Five Trends Shaping

the Future of Global

Marketing

smartling.com
In Fall 2015, Smartling commissioned three
The three surveys
separate surveys to uncover the global readiness of
distinct audiences. Each group responded to questions Target Marketing
– US-based digital
about their international marketing efforts, plans, notable marketing magazine
obstacles and hoped-for improvements. Five valuable – 300 marketers

observations drawn from across all three surveys appear EyeforTravel

in the following pages. – UK-based travel
information portal
– 309 travel marketers
(N America & Europe)

IDG Connect
– US-based demand
generation specialist
– 200 IT decision makers at
enterprise brands with at
least 500 to 5,000-plus staff.

How Being Global Ready Supports Expansion and Growth smartling.com 2

“Customer experience increasingly comes down
to content. Hypermobility among companies
and consumers has raised expectations for
branding and message consistency across
countries, languages, and cultures.”
— Ben Sargent
Senior Analyst, CSA

How Being Global Ready Supports Expansion and Growth smartling.com 3

 1

The Unstoppable Rise of International Marketing

Language Services and Technology 40

Market Growth 2010 – 2019

The total amount invested in translation and 30

US$ BILLIONS
localization grows with every passing year.
In 2010, the global market for outsourced 38.16
20 34.78
language services and technology exceeded
28.34
$26 billion. By 2015, it increased 46% to be worth 23.50

an estimated $38 billion. 10

$0
2010 2011 2013 2015

smartling.com 4
 NUMBER OF
TODAY IN 2 YEARS
Percentage of Respondents in a COUNTRIES

Number of Countries in 2015 and 2017

Over 100 13%
6%
Of those taking part in the IDG Connect survey,
the vast majority (81%) target two or more 50-100 22%
14%
countries and a large number (42%) deliver
content to 10 or more.
22%
10-50 33%

By 2020, annual sales of language 39% 2-10

22%
services & supporting technologies
are expected to pass $50 billion. 12% 1 6%
7% None 4%

1 The Unstoppable Rise of International Marketing smartling.com 5

Change in Percentage Active 20%
in 0-100+ Countries 2015-2017

There is a visible trend of brands moving from

+11% +8%
activity in fewer than 10 countries, to becoming +7%
0%
active in more (or many more) than 10 countries. -3%
-6%

In fact by 2017, 68 percent of enterprise IT -17%

decision makers plan to be active in more than
10 countries (up from 42 percent). And 35 percent
-20%
expect to be active in 50-plus countries (up from 0 1 2-10 10-50 50-100 100+
20 percent). NUMBER OF COUNTRIES

1 The Unstoppable Rise of International Marketing smartling.com 6

 2

Add a New Language, Attract New Markets, Rise up the Ranks

Languages Digital Content Is 1 2-5 6-10

Translated into Today and In Two Years LANGUAGE LANGUAGES LANGUAGES

Adoption of new languages will fuel the global 9% 36% 28%

expansion plans of enterprise brands, according
to their IT decision makers.
5% 18% 32%
11-50 51-100 OVER 100
LANGUAGES LANGUAGES LANGUAGES
In just two years, the 27 percent translating into
more than 10 languages will almost double to 45
19% 4% 4%
percent. And the 8 percent currently translating into
50-plus languages will triple to 24 percent in 2017. 21% 17% 7%
TODAY IN TWO YEARS

smartling.com 7
International Customer Acquisition
Strategies of Companies

The top three international customer acquisition

strategies of travel brands, collectively preferred 72 percent of travel marketers
by 72 percent of travel marketers, all focus on
focus on one-size-fits-one
one-size-fits-one solutions to resonating with
solutions to resonate with
country-specific audiences.
country-specific audiences.
Some create custom marketing campaigns in
house, some translate their websites, and others
outsource to agency partners, with experience in
the target market.

2 Add a New Language, Attract New Markets, Rise up the Ranks smartling.com 8
 Count on existing
marketing tactics

Don’t have a current

strategy in place

Establish a physical presence

Create custom marketing campaigns

that speak to customers in that country

Translate our website into the language(s)

spoken by customers in that country

Outsource global customer acquisition to an agency partner

0%
0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

2 Add a New Language, Attract New Markets, Rise up the Ranks smartling.com 9
Number of Languages Offered by
Forbes Global 2000 Companies

Analysis of the Forbes Global 2000 list shows a

17
languages
strong correlation between an organization’s
financial performance and website multilingualism.
TOP 50 COMPANIES
Truly global growth requires translation, and
increasing languages offered inspires growth.
4.1
languages
LOWER 1,000 COMPANIES

2 Add a New Language, Attract New Markets, Rise up the Ranks smartling.com 10
 According to research from the
US Chamber of Commerce, non-US markets represent:

80% 92% 95%

OF THE WORLD’S OF THE WORLD’S OF THE WORLD’S
PURCHASING POWER ECONOMIC GROWTH CONSUMERS

How Being Global Ready Supports Expansion and Growth smartling.com 11

 3

Impact of Location on Translation and Localization Strategy

Number of Languages 60% None, we only use

Website Translated into by our native language

US/European Companies 50%

Business strategies seem to consider location and 40%

nearby markets when determining international
30%
marketing strategy.

This shows in number of languages offered, where, 20%

for example, North American brands need fewer

10%
languages to target the entire continent than
European brands need to do the same across 0%
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-20 20+
the Atlantic.
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
NORTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES

smartling.com 12
Percentage of Content Translation
Done for Each of Five Continents 25%
EUROPE
As much as 77 percent of respondents’ content is created
to target European or North American audiences.

15%
A deeper dive reveals that North American brands
target domestic international markets more than
ASIA
brands in Europe where a greater number of
distinct countries means they need to offer multiple
languages in order to cast a continent-wide net. 42% 6%
NORTH 13% AFRICA
AMERICA SOUTH
75% of consumers and 80% of travelers AMERICA

prefer to buy from or book with a brand

that offers their native language.

3 Impact of Location on Translation and Localization Strategy smartling.com 13

 4

How Marketers and Enterprise IT Decision Makers Differ

What barriers does your 59% 57%

organization face in providing 60% 12.9%
a global customer experience? 48% 47%
50%

38.5% 38%
The top two barriers marketers face in providing a
24.6%
40%
%
global experience are in-house resources (38.5%)
30
0%
30%
and a lack of strategic direction (24.6%).

%
20%

10% 18.1%
0% 5.8%

Selecting the Identifying In-house

right tech partner ROI resources
Strategic Management
direction buy-in

smartling.com 14
 59% 57%
60%
Barriers to Global Customer
Experience Delivery 48% 47%
50%

Selecting the right tech partner (59%), and

38%
40%
%
identifying sufficiently compelling ROI (57%)
30
0%
30%
were the barriers faced by the most Enterprise
IT decision makers. %
20%

10%

0%

Selecting the Identifying In-house

right tech partner ROI resources
Strategic Management
direction buy-in

4 How Marketers and Enterprise IT Decision Makers Differ smartling.com 15

 5

Typical Teams, Types of Content and Tech Stacks to Satisfy

Business Divisions in Contact with

Translation and Localization

Before getting to the technology that brands have

in their tech stack, or need to go global, it is worth
asking “Who’s involved in the international marketing
effort?” both when it comes to buying technology,
and during the content translation process.
Before brands go global, it is worth
asking: “Who’s involved in the
international marketing effort?”

smartling.com 16
 90% 86% 65% 61% 57% 47% 32% 32% 23% 23%
IT SOFTWARE SALES AND LEGAL EXTERNAL
DEPARTMENT DEVELOPMENT MARKETING DEPARTMENT BUSINESS
TEAM PARTNERS

Business divisions involved in the Business divisions with input

translation and localization buying process into the translation process

5 Typical Teams, Types of Content and Tech Stacks to Satisfy smartling.com 17

“The difference with people who
are running marketing now is you
have to be not only a traditionalist,
but a technologist, too.”
— Mary Rodgers
Director of Marketing Communications, Cuisinart

How Being Global Ready Supports Expansion and Growth smartling.com 18

 Types of Content Translated, WEBSITE AND EMARKETING VIDE
MOBILE APPS
Distributed and Managed Today DIGITAL CONTENT CONTENT

and Within Two Years

95% 65% 48% 43
Roughly the same number of organizations (86%)
expect to localize website and digital content in
86% 76% 70% 62
2017 compared to those doing it now (90%). WEBSITE AND
TODAY IN TWO YEARS DIGITAL CONTENT
MOBILE
WEBSITE AND MOBILE APPS EM

95% 65%
But a growing number will process mobile apps DIGITAL CONTENT

(76%), emarketing
WEBSITE AND
DIGITAL CONTENT
(70%)
MOBILEa
 nd
APPS EMARKETING
video content (62%),
CONTENT
VIDEO
95% 86%
GAMING
65% 76%
4
86% 76% 7
up from 65, 4
 8 and 43 percent respectively.

95% 65% 48% 43% 22%

86% 76% 70% 62% 43%
TODAY IN TWO YEARS
TODAY IN TWO YEARS

TODAY IN TWO YEARS

5 Typical Teams, Types of Content and Tech Stacks to Satisfy smartling.com 19

Components of a Standard Tech Stack
Involved in Translation and Localization

Solve platform fragmentation by choosing a translation

management solution that integrates with your entire tech stack.

5 Typical Teams, Types of Content and Tech Stacks to Satisfy smartling.com 20

 Take a Deeper Dive Into Our Three Surveys

Access your free Global-Ready Success Kit from Smartling

today and get started on a new phase of global growth

Get Success Kit Now

How Being Global Ready Supports Expansion and Growth smartling.com 21

Want to reduce translation costs, make website
localization even more culturally relevant, and gain
valuable insight into your most important markets?

Contact Us
phone 1.866.70.SMART
window smartling.com
email hi@smartling.com

twitter Follow us on Twitter @smartling for updates