5 localisation errors to avoid making in your German marketing
From tone to market awareness, the devil is in the details
The Channel Company vendor services
The Channel Company, which incudes CRN, Computing, Channel Partner Insight and bChannels, has come together to create an end-to-end vendor service to provide more transparent and reliable returns from the IT Channel.
This latest blog looks at marketing for vendors and partners in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and some of the errors technology companies and partners make when trying to localise their existing content for the region.
Germany is one of the largest economies in the world, and by extension one of the largest technology markets. However, if you speak to senior decision makers in Germany and discuss their biggest issues with the buying process, the sea of content poorly tailored to the German market is high up the list.
While brands look to maintain a globally consistent message, it is not necessary to create every asset from scratch - however, many opportunities have been spurned due to errors in the localization of content, typically arranged for English speaking markets. Here are five errors that you can avoid today.
Language - the devil is in the detail
Why did the beer stand in the forest?
Because the firs cone
(Trust us, this is hilarious in German)
Content is often translated word for word by the vendor and often originates in the US which means that it fails to sound natural. In particular, any idioms, wordplay and humour are liable to be translated poorly and fail to capture the original meaning within the text. This issue is so prevalent that many DACH Channel partners use their own agencies to have content re-written by a native speaker or IT editor. Their audience is suspicious if content isn't written and designed to their standards, and they trust content from other countries less than if they feel it was created for them specifically.
Align to German market priorities
Due to different market conditions, cultural norms and other factors, it would be wrong to assume that the priorities for similar buyers in different markets would be homogenous - and the DACH market is no different - and if you want to grab the attention of the German audience, it pays to understand those differences and adapt accordingly.
US content often uses the author and their previous output as a starting point for new content, to build trust over time, which means that storytelling and personal feelings are key drivers of demand through content.
By contrast, the DACH market wants to focus on the solution out of the gate with figures, case studies and practical explanations being preferred.
One reason is that security and data privacy is among the tightest in the world in Germany, so credentials in these areas are a hygiene factor and need to be addressed early in the customer journey.
German buyers want to test the products themselves and research the pros and cons independently, so providing strong figures that the audience can apply in their own company is key. These facts and figures are also more believable when they come from DACH sources, rather than relying on US based data in particular- so always try and find a good analogy for the market you're targeting.
At the other end of the buying journey, price is less of a driving factor in Germany than other markets - the earlier focus on statistics and practical insight can be attributed to buyers seeking to maximise the value of their decisions - so they are happy to invest more if the solution will deliver more value - although this doesn't mean they won't negotiate with your sales team over the final number!
Stay professional and pragmatic
When translating from English into German, the tone of voice often sounds too casual. One key reason is often the word "you"; while English only has one word for "you," German makes important (and sometimes confusing) distinctions between formal and informal speech with du and Sie."
While many B2B companies try to be more fun and casual in their tone of voice, this doesn't always work in DACH - A professional written piece with facts accompanied by a more fun video or blog might be a better option.
European markets are also extremely wary of superlative language and prefer a more modest and pragmatic approach - so make sure to check your language for any overenthusiasm.
Visual localisation - less is more
Graphics or photos used in localised content are often unchanged from the generic or stock photography from US libraries - if these pictures do not reflect the German workplace and create the same feelings of dissonance that poorly translated copy will. Often DACH partners use their own professionally taken photographs which are serious but still friendly looking - localised content from technology brands should seek to meet this standard.
The tone of voice, humour and photographs are details that make a huge cultural difference. They may vary based on the target audience for the product but overall, it is best to use local images and keep provided content professional in the DACH region.
Beware the DACH fallacy
Although we've referenced DACH several times in this piece, our final recommendation is to ignore the idea of the DACH marketing altogether. Whilst all regions in DACH might speak German, the marketplaces, culture and even the nuances of the German language differ wildly across the region, and brands should adapt accordingly.
- In Austria, for example, people are generally impatient and don't want to read a long intro, they want to get to the key points, facts and figures even more quickly and efficiently than in Germany!
- As a smaller country, they can also be wary of trusting content from much larger economies and prefer to rely on interpersonal relationships - so your calls to action should reflect this.
- Switzerland has the challenge that not everyone there speaks German or English but Italian or French too. As the Swiss market is generally comprised of a small number of very large businesses, an account based approach may help solve this problem.
If you'd like to learn more about how we can help you better access the German technology market, localise your content for different regions or discuss creating great content for your marketplace, then don't hesitate to get in touch today.