Not everyone sees the internet you see: Part 2

Every day, we work with clients from around the world, with most based in the US. We also have clients in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, France, and beyond. I’ve lived in the US, Canada, and the UK, and traveled extensively (a piece of my heart will always be in my favorite vacation spot, Ko Olina, O’ahu!). One of the reasons I love to travel is that it reminds me there’s more than one way to do life.

When I speak with US clients, I make an effort to stay in tune with their culture – keeping up with their holidays, seasons, weather, sports, and current events. (I steer clear of politics!) I even adjust how I speak, whether it’s softening my New Zealand accent (especially when spelling words or dictating numbers), changing vocabulary, or avoiding local slang. I also use American references, mentioning stores such as Target, Nordstrom, or Anthropologie, and citing news sources like NBC, The New York Times, or The Atlantic.

It’s not about hiding who I am, being less proud of life in New Zealand, or my culture (I’m happy to chat about our new super cute baby lambs). It’s simply about making communication easier for my clients.

Having spent extensive time in the US, working with clients and many friends there, yet living elsewhere, gives me a unique perspective.

I’m acutely aware that many US websites are not—though I hesitate to use this word—truly inclusive of people in other countries.

Here are some examples of what I mean. Some websites are completely inaccessible (blocked) to people outside the US. This can be for legitimate reasons—such as licensing restrictions, site security to block hackers, or the business not serving customers outside a specific region. However, I would hope businesses could keep their websites visible to people outside their service areas. For instance, I might want to order a pizza for a friend in Chicago, send clothing to a forwarding service, or an American traveling abroad might need to conduct research.

Other websites create frustrating experiences for people living in other countries. For example, a new software service or product might only be available to US users, but they only discover this after completing several sign-up steps or attempting to check out their shopping cart. Just today, I wanted to download a report from an ad management platform, only to find the form required me to enter a State—with no option for ‘Other’ in the dropdown. (I ended up entering Hawaii just to get the report!)

Other websites send emails and display homepage promotions that aren’t always applicable to those outside the US. Holiday promotions don’t always make sense in other countries – Father’s Day is celebrated in September in New Zealand, for example, and each country has its unique national holiday.

Some websites send emails and display promotions on their homepage that aren’t always relevant to those outside the US. Holiday promotions, for example, often don’t make sense in other countries—like how Father’s Day is in September in New Zealand but June in the US, or back-to-school routines in August when it’s February in New Zealand. Each country has its unique national holidays, too. And seasonal promotions are the complete opposite of what’s happening in the other hemisphere! The homepage of a Northern Hemisphere food blog often isn’t relevant for those of us in New Zealand or Australia—think summer salads and barbecues when we’re enjoying hearty winter soups and stews! Many newsletters assume their entire audience is in the US (or Northern Hemisphere), with greetings asking about summer vacations or making similar references.

Maybe you’re thinking the non-US or Southern Hemisphere audiences are too small to bother with. However, premium ad networks don’t see it that way—they target sites where the majority of traffic comes from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Some US food websites with millions of visitors a month and hundreds of thousands of email subscribers have 10% of their audience in the Southern Hemisphere, and 33% outside the US. That’s a large number of people experiencing a disconnect between their culture and the content they’re receiving.

Considering we have the technology to determine a user’s likely location when they visit a website (though VPNs can alter this), and advertisers use this heavily, it’s surprising that conditional content or segmentation isn’t more widely used in email marketing and website promotions to better connect with audiences.

In a world where companies strive to be more inclusive in their language and accommodate a diverse range of people, and where more businesses cater to a global audience, this is a large group that could be served better —and helping them can make you stand out from the rest.