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Best Practices for Multilingual Campaigns
Alexis Harris – Global Research & Insights Partner, Marketing Science, TikTok
Jaclyn Williams – Research and Insights Manager, NA & Global Functions, TikTok
Alexis Harris and Jaclyn Williams of TikTok explained best practices for developing successful multilingual campaigns. Their data came from a survey where bilingual Hispanic TikTok users evaluated different creative elements in Spanish, to see how best to positively influence brand perceptions and business outcomes. This group feels one hundred percent both American and Hispanic culturally. They prefer to see and hear things in both languages throughout the day, a desire not currently being met by brands. Done consistently and authentically, language resonance can transfer into long-term benefits like brand loyalty and advocacy. Voiceover was the number one creative element to lift upper and mid-funnel metrics. Importantly, Spanish voiceover did not turn off English only speakers. TikTok partnered with NRG to conduct this 20-minute quantitative survey. It leveraged in-context ad exposure. They analyzed 32 ad variations (such as adding Spanish voiceover, music or subtitles) across four verticals: beauty, auto, QSR dining and telco. The survey was given to 1,600 monthly TikTok users in the US: 1,200 were multilingual, while 400 were English-only speakers. They found that fluency in Spanish is diverse. Researchers put respondents into three groups: English dominant, bilingual and Spanish dominant. Thirty-four percent of respondents identified completely with Hispanic culture, 31% identified completely with American culture and 17% completely with both. Key takeaways:- Sixty-nine percent said bilingual ads made them feel seen and represented.
- Sixty-three percent of bilinguals liked seeing both languages throughout their day, 59% wanted to see both languages in their social feeds and 59% wanted to encounter both English and Spanish when seeing ads.
- Bilingual audiences are 2.5 times more likely to share ads that use multiple languages. They are also three times more brand loyal when advertised to in Spanish.
- Seventy-one percent of respondents wanted to see more celebrities from their own culture, 66% liked ads that referenced everyday life and 63% wanted more influencers from their culture in ads.
- Spanish voiceover was the most effective creative technique. It drove positive brand perceptions, brand connection, engagement and consideration. Captions were the second most effective technique, driving all but consideration. Music only drove brand engagement.
- After experiencing a Spanish voiceover in an ad on TikTok:
- Thirty-eight percent of bilinguals watched product reviews about the brand on the social media platform, and 57% watched more ads on TikTok from the brand.
- Fifty-two percent shared the ad on TikTok, and 27% talked about it with a friend or family member.
- Brand favorability was at 61% of non-Spanish speaking users after encountering a bilingual English-Spanish ad.
