In the pre-Web era, businesses operating on a global basis would make use of the knowledge and experience of their employees around the world as an invaluable source of information on local markets and cultures. Very few international businesses believed they could make a better job of selling to a foreign market from their HQ than the people who were actually based there.

Then the Web came along and businesses either assumed they wouldn’t need to make the effort on a local level any more or simply couldn’t easily deliver the localised Web content within budget or without damaging their brand. The result has been large numbers of Web sites intended for a global audience but with little local sophistication apart from use of the correct language.

The realisation soon began to hit home that local and cultural variations remain central to sales and marketing whether the Web is a communication channel or not. For a while it seemed that businesses could have local content but lose control over their brand, or brand control with little geographical or cultural sophistication - but not both. A recent survey dramatically highlighted the problem of ‘out of control’ company Web sites in the revelation that the average number of external, customer-facing Web sites that companies maintain has doubled to 34 since 2001, while 24 per cent of companies are not entirely sure how many externally-facing Web sites they have.

Faced with content issues, companies are often resorting to the old trick of copy pasting content, images, code from one site to another. The result is one big mess. But as more and more companies are recognising the importance and value of growing international on-line sales and as a result, demand for the winning combination of local content and brand control is growing rapidly. Companies are now looking for the Web industry to solve a problem of its own creation.

Web content management opens the door for businesses that want the best of both worlds. Companies can successfully implement Web-based sales and marketing strategies on a global basis, supported by the knowledge and experience of their local teams. On the face of it, it’s tempting to see Web globalisation as being primarily driven by language considerations and the need to re-produce content in an ever increasing array of options.

Businesses such as Google have received lots of attention because of the speed with which they have launched local language versions of their site. But even for the language pioneers, the work to localise is almost never ending, with Google planning for multiple regional variations of Chinese, for instance. While localising Web site language is clearly very important, it’s only part of the globalisation picture. There is a whole array of cultural variations to take into account, and ideally local offices will produce content which is relevant and interesting for their immediate audience.

It is detailed work - even those countries that use the same language have different cultural norms, such as Brazil and Portugal or Mexico and Spain. What’s interesting in one country may be totally irrelevant in another, but any Web site that can take account of these needs is automatically providing a better service to its audience.

This might seem like a worthy set of goals, yet local autonomy can also introduce unwanted variations in company messaging and brand management, which central offices are very keen to avoid. Ideally, a business should be able to balance central and local needs, but many organisations are deterred by the financial overheads this can create - even simple tasks such as copy updates take up staff time and make use of operational resources.

That’s why any degree of content management that can be achieved across multiple sites at the same time is beneficial. Instead of staff in various territories all carrying out the same updates and changes to their respective local sites, content management can allow them to concentrate on localised content which only they have the knowledge and expertise to create.

Good content management can also help by delegating the responsibility of Web editing to non-technical staff, in order to get local branches more involved in the work. It lets them take charge of writing and posting news from their area and improves response times to local events and issues. The result is that Web information becomes more relevant to the site’s audience.

Similar benefits can be achieved for multi-channel marketing campaigns by enabling consistent content delivery across a whole variety of channels including email, print and mobile phones. Even with all this delegation, the Web team at headquarters retains overall control of brand, design, and development. This is necessary because presenting a consistent message and image to the public is crucial. Local offices work on campaigns at a regional level to take into account specific events or issues in their area. So, it is important for headquarters to co-ordinate communication and ensure strong corporate branding. This ensures published material looks consistent and professional.

There is a long road ahead - a recent study by Byte Level Research revealed that true Web globalisation is still in its infancy. While many organisations have Web sites serving different international markets and geographies, most of them still handle the task of content management manually. A major issue is organisational shortcomings which mean that companies do not have the time to address globalisation from a Web perspective - in short, no-one is responsible for it. The research did point out, however, that this situation is beginning to change with businesses appointing globalisation managers with a remit to develop site content and control globally but with a strong local bias that stays true to the brand.

With this ever changing landscape, it’s clear that eventually we will all be able to enjoy being treated as individuals by Web sites that can effectively address local variations in language, culture and interests. For those businesses where the Web is a key link to their global markets, the speed at which they can adapt to these needs will determine how much advantage they gain as a result.

BIOS, Jun 12, 06 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Internet