US software company boosts EU sales with international SEO

Increase brand awareness in France and Germany
Drive more net-new organic traffic to the German and French websites

Boost sales in French and German markets
Drive more software downloads for their two flagship products “C” and “S”

Design a localization program
Driven by the end customers’ needs and challenges in the two target markets

Maintain a wide marketing funnel
By capturing new blog subscribers and nurturing existing

Limited marketing resources
Small, US-based in-house team; no additional budget for inbound program

The client didn’t have additional budget to pursue a structured inbound strategy, but the team was spending a hefty budget on PPC ads to get traction on their blogs. The solution was to work with that same budget (no increase in costs) but to reallocate it to a different, more sustainable solution that would drive results in the short-term but also prepare their website and blog for long-term growth: combining SEO, native content creation and transcreation (creative translation) for some of the existing EN-US content.

When approaching the client’s objectives, Acolad had three key principles to the content marketing strategy presented:

1. Design content for context

Content would be created with the overall message and audience top-of-mind.

2. Focus on content creation, not translation

Acolad would create content that was more relevant to the clients French and German-speaking audiences, rather than repurposing the EN-US content. The topics that were relevant on the 3 markets would be localized through transcreation into French and German, but all other pieces of content would speak to the trends of the moment in the target countries.

3. Think global, design local

Acolad takes the client's larger global business goals (expanding into the two new markets) into account when designing the geo-specific content strategies for the new audiences.

Step 1

Requirements and goals were determined by meeting with key stakeholders, including the International Business Strategist, Localization Coordinator, Customer & Market Strategist, and Web & Blog Manager.

Step 2

Content optimization process started with an analysis of existing website and blog, including keyword and competition research and a web content audit. Objective: identify areas for improvement and opportunities to optimize blog content.

Step 3

Develop content strategy and plan, including keyword and content mapping, and content calendars dedicated to each target markets. Objective: Ensure the client’s content was organized not just for users, but also for search engines, and that it was aligned with their business goals.

Step 4

Implementing our plan and tracking content performance. We optimized the client’s blog content in French and German, distributed and promoted it through their local quarterly newsletters, and measure their success. This allowed us to continually refine and improve the content writing efforts, resulting in more organic traffic, leads and product sales in those regions.

The (outsourced) local content marketing teams built a trust relationship in a very short time with the in-house team, integrating team discussions and biweekly meetings to align on all topics. Their in-house team of 5 was scaled up to reach two new overseas markets effectively while keeping budget under control (and no added overhead). This approach was successful for the two target markets, but it’s also scalable as new international objectives are set for the team.

Resilient content marketing: Acolad's strategy spotlight

Acolad's assistance in developing a recession-proof marketing strategy for our software company client proved invaluable. Shifting focus from PPC to SEO and organic content creation enabled sustainable growth without extra costs. This approach helped the client weather economic uncertainty, expand their team beyond physical locations, and attract new customers.

Our partnership showcases the power of content marketing in challenging times. By adopting the right approach, even with a hybrid team, companies can thrive. The strategy's success has become a benchmark in the tech and localization industries, with the client invited to present at LocWorld Silicon Valley 2022.

Expanding partnership to new markets

With the success of the collaboration model for these markets, the partnership is already being extended for the Spanish market. Acolad is also now supporting the client's US and UK content operations with native English content creation and copywriting.