Create one base version of your sendout and then create localized versions of it, i.e adapt it for multiple markets and languages. Instead of creating separate sendouts for each market, you can manage everything within the same message and only localize the parts that need to differ.
Localization and marketing groups
Localization is connected to your marketing groups. Each localized version of your message belongs to a specific marketing group, and contacts will automatically receive the version for the marketing group they belong to.
Marketing groups can also affect other parts of the message experience, such as which product feed or market-specific content is used.
Because of this, it is recommended to review and structure your marketing groups before starting to work with localization.
Design mode vs Localization mode
In Design mode, you build the overall structure of your message. This is where you add and remove modules, adjust styling, save modules, and access all Design Studio functionality. Everything created here becomes part of the shared Base Message, the original design.
Localization mode is used for market-specific adjustments. Here, you can translate or adjust copy, replace images, update links, or hide modules that are not relevant for a specific market.
The layout and structure still come from the Base Message you created in Design mode, while Localization mode allows you to adapt the content for individual markets.
Understanding inheritance
All localized market versions automatically inherit updates from the Base Message until localization edits are made. Once content has been edited in Localization mode, that specific content will stop inheriting future updates from the Base Message.
For example, if you update a headline for a marketing group in Localization mode and later change the same headline in Design mode, the new update will only appear in markets where that headline has not already been edited locally.
This is important to keep in mind when maintaining or reusing messages. A common reason for unexpected results is that local edits were previously made without being noticed, which prevents later Design mode updates from appearing in that market version.
To help identify localized content, elements with localization are marked with a 🌐 icon. The icon indicates that localization exists within the selected element.
Revert localization
If you want a localized element to inherit from the Base Message again, you can revert its localization.
To do this, open the relevant marketing group, select the localized element, and choose Revert localization.
This removes all local changes made to the selected element and restores it to the version from Design mode. After reverting, any future updates made in Design mode will automatically be reflected in that market version unless the element is localized again.
Reverting localization affects everything, including styling and settings. For example, if you revert localization for a Row element, then all localized content within that row including child elements will be restored to the Design version.
When should you use localization?
Localization is useful whenever you work with multiple markets and need to adapt messages for different languages or market-specific content. This applies not only to campaign messages, but also to automation messages such as order confirmations, birthday messages, and other recurring communication where the overall structure is shared across markets.
Instead of maintaining separate messages for each market, you can manage everything within the same message and only localize the parts that need to differ.
When should you avoid localization?
If you only uses the "Default" marketing group and do not require market-specific variations, you should work only in Design mode. In this case, the message created in Design mode is already the exact version that will be sent to your contacts, which means that localization is unnecessary.
Best practices
To make localization easier to maintain over time, it is recommended to finalize the overall message structure in Design mode before starting to localize content.
You should also avoid unnecessary local edits whenever possible, since localized content will stop inheriting updates from the Base Message.
If you frequently reuse content across markets, you can also create modules in several languages. This makes it easier to reuse localized content while still keeping a shared structure and design.