Beyond translation: Mastering email localization for global success

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Did you know that 40% of consumers won’t buy your product if you don’t provide information about it in their native language? What’s more, 84% of marketers noticed that localization positively impacts revenue growth. 

Email localization is much more than just translating copy into your subscribers’ languages — it also includes working on cultural nuances, relevant imagery, and units of measurement that vary depending on the location. In bilingual countries, it’s a good idea to run your email campaigns in two languages (e.g., English and Irish for Ireland, or French and Dutch for Belgium).

In this article, we’ll explore the differences between translation and localization, suggest some ways to localize your emails, and look at how you can use generative AI tools for email localization — including tips to maximize your results. 

Translation vs. localization: What’s the difference?

When you translate your emails you communicate the original text in a different language.

On the other hand, when you localize emails, you take into account more specific details, such as cultural nuances and traditions, currency, date formats, and regulatory compliance. Localization is a more time-consuming process than just translating, but it shows your subscribers that your brand acknowledges them and it can also make your emails far more engaging and effective.

How to localize your emails effectively

Here are the four most crucial aspects of localization you should consider when creating emails for a global audience:

1. Translate your copy

High-quality translations of your copy will ensure your emails are understandable and well received. Besides mere translation, you may want to adjust your brand’s tone of voice. It’s important to adjust your copy accordingly without losing your unique style and brand identity to stay recognizable. 

Making text sound natural in different languages can be tough, but there are some approaches to make it easier:

• Professional translators or agencies (check if they have expertise in your niche)
• GenAI-powered translation tools like Smartcat, QuillBot, or Unbabel combined with human post-editing to ensure there are no errors and cultural misunderstandings
• Native speakers for the approval process (look for proofreaders from the regions your subscribers are from) 

The following example is an email from Mercedes-Benz Media, in the language of its target recipients:

2. Consider cultural nuances

It’s vital to be aware of the cultural differences between each of your target audience segments to communicate effectively and avoid offenses. 

For example, in China, Singles’ Day, on November 11, is the most renowned shopping holiday. On the other hand, in the USA and Europe, Black Friday is the biggest shopping event and it marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. If you don’t send a Singles’ Day promo email to your Chinese recipients, you’ll miss a major engagement opportunity. But sending Singles’ Day deals to your subscribers in the US or Europe might not resonate with them, leading to lower engagement.

Here are some tips to consider your target audience’s cultural differences:

• Use tools like ChatGPT to check if a certain holiday is relevant to your audience segment, and highlight more local holidays 
• When localizing your emails, work with native speakers who can help you create culturally appropriate and relevant content
• Tweak your tone of voice slightly to adjust to local preferences (e.g., a more formal tone for German recipients or an informal tone and use of humor for subscribers from the USA) — but not so much that you dilute your brand voice 

3. Work on relevant visuals and colors

Email localization is not all about adapted copy — imagery and colors are also vital to delivering information and connecting with your audience around the globe. For example, the color red is associated with good fortune in China, so it will be a great choice for your promo emails there. In South Africa, though, this color is associated with sacrifices made during the people’s struggle for independence. 

Take a look at some tips to choose visuals for your emails:

• Benefit from GenAI tools or proofreaders to check if your imagery is culturally appropriate, delivers the right message, and doesn’t contain any offensive content
• Remember to translate text within images
• Show your subscribers that you acknowledge them by using diverse imagery — featuring people of various genders and ethnicities when it’s relevant and aligns with your brand’s message 

4. Adjust units of measurement, date formats, and currency

Different countries have different ways of writing units of measurements, dates, and currency, so it’s important to use the appropriate ones in your messaging. 

Examples include using a date format of DD/MM/YYYY for Europe and MM/DD/YYYY for the USA, and knowing which countries use miles or kilometres, and pounds or kilograms, and so on. In the example below, the product card displays the price in pounds, ensuring relevance for UK-based subscribers:

Here is how you can ensure your emails are localized according to your recipients’ locations:

• Document the preferred units of measurement, date formats, and currency used by your subscribers, and stick to them
• Automate this task by using online conversion tools or GenAI services
• Don’t forget about time zones to send your newsletters at the most appropriate time 

In the next example, the price is in dollars, making it more relevant for subscribers from the US:

GenAI for email localization: A way to save your time and optimize your emails

Besides just copy translation and editing, GenAI tools can help you gather valuable insights about your recipients, offer them personalized email content, and optimize emails for different subscriber segments. Here, we’ll explore using GenAI to speed up the email localization process and create culturally appropriate content:

1. Understanding your global audience 

With GenAI tools, you can find information about customs, traditions, and holidays in different countries much faster than doing it manually. 

We all know that Valentine’s Day on February 14 is recognized worldwide as the most romantic holiday. But in Brazil, there is Dia dos Namorados (Lovers’ Day) celebrated on June 12. Similarly, New Year’s Eve is celebrated on December 31 in most Western countries, while in China and Vietnam, the more popular holiday is Lunar New Year, celebrated between late January and mid-February.

2. Providing personalized content for subscribers worldwide

Personalization is not just about addressing subscribers by their name — it is anything that is personally relevant to them, such as their buying habits, the local weather, location, and more. GenAI can consider these factors and adjust your email content accordingly. 

For example, if you run an email campaign for a clothing brand, you can use GenAI to help personalize your content based on seasonal trends — for Australian subscribers, it will offer summer outfits in winter, while recipients in Canada will get an email with winter jackets. Or a car rental company might offer personalized emails based on travel preferences — subscribers going to Switzerland will receive emails with SUVs with snow tires, while customers traveling to Los Angeles will get emails with convertibles.

3. Working on translations and editing

GenAI is a great tool to translate emails into your target audience’s languages and then proofread them to ensure that everything is consistent in your writing, and that there are no cultural misunderstandings. But GenAI tools still make mistakes, so it’s crucial to check all the information or consult with native speakers. 

In the example below, you can see an email promoting bicycles localized for the Dutch market:

4. Optimizing your emails for different segments of your audience

Adjusting the tone of your email according to various segments of your audience without losing your unique brand style is important, and GenAI can speed up this process significantly. For example, your German subscribers will appreciate a more formal tone of voice, while recipients from Brazil will prefer a more expressive and easy-going language. 

GenAI translations + human editing vs. human translation

Did you know that using a combination of GenAI translation and human post-editing can make the email translation process up to twice as fast compared to the traditional method? While the GenAI approach is more cost-effective, human translation sounds more natural. Neither of these methods is flawless, so let’s compare their pros and cons so that you can make an informed decision.

Human translations only

Pros

• Translations made by human experts (especially by native speakers from the regions your subscribers are from) are perceived easier to read by recipients
• Such translations sound more natural as experts consider all the linguistic nuances 

Cons

• Compared to GenAI tools with vast databases, human translators need more time to localize your copy, especially when handling multiple clients 
• This approach is more costly than using GenAI tools, especially if you require a translator with experience in niche industries (like legal or medical fields) or those proficient in less widely spoken languages (e.g., Icelandic, Basque, Maltese, or Welsh)

GenAI translations + human editing

Pros

• GenAI tools provide results in mere seconds, and human experts will only have to proofread the copy and check it for cultural nuances and your style guide
• GenAI tools are cheaper, as they operate on a subscription-based model, while human translators often charge per project or hour
• If you use a tool like ChatGPT for translations, you can ask it to check the dates of different holidays in various countries

Cons

• GenAI can’t replace human expertise completely, so its translations are likely to sound less natural than copy translated by a human 
• Translation tools often use more complex words that may not be suitable for your brand’s tone of voice, at least until the GenAI tools gather enough data about your company to reliably adhere to your brand guidelines and minimize mistakes

The next image shows an email from a cosmetics brand showcasing product cards and a short introductory sentence for French subscribers. You can localize such emails with GenAI tools while maintaining brand consistency, saving time on translations, and ensuring that messaging aligns with the target audience’s language:

Tips to maximize your results while using GenAI for email translation

1. Create a glossary for GenAI

GenAI tools learn from the data you feed them, so provide a brand-specific glossary where you can add everything from a tone of voice and stylistic preferences to abbreviations and phrases to avoid. For example, you may use the terms “Guest” and “Host” instead of “Renter” and “Landlord.” Staying consistent and recognizable across all of your language versions is important, so remember to update this glossary regularly so GenAI tools understand your style. 

2. Use a feedback system

Do you want your GenAI translations to sound natural, like they’re from your team members, with the right terminology? GenAI tools enhance translations based on your feedback to adhere to your brand guidelines. That’s why it’s essential to provide constant feedback and highlight every mistake you can spot. Once you correct it, the tool should remember it and won’t repeat it again across all the language versions. 

Imagine these tools as a new employee who needs some time to learn from mistakes and your suggestions to provide better results. For example, you’re localizing email content for a global ecommerce platform, and the GenAI tool translates “Sale items” into Spanish as “Venta de artículos,” but you prefer “Productos en oferta.” You ask to correct this mistake by using the preferred version, and the GenAI tool learns from this feedback. Once GenAI tools are familiar with your brand identity and style guide, you will spot fewer mistakes and get more natural translations. 

3. Opt for a hybrid approach when necessary

Use GenAI tools combined with human post-editing when you create a new email sequence or want to refine some trigger emails like onboarding or re-engagement messages to ensure they resonate with your subscribers around the world. Your GenAI tools will quickly create email drafts in several languages, then human proofreaders will refine them for cultural sensitivity and relevance. 

If you want to update your re-engagement email sequence, you can save time by using GenAI translations, but it’s still crucial to opt for human post-editing to fine-tune the language to reflect the incentive so that it feels more authentic to those recipients. 

Wrapping up

Email localization is much more than just translating copy into different languages — it also involves cultural nuances, relevant imagery, units of measurement, date formats, and currency. This process may seem costly and time-consuming but using GenAI tools for translations can help you save time and money as you can combine them with human post-editing to maximize results. 

GenAI tools can help you better understand your global subscribers, send personalized email content, translate and edit copy, and optimize your emails for different segments of your audience. It’s important to create a glossary and a style guide, use a feedback system to help GenAI learn from mistakes, and choose a hybrid approach (GenAI + human post-editing) when necessary. 

Author bio

Olena Zinkovska
Editor and content writer at Stripo

I strive to make my content engaging, relevant, and valuable for those who want to empower their marketing efforts with attention-grabbing and meaningful emails. Do you want your messages to get opened and read? You are in the right place to make it happen!