Language targeting is getting as complex as it is important. Let’s state the obvious: in the US, English and Spanish are two languages to contend with. Indeed, many users in the US speak either one language or the other, and possibly both. Furthermore, in the EU, there are 24 official languages.

Now to be a little more technical, users have languages settings at the device level, OS level, app level, browser level. Further, Android and iOS treat language settings differently. And beyond that, some users might decide to have their core systems (OS, app) in one language, yet receive content within the app, like news, in another language! This makes advanced language targeting, based on all of these different language settings a daunting, yet important task.


The challenges you face as a marketer

You’re setting up 1:1 engagement between your brand and users. You’re considering advanced language targeting. Let’s sum up some of the questions you need to ask yourself when setting up your campaign.

  • Am I targeting users in a specific country or region?
  • Does this country or region have anything to do with language targeting per se?
  • What is the most recent behavior of the different OSs on mobile with respect to language: Android and iOS act differently, how so?
  • Am I setting up language targeting at the device level?
    At the OS level?
    App level?
    Browser level?
  • What type of language will this user respond to?
    Which language(s) does this user communicate in?
    And what language does this user expect in this specific situation?
  • How will the language affect engagement rates?
  • Is it possible that some language settings be defined by the user, and that others might simply have been ignored and left “empty”, thus hindering any kind of advanced targeting?

Efficient language targeting requires thought and a flexible tool for sure, or you just won’t be able to execute your language targeting strategy.




Automated language targeting

Answering all of the questions above is hard. We, therefore, decided to automate part of the process. For each of your users, we will look at all of the various language settings available to us. Wherever a language attribute has been left empty thus possibly hindering advanced language targeting, we’ll make the very best “guess” based on the other language settings. Basically, we have entrusted algorithms to do the work.


Do you have a handle on all of the language settings in your campaign? It’s tough, and oh so important. If you need help, let us know.

[Image: Contact one of our experts on notifications in Android Wear 2.0]