"My fellow Americans," how do your online marketing language and attitude translate globally?

In a recent issue of Subscription Marketing newsletter, Peter Schaible, editor-at-large at the Mequoda Group, wrote, "Americans are generally egocentric. I am an American, so I feel especially entitled to make this criticism.

"By that I mean we're very focused on the U.S. of A. as being the center of the universe and often we don't have a 'world view' of things."

Stop right there, I wrote Peter. Many people who are not from "the U.S. of A" recoil at our calling ourselves "Americans," since the word can also apply to South Americans and Latin Americans and our North American friends to the north and the south--Canadians and Mexicans.

I don't want to push "linguistically correct" too far, but, my fellow Americans, make sure the context supports your use of the word.

Currency

Peter then discusses currency:

I've noticed that the fees for products on U.S.-based websites are almost always stated in U.S. dollars. We Americans arrogantly assume that the rest of the world knows how to do conversions to their local currency,

But when I go to a U.K.-based website and see the fees stated ONLY in pounds, I'm offended and turned off. I may be too lazy to look up the currency conversion rate, so I quickly lose interest.

Much more often, I imagine, credit card transactions for your subscriptions obviate the need to state the world's common currency conversion rates. But if your mailing is large enough to a particular country--say, the U.K. or Germany or Japan--state the approximate dollar equivalent for each country mailed to.

Speaking of subscription prices, a Brit told me he resents U.S. publications that claim they're "global" and then charge more for "overseas delivery"

Avoid slang and other gaffes

Peter Schaible continues:

Engaging in online publishing means exposing your message to millions of people who use the World Wide Web.

Visitors to your English-language website likely will be reading it from their homes in Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Barbados, Bahamas, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, the United Kingdom and throughout the English-speaking world. That includes such diverse places as Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates--all countries where English is the official or unofficial language.

That means if you write in "American" English, as part of your online publishing strategy, you need to be careful to avoid using slang or referring to U.S. television programs or other exclusively American cultural icons.

To that I'd also say to steer clear of Americans' propensity to use sports and military terms and analogies--e.g. The length of a football field or even the term football itself, which is a different sport altogether outside of this country.* Ditto for an end around, game plan, do battle with, and smart bombs.

I do concede that target has become a mainstream marketing term everywhere.

Local references

Peter also advises "to avoid local geographic references such as 'The Lone Star State,' without first identifying the place as Texas." Does that take a big bite out of "The Big Apple"?

Internet capabilities

Language and attitude aside, Peter offers some advice on the accessibility of your online messages:

  You should avoid posting large inline graphic files and always offer
  text alternatives (HTML.ALT codes). That's because many international
  subscribers are likely to have narrow bandwidth internet connections,
  making the downloading of large images difficult and frustrating.

Here's another online publishing tip: If you have a large graphic that is important to content, consider putting it in a separate file folder and giving your site visitors the option of downloading it.

Peter Schaible, [e-mail]

* I started to include the whole nine yards until I remembered it does not refer to an American football team having to gain a whole nine yards out of ten on the fourth down for a new first down. I've been told but cannot prove that it refers to a full truckload of concrete. For many years, trucks carried a total of nine yards of cement.