Hi everyone! My name is Masha, and I’m the Marketing Manager at Guru Apps. For the past three years, I’ve been working in performance marketing, promoting web and mobile products in markets with varying levels of purchasing power.
Currently, I’m responsible for marketing the iOS app Cleaner Guru, which is used by over 20 million people across 180 countries worldwide.
In this article, I’ll share my experience in acquiring users from different corners of the globe and highlight the nuances of creating and developing marketing strategies for diverse markets.
Have you ever experienced a drop in ad performance after translating your creatives into other languages?
It’s a common scenario. User acquisition managers often try to use the same promotion strategies across all markets. However, a "one-size-fits-all" approach may not yield the desired results, especially when your target markets include highly diverse regions such as Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the US.
The key difference lies in how audiences behave on social media, which greatly impacts their response to advertisements and their actions within the app.
Let’s break down the main factors to consider when building a marketing strategy for new markets.
1/ Perception of Advertising
Social media has long since become a marketplace where many businesses promote their products. This has led to advertising overabundance in highly developed countries, making users more skeptical or less receptive to online offers. To increase engagement, proper localization of ads and a personalized approach can make all the difference.
2/ Creatives and Their Specifics
Ad localization is more than just translating the text; it involves customizing the content. This includes adjusting colors, adding culturally specific elements, and tweaking animations to make videos resonate with the audience's cultural preferences.
Take McDonald’s as an example. Let’s compare ads targeting the US and Thailand markets:
For the Thai market, marketers used vibrant colors and elements popular among Asian users. They’ve also included Thai-language text, which was longer and included emojis to make it more engaging.
In contrast, the US ad was simpler, focusing on clear, concise messaging that quickly conveyed the value — an approach preferred by this audience.
Another example is Tinder. Compare their ads for South Korea and France:
Marketers used different actor types, complemented by region-specific designs and translations.
3/ Actor Typecast in Ads
Actors play a crucial role in ad creatives. Their type, age, gender, and appearance can significantly impact the way the ad resonates with audiences.
For example, here are the avatars we used for Cleaner Guru in Japan, Mexico, and Western Europe:
Testing has helped us identify “star” actors for each market, making it easier to choose talent for future campaigns.
If you already have a successful concept for English-speaking creatives, switching actors can help you extend performance to new regions without losing efficiency.
What other details should be taken into account in the creatives?
Colors carry different meanings across cultures, and this should not be overlooked.
For example:
In Brazil, red is associated with social movements and political activism.
In Japan, white symbolizes mourning, which could elicit mixed reactions.
Emphasizing cultural elements, holidays, or traditions in your videos can also be effective. For instance, create themed creatives for Brazil’s Carnival, Thanksgiving, or Halloween in the US.
4/ Ad Text and Call-to-Action (CTA)
The CTA has a significant influence on user actions after seeing your ad. However, nuances in copywriting are crucial: a perfect slogan in one country may be unclear or even offensive in another.
US audiences prefer clear, short, and actionable CTAs like:
“Don’t wait—download this app right now!” or “Get Started Now.”Japanese audiences are more pragmatic and value quality and perfection. Phrases like “Experience the difference today” or polite CTAs such as “We look forward to serving you!” resonate well. Highlighting product ratings and user recommendations can also grab their attention.
General Tips for Ad Text:
👉 Accurate translation
Choose words carefully, as not all phrases can be translated well.
👉 User psychology
Some audiences respond better to expressive, emotional CTAs, while others prefer calm, concise phrases.
👉 Local needs
Each market has unique needs, so research the pain points of your target users and emphasize the most relevant product benefits.
Step-by-Step Plan for Ad Adaptation:
👉 Market Research and Competitor Analysis
Study the activity of competitors and favorite brands in the target market. Analyze their creatives, texts, and landing pages for inspiration.
👉 Audience Analysis
Consider cultural specifics: colors, holidays, and social norms.
Understand user preferences in advertising, their psychology, and behavior.
👉 Content Localization
Provide accurate translations and customized texts.
Adapt creative details (colors, styles, actors, music, pacing) to match regional preferences.
👉 Testing and Optimization
Conduct A/B tests to evaluate different ad versions.
Test various actor types to understand audience preferences.
Compare the performance of English-language and localized ads.
👉 Performance Analysis
Before scaling campaigns, assess key profitability metrics (ROI).
Monitor changes in user behavior within the product, as new audiences can significantly impact these metrics.
👉 Scaling
Once your hypothesis is proven, scale successful campaigns. Regularly review results and adjust your strategy to open new opportunities for testing and experimentation.
Now for a Real-World Case Study 😉
I’d like to share my experience of introducing a new country to the main acquisition strategy. And this fascinating place is Thailand.
Asia has always been one of the priority regions for our product, but the most focus was always given to more developed countries.
Previously, we had localized the product for the Thai market to expand the list of supported languages.
I became interested in the Thai audience and decided to explore it. Despite the widespread use of English and good results from English-language creatives, the official language was Thai. Localization could reach more users and increase ROMI.
The results didn’t take long to show: we’ve achieved a record 100x increase in daily user engagement without losing their profitability. The scaling was successful due to a 75% increase in CTR and an 18% increase in CR to install. These numbers indicate greater user interest in the localized ads.
This opened up new marketing opportunities:
Expanding regional coverage
Acquisition diversification
A new area for testing creative approaches
Key Takeaways
If you set a goal to focus on a specific region – don’t be afraid to take risks and test a lot. Spend more time researching to thoroughly analyze the market and competitors. Working with localizations is incredibly exciting and engaging. It helps you grow both as a marketer and as a person, as there are so many new facts to discover during the research process!
Understand your users, adapt your strategy, and be ready for changes – that’s the key to success in mobile marketing in the global marketplace. Our team is driven by this, so we’re always looking for those who are passionate about such challenges too.
