It’s no secret that there’s enormous opportunity (and lots of potential profit) in the global market. For ClickBank, sales of German products are tripling year on year, and sales for Spanish language products in Latin America and South America are showing impressive growth.
The question is, how can you, as a vendor, capitalize on this opportunity? Is it as simple as translating your marketing and product content into, say, Spanish?
The reality is, hiring a translator is a great first step, but it’s just one of the many steps you’ll need to take to achieve success in foreign language markets. Culturally accepted norms differ from one country to another, and those differences affect everything from your marketing strategy to how you accept and process funds.
At ClickBank, our goal is to help you grow by making it easier for you to capitalize on each and every opportunity. That’s why I have been laser-focused on expanding the international support we offer to vendors.
I’m thrilled to report that we’ve made tremendous progress! As part of ClickBank’s globalization strategy, we now:
- Accept payment in 13 currencies.
- Transact in over 200 countries on a daily basis, including supporting the myriad of payment methods in use globally. For example, Germans rarely use credit cards for online purchases, and rely on ELV direct debit as their main payment method. The French prefer Carte Bleu, while the Dutch and English use real-time banking relatively more that other countries.
- Have the ClickBank experience—web site, order form, all client functionality, and customer/client telephone and ticket support—available in French, German and Spanish.
All of these globalization services and many others are now available to all ClickBank clients, including members of our International Bestseller Program.
The International Bestseller Program is essentially a risk-free opportunity to replicate the success of your English language products in multiple foreign language markets.
The reality is, achieving the same high conversion rates in foreign language markets often means localizing not just the product content, but also how that product goes to market—a potentially risk-laden process that we’ve made straightforward and accessible for members of the International Bestseller Program.
Through the program, which currently includes German, French and Spanish speaking countries, your product is licensed to in-country businesses who invest in the product translation and the sales page translation/localization, provide affiliate management, as well as the customer support needed to deliver significant in-country sales. The affiliates are paid as normal, and the vendor fee is split between the licensee and the original product owner.
The International Bestseller Program not only minimizes your risk, but has the potential to make your transition into new foreign markets significantly more profitable in a much shorter time.
Still unsure about the licensing route? That’s understandable. And you’re right, you can find your own local translation support.
But before you invest in a foreign-language market, consider these five hidden risks of doing business overseas:
1. There’s more to it than translation. What works in the US market will not necessarily work in other countries, so translating your sales page word for word into another language can actually lower your conversion rates. For example, the level of hype typical to a US sales page needs to be significantly toned down for most European countries.
2. Limit the use of extravagant claims. Your landing page quality scores on Google may already suffer if you make extravagant product claims you cannot validate. This problem is exacerbated in the European market. For example, in Germany people commonly take the time to submit formal complaints about web sites they think are making unreasonable claims.
3. Test each market. When working with a new license partner in a country for the first time, test the market with a “slimmed down” product version before moving into full product translation. This is a particularly wise investment for products with a lot of video content, which is more costly and time-intensive to translate. In addition to fostering a good working relationship with the licensee, this strategy ensures that you invest in localizing only the products with significant growth potential in a given market.
4. Expect higher customer support requirements. Europeans, for example, tend to demand higher levels of customer service than you may see from your existing customer base. Customers will certainly demand support in their own language, although most are happy with e-mail support. If your product typically attracts a high number of customer service requests, working with an in-country licensee who can provide comprehensive customer support will save you time, money and headaches.
5. Use as a stepping stone for software and foreign exchange. If you have a software or foreign exchange product that is already selling in English in another country, full localization may not be necessary right away. However, localizing your sales page may increase conversion rates (just make sure to tell your customers that the product is in English!).
At ClickBank we are really excited about the growth potential we see around the globe and are looking forward to helping you replicate your success in multiple overseas markets.
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