Canada is a diverse and multicultural country, with two official languages (English and French) and many other languages spoken by its citizens. According to the 2016 census, 22.3% of Canadians reported speaking a language other than English or French at home, and 17.5% of Canadians were bilingual in English and French1. This linguistic diversity poses both opportunities and challenges for marketers who want to reach and engage with Canadian audiences.
Multilingual marketing is the practice of creating and delivering marketing content in multiple languages to effectively communicate with audiences across different cultures. It can help brands increase their visibility, credibility, and loyalty among potential and existing customers who speak different languages and have unique cultural backgrounds. However, multilingual marketing also requires careful planning, research, and execution to avoid pitfalls such as mistranslation, cultural insensitivity, and legal issues.
In this blog post, we will share some statistics and trends on multilingual marketing in Canada, and provide some tips and best practices on how to create effective multilingual marketing campaigns in Canada.
Statistics and Trends on Multilingual Marketing in Canada
- According to a report by Phrase, a cloud translation software company, multilingual content marketing can help growing businesses grow brand credibility, connect with target audiences across diverse markets, and drive growth with the right strategy and technology2.
- A study by Common Sense Advisory, a market research firm, found that 75% of online shoppers prefer to buy products in their native language, and 60% rarely or never buy from English-only websites3.
- A survey by CSA Research also revealed that 40% of global consumers would pay more for a product if they could get information and support in their own language4.
- A report by eMarketer, a digital marketing research company, estimated that digital ad spending in Canada will reach $9.53 billion in 2021, up 14.8% from 2020. The report also projected that digital ad spending will surpass $12 billion by 20245.
- A report by Statista, a data and analytics platform, showed that the most popular social media platforms in Canada as of January 2021 were YouTube (79%), Facebook (75%), Instagram (59%), Messenger (52%), and WhatsApp (49%)6. The report also indicated that the average daily time spent using social media in Canada was 1 hour and 46 minutes in 20207.
- A report by Semrush, a digital marketing toolkit, identified the top keywords related to digital marketing in Canada based on monthly search volume, cost per click, and keyword difficulty. Some of the top keywords were SEO, affiliate marketing, web design, social media marketing, PPC, marketing strategy, market research, email marketing, content marketing, and retargeting8.
Tips and Best Practices on Creating Effective Multilingual Marketing Campaigns in Canada
Based on the statistics and trends above, here are some tips and best practices on how to create effective multilingual marketing campaigns in Canada:
- Understand your target audience and competitors across markets. Before launching a multilingual marketing campaign, you need to conduct thorough market research and analysis to understand the needs, preferences, behaviors, and pain points of your target audience in different languages and cultures. You also need to identify and evaluate your competitors and their strategies in each market, and find your unique value proposition and differentiation.
- Create compelling content with localization in mind. Localization is the process of adapting your content to suit the linguistic, cultural, and legal requirements of a specific market. It goes beyond translation and involves adjusting the tone, style, format, design, and imagery of your content to resonate with your local audience. You need to create content that is relevant, engaging, and persuasive for each market, and avoid using jargon, slang, idioms, humor, or references that may not be understood or appreciated by your audience. You also need to use the appropriate units of measurement, currency, date and time formats, and contact information for each market.
- Optimize your content for multilingual SEO. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving your website’s visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Multilingual SEO is the practice of optimizing your website for different languages and regions. You need to use the right keywords, meta tags, headings, URLs, and links for each language and market, and ensure that your website is fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate. You also need to use the proper language tags and hreflang attributes to tell search engines which language and region your content is intended for, and avoid duplicate content issues.
- Leverage locally relevant promotional channels, influencers, and partnerships. Depending on your target market and audience, you may need to use different promotional channels and tactics to reach and engage them. For example, you may need to use different social media platforms, email marketing tools, or online advertising networks for different markets. You may also need to collaborate with local influencers, bloggers, or media outlets who have a large and loyal following in your target market, and who can endorse your brand or product. Additionally, you may need to partner with local distributors, retailers, or service providers who can help you deliver your product or service to your customers.
- Build authoritative links to your multilingual website content. Link building is the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own website, which can help improve your website’s authority, reputation, and ranking on SERPs. Link building can also help drive traffic, leads, and conversions to your website. However, link building for multilingual websites can be challenging, as you need to find and acquire links from relevant and reputable websites in each language and market. You need to create valuable and shareable content that attracts links from other websites, and reach out to potential link partners who have similar or complementary content or audiences. You also need to monitor and analyze your link profile and performance, and remove or disavow any low-quality or spammy links that may harm your website.
- Monitor performance with web analytics and SEO tools. To measure the effectiveness and ROI of your multilingual marketing campaigns, you need to use web analytics and SEO tools that can track and report on various metrics and indicators, such as traffic, bounce rate, conversion rate, revenue, ranking, and more. You need to set clear and realistic goals and KPIs for each market and campaign, and use the data and insights from the tools to evaluate your performance and identify areas of improvement. You also need to conduct regular testing and optimization to ensure that your content and campaigns are delivering the best results possible.
Multilingual marketing is a powerful and essential strategy for reaching and engaging with Canadian audiences who speak different languages and have unique cultural backgrounds. However, multilingual marketing also requires careful planning, research, and execution to avoid pitfalls such as mistranslation, cultural insensitivity, and legal issues. By following the tips and best practices outlined in this blog post, you can create effective multilingual marketing campaigns in Canada that can help you increase your visibility, credibility, and loyalty among potential and existing customers, and ultimately drive growth and success for your business.
