Rob Pierre, managing director of Jellyfish, explains how to handle international and multilingual search campaigns.
One of the biggest challenges facing the paid search industry in the current climate is how to handle international and multilingual campaigns.
The issue questions the efficiency, success and profitability of PPC, but finding a solution can provide a multitude of benefits for agencies and clients alike.
Most search agencies provide some form of multilingual service through translation or satellite offices, and this may work to a point. However, there are better ways to work where global results can be massively improved.
Centralisation, for example, should be a key approach for any agency hoping to achieve success on an international scale. A single base for a multilingual account team in one office can allow each account manager to manage their specific market’s PPC campaigns from one central location, and can greatly improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Having a multilingual account team under one roof allows central management and encourages greater control of global campaigns. Campaign adjustments can be applied with ease, while analysis and reporting of accounts can be efficiently conducted as part of ongoing management. All of these facets help to maximise budgets, improve efficiency and, ultimately, deliver superior results.
Similarly, this approach eliminates the need for satellite offices and translator services to amend copy, while shared learnings can also benefit the agency as a whole. Success factors learned in one country can easily and quickly be shared within the team and tested in others. Multiple agencies in different countries will never co-operate in this way.
Not only is the centralised approach to multilingual campaigns more effective, but it could also prove to be financially beneficial for clients. Centralisation of global budgets, for example, allows agencies to allocate and control the budget more efficiently and target countries that are delivering the best ROI. For example, if PPC spend in Germany may deliver a greater return than PPC spend in China, then a centralised agency could easily divert budgets accordingly, if the client desired.
Optimal targeting of keywords requires a deep understanding of a product or service while, at the same time, matching search terms which are used within a target country. Translation does not provide this level of detail; a bespoke native speaking marketing team, working on multilingual search campaigns can provide a greater market understanding with mother tongue search specialists.
A native-speaking account manager understands the colloquialisms of their market, so each campaign can be built specifically with these detailed learnings, thus maximising results.
The close physical proximity of an international account management team could allow for regular and more frequent briefings, which would in turn lead to a better understanding of a client’s global business. Again, multiple agencies in different countries will never be able to work this way.
In terms of financial impacts, a centrally controlled international team enjoys vastly reduced overheads, which allows agencies to pass on cost-effective campaigns to the client. Ultimately, this means an agency can offer the best value for money and efficient multilingual campaigns to a client. A single agency will ensure that best practice is employed consistently across all campaigns, resulting in greater campaign efficiencies.
