In today’s globalized world, reaching new audiences and expanding your business internationally has never been easier. It’s also a crucial way to diversify your risk and reach out to new customers. However, simply translating your content into different languages is not enough to ensure success; this is why we localize. One necessary step in the localization process is to understand the new customer. Each culture has its own complexities; getting to know your new target audience is part and parcel of success in that new culture. However, to truly connect with your target audience, it’s crucial to understand their unique needs, preferences, and cultural nuances. Let’s explore the importance of knowing your customer and how this can impact your localization and expansion efforts, using the example of Mr. Beast, one of the most popular YouTube stars in the world.

Who is Mr. Beast?

Jimmy Donaldson, also known as Mr. Beast, is a YouTube sensation with over 80 million subscribers and counting. He’s known for his crazy stunts, philanthropic activities, and generous giveaways, which have earned him a loyal fan base and millions of views. However, his success can’t just be attributed to his entertaining content. Mr. Beast is a pro at connecting with his audience on a personal level and knowing the type of content they’ll consume – over and over again. The loyalty led to brand recall, which led to brand retention. Isn’t that the goal of any and every entrepreneur?

The Importance of Knowing Your Customer

One of the key factors that has contributed to Mr. Beast’s success is his deep understanding of his audience. He knows what they like, what they don’t like, and what motivates them to keep coming back for more. By tailoring his content to his audience’s interests and preferences, Mr. Beast has been able to build a loyal fan base that is eager to support him and watch his videos.

This principle applies to any business looking to expand internationally. Before entering a new market, it’s essential to conduct thorough market research to understand the local culture, language, and consumer behavior. In short, know your customer inside and out. This knowledge can help you tailor your marketing messages, product offerings, and customer service to meet the unique needs of your target audience. In Amazon speak, that means writing your listings in the type of language that customers would use to describe your product. Is it a more formal tone of voice? Or something more colloquial, with pop culture references thrown in? What colors should your models wear? What claims can you make, and which ones will get your account suspended?

For example, if you’re looking to expand your business to China, you need to understand the cultural nuances of the Chinese market. This includes knowing what colors are considered lucky or unlucky, which holidays are celebrated, and how consumers prefer to shop and make purchases. Put it this way. The Chinese people consider the color red as a lucky color. It’s often associated with wealth and prosperity. On the other hand, the color white is associated with death and mourning. Therefore, if you’re planning to launch a marketing campaign in China, it’s important to avoid using white in your advertising materials and instead opt for red or other lucky colors. Now, imagine if your beautiful model advertises your face cream in the Western world. She’d be great in a white shirt, to emphasize purity and cleanliness. But in China, this image would actually offend customers, and badly affect your sales. Make sure you understand these cultural nuances, so you can ensure that your marketing messages resonate with your target audience and that your products and services meet their needs.

The Impact on Localization and Expansion Efforts

Let’s say you already know how to localize a listing. You know how to generate keywords in a new target audience. You’re aware of the cultural idiosyncrasies that can make or break a listing. Let’s assume you’ve done your due diligence and you’ve performed careful financial analyses of the feasibility of each culture, and you’re prepared with target cultures that will love your product. Nevertheless, without a deep understanding of your target audience, your localization and expansion efforts will all be for nothing. Localization involves adapting your content to the local language and culture, which is crucial for appealing to customers in different regions.

Just like Mr. Beast, you need to understand your target audience’s preferences, pain points, and desires to create a successful localization and expansion strategy. For example, if you want to enter the French market, you’ll need to ensure that your product descriptions, keywords, and other content are localized for the French language and culture. This includes translating your storefront, packaging and inserts, and listing copy and images into French, as well as ensuring that your products meet French legal and regulatory requirements. You’ll also need to consider the French people: do they like your product? How will they like your product? Are there any barriers stopping them from experiencing your product, and how can you tackle those in marketing and communications? All of these questions are part and parcel of getting to know your new target audience – in this case, the French people, although the same questions could be asked for any new culture. Yes, even when you’re moving to another English-speaking culture. The British, Canadians, Americans, and Australians, while they all speak English, are worlds apart in culture.

By taking the time to know your customer better, you can develop a deep understanding of their needs and preferences. This knowledge can help you tailor your products, services, and marketing efforts to meet their unique needs and boost customer engagement and loyalty. It can also help you avoid costly mistakes, such as using inappropriate language or colors that have negative connotations in the local culture. What bundles can you create to boost sales? What colors should your models wear in the images? What expressions should you use? All of these are relevant to your future listing.

In short, understanding your customer is crucial for successful localization and expansion efforts on Amazon. By following the example of Mr. Beast and investing in customer knowledge, you can develop a localization and expansion strategy that resonates with your target audience and unlocks new growth opportunities for your Amazon business.

Conclusion

In conclusion, knowing your customer is crucial for any business looking to expand internationally. By understanding your target audience’s unique needs, preferences, and cultural nuances, you can tailor your marketing messages, product offerings, and customer service to meet these needs. This can help you build a loyal customer base, increase customer satisfaction, and ultimately drive revenue growth.

Mr. Beast’s success is a testament to the power of knowing your customer. By providing his audience with content that they love and tailoring his videos accordingly, he successfully developed a relationship with a consumer base that was dying to hear more and know more. You’ll want to follow that same example with your Amazon expansion and localization – by truly understanding what makes your new customers tick.

Happy localizing – and tell us, which of Mr. Beast’s videos is your favorite?