Your company’s website alerts prospective buyers to what you sell and supports existing customers in using what they bought. It integrates business partners into your supply chain. It communicates critical information to customers, shareholders, and other constituencies important to your business. But if it’s like most corporate sites it does a much better job communicating in English than in other languages. Or it might not even address people in other markets at all.
In fact, earlier this year, my company, Common Sense Advisory, looked at the sites of 102 top online stores, including large companies like Office Depot and Target as well as smaller companies like CafePress and Fresh Direct, and found that only 18 offered any Spanish-language content. (See “Reaching America’s e-Latinos – Otra Vez,” May07). In a market that demands information in its own language, this is a big omission.
After years of talking to companies about their globalization plans and expanding their marketing efforts to reach new customers in far off places, we have witnessed every sin that you can conceivably commit in taking a website, sales and marketing promotions, or documentation abroad.
While the Bible does not include a conveniently bulleted list of the seven deadly sins, popes and saints from St. Gregory I (AD 540-604) onward have cataloged them as envy, lust, gluttony, anger, sloth, pride, and greed. Thus, I have compiled a list of the seven deadly sins of web globalization (okay, one physical condition – and six sins) and acts of contrition for each.
- Myopia. Failing to align global marketing plans with corporate strategy is the most common sin. Make sure that your international efforts reflect corporate initiatives. Then educate your whole company to your global vision.
- Gluttony. Two hundred countries and hundreds of languages beckon. Some firms set out to support all countries in all languages with all content and all features, all at once. Start with just one or two – and learn from the experience.
- Ignorance. The traveling salesman in The Music Man insisted that “ya gotta know the territory.” Learn what buyers need before offering them your wares. Rely on in-country staff, buy local market research, and convene focus groups.
- Hubris. Websiteglobalization is rarely a do-it-yourself project. Work with external agencies for website development and localization. Don’t build what you can buy, even if you think you can build it better – someday in the future.
- Greed. Many website globalization designers initially see their company’s IT department as the enemy and thus don’t involve them. Realize that making a website global is the ultimate scalability challenge. IT will be your best friend.
- Sloth. Many planners procrastinate on globalization, paralyzed as they wait for the perfect alignment of all business and technology to build great global sites. Delay gets you nowhere except behind your competitors.
- Miserliness. Many firms under-invest in global websites, offering much less content and interaction than their domestic customers get. Don’t shortchange your international prospects who are just a click away from your competitors.
Don DePalma is the president and chief research officer at research and consulting firm Common Sense Advisory. E-mail DePalma at [email protected] or visit www.commonsenseadvisory.com.
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