In most regions, for example Asia or Europe, where there are dozens of countries and languages, it is unrealistic to make content work for each individual market. For this reason, creating content centrally and allowing the countries to fill the gaps might represent a good solution.
A very centralized organization will tend to create most of the content at a central level and cascade to the countries. When local teams are not in place or suffer challenging budget conditions, then a central content team needs to take the lead.
The role of the central team may shift as the strategy matures. In early stages, the flow of information is often outwards, with the central team leading content production. As global content programs mature and flourish, the emphasis of the central team shifts to providing guidance on building local content skills and competencies.
1. Establish Local Editorial Boards
While the central editorial team will generate content at a global level, a local editorial board has to be in place in each country or region to manage proper planning and distribution.
Figure 1.1 Local Editorial Boards
Source: BGH with the Economic Times Information
The local editorial board will agree with the central team on buyer personas, lead the decision for adopting content created centrally, contract with local vendors, and engage members of the central team to secure a strong, continuous dialogue.
2. Define Local Buyer Personas
This step is core to any global content marketing strategy. For the countries to reuse the content packages the central team creates, there can’t be a discrepancy between targets and audiences. The central team and the countries have to reach an agreement on the local buyer persona and audience to target; a joint effort between the teams may be necessary.
3. Select a Content Hub
The choice of the content hub usually requires a lengthy discussion with the countries or regions. Taking into account that there are many choices: a blog, a landing page, an email-based hub, that could all become effective local hubs with the right effort and dedication. The key is to select a content hub that the countries can easily update at a regular cadence.
4. Develop an Internal Communications Strategy
Whether you work for a large enterprise or for a small company, internal communication is always a critical function. Establishing proper channels of communication from the central team to the countries is the best way to share content frameworks, strategies, and best practices.
Having a continuous stream of communication helps you to convey the same message across all regions: establishing clear lines of communications and securing mutual understanding beyond the time zones. A proper internal communication plan will help you get to that point faster.
5. Educating Marketers About your Content Plan
In addition to internal communication, education is key to a successful global content marketing program. Educating countries before they go live with their own content programs is crucial.
There are many ways to do this, we suggest an initiative where everyone in the company can put together a training module to educate the whole company on a specific subject. This way everyone can learn and understand how things are done and why they are done like that, before releasing them to fly alone.
6. Content Marketing Strategy
In large enterprises, running pilot programs across regions to test, prove viability, and deliver an agreed outcome is common practice. Great ideas often receive resistance; you need to start small, test that your strategy works, get results, and create a proper business case in order to roll out a global content marketing program.
Many companies adopt a phased approach: They introduce a central content program first to develop a foundation of content, and then progressively launch in local markets over time. Content marketing takes time, especially if the plan is to roll out the program across different regions. This is even more true for large enterprises where it will require substantial time and results to get key stakeholders on board with your program.