of growth, and a new global audience was interacting with these posts.
And beyond that, we realised the amount of enthusiasm our community had for the growth into global and translated content.
Once we launched Subly Premium in beta giving creators access to these translation tools, too, we saw the massive difference it was making for global creators across Europe and Asia. Creators began sharing and tagging more of their content with translated closed captions attached, brands reaching out curious about the growth opportunity and simplicity of what we were creating.
How can you become a global brand with an international following?
So, this made us wonder, why do more creators and brands not consider going global when it has become so accessible? Moreover, why are we seeing specks of creators and brands picking up on this growing trend that we think will take off in the coming years.
Perhaps ‘scaling’ sounds scary?
Well, we’re here to tell you it doesn’t have to be anymore. Here are the 5 ways in which you can scale your brand and achieve global growth today.
1. Become an international thought leader
As with any new venture, developing a good reputation in a new place is the best first step to global growth.
Sharing translated content as a business and offering value that global audiences can take advantage of can become the difference between you and your competitors, especially when your competitors are growing in those new markets, too.
The best way to do this? Subtitle and translate your content to be global. Even beginning with subtitles ensures that your existing audience is engaging with your content.
Various studies have shown that subtitles improve comprehension for those whose English is a second language. This is because subtitles attract audiences who are just learning English, too.
2. Grow an international community of supporters
When sharing thought leadership content with subtitles and translated captions, or translated subtitles, you open yourself up to building a diverse community, a global community.
Why do you want this for your growth? Because global growth only works with a supportive community spreading the word! And word of mouth is the best way to grow in new markets, especially when you enter markets where you’re not as well-known yet.
It has been found that specifically on social media platforms, local pages tend to get more engagement overall. So, find out where your second and third-biggest communities exist and help those arkets be your supporters by offering them content that feels local to them.
3. Localise content for your international target audiences
On the topic of local content. Creating content that is native to your audience increases your chances of being noticed by your new target audiences.
When compared, 71% of marketing decision-makers increased sales in their new target markets due to localised content strategy.
Creating localised content for your new audiences can maximise the impact of your marketing strategy. This is especially true if targeted ads are part of your business growth strategy as localised content within ads combined with geo-location specific ads could result in higher conversions, too.
4. Rank for SEO in more languages
Building out content in another language ensures that you rank for the same topics when the search query isn’t in English.
Adapting a global strategy that is as simple as repurposing content with translations can improve your chances of growing into a global leader.
Think about it this way: would you open search results not in English when flooded with choices in English? Your customers definitely wouldn’t for their native languages. Aim to be the simplest choice available when those Google results come up.
5. Be an inclusive business.
Making inclusivity a core value at your business and within your brand improves your chances of finding larger audiences across more countries. It also develops more positive conversations around your brand in your community.
Becoming an inclusive brand means thinking about every audience who may come across your content. Those with sound-off, those hard of hearing or deaf, and those global audiences for whom English isn’t their first language.
Creating inclusive content with subtitles, accessible translations, and clear copy can differentiate you and a close competitor. So be accessible and be inclusive. Your audience will say thank you.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of how you can begin scaling your business and achieve global growth, these are a good first few steps to take when aiming for global audiences.
It is difficult to grow your following. It is even harder to do so when targeting international markets. However, too many businesses are stuck on the notion that localising their content is time-consuming and difficult when it isn't the case. If you choose to become an inclusive brand with a global mission, creating equally global content is easy with the right tools.
Curious to give translated content a go? Try Subly Premium today to start on your global mission with us. And if you’re working with larger teams, collaborating on translated content has never been easier with Subly Business.
