MatchCraft’s Taxonomy, adVisor, is a proprietary keyword and ad copy library that supports more than 20 languages and dialects across 44 countries. This category-based library is the result of over two decades of research and learning. It offers ready-to-use ad copies & keywords in 2,500+ different verticals. Giving our reseller and agency clients the ability to run their campaigns in multiple languages or target different verticals or both.
Our team of Native Language Consultants (NLCs) use their in-depth knowledge of local markets to create results-driven ad copies for thousands of industries. Our team can also develop custom libraries in nearly any language or dialect.
Needless to say, Taxonomy is one of our key differentiators. It’s what makes us best-in-class! So, this week we are shining the spotlight on the people responsible for creating, maintaining & constantly enhancing adVisor – our Taxonomy team!
What Does The Taxonomy Team Do?
Our Taxonomy team consists of people from all around the globe and, is responsible for our standard and custom taxonomies end-to-end.
They start the Taxonomy creation process by researching industry and location-specific keywords, then curate the top-performing keywords and create ready-to-provision ad copies.
But the work does not stop at researching and creating category-specific libraries. The team is constantly looking at changing global trends and local nuances to enhance the ad copy and keyword libraries to ensure that the ad copies offer maximum effectiveness for our reseller and agency clients’ local merchants.
The team prides itself on its ability to quickly respond to global and local market events by revising ad copies and keyword libraries, where needed.
Getting To Know Them
We spoke with a few members of our ever evolving Taxonomy team.
- Eleonora, who grew up practicing ballet, is now a competitive shooter.
- Hue is self admittedly obsessed with Gigi Buffon and Edinson Cavani. And even though she finds walking down the stairs a tad fearful, jumping out of an airplane at 13,000 feet is not an issue at all!
- Our resident rockstar is Alexander, who plays in a Rock’n’Roll band in West Hollywood.
- Fiona, an Australian-American, says that being left-handed has made her look at the world from a whole different angle. This lover of family, travel and dogs was a semi-finalist in a UK based songwriting contest.
- Astrid is an author and a well-trained martial artist. Not a combination we see often, eh?
- Meike has traveled to 51 countries and lived in 6 of them. She loves painting & abstract photography and given the chance, would like to live in a small cabin on a beach in a remote location.
- Another well-traveled team member is Kenny who has traveled over 20 countries. What made him move to LA was his love for the film industry and his desire to work as a cinematographer and editor.
- Denisse, who was a ski instructor in Park City, played on her college’s intercollegiate racquetball team.
- The Taxonomy team is clearly gifted musically. Mira, who is a fan of karaoke, sings in a choir. She also enjoys running and is actually quite good at it! She has placed 3rd twice in local Santa Monica races.
What They Love About Their Roles
- The Team – Our Taxonomy Team is incredibly diverse and the entire MatchCraft team gets to learn about different cultures and languages through them. Members of the team enjoy a unique camaraderie and are often seen sharing their vast personal & professional experiences with each other.
- Staying Connected – Being a part of the Taxonomy team helps the members stay intrinsically connected to their home countries.
- Language Skills – Being a part of the Taxonomy team means learning and discovering new aspects of one’s own language. It requires the language consultant to not only be able to speak a language but also be (or become) an expert in grammar, local nuances and editorial guidelines.
“No translation is involved, we create and localize at the country and culture level, “ said Hue.
- Creativity – Our Taxonomy is 2500+ category strong and growing, which means that the team has prepared ad copy and keyword libraries for pretty much every industry there is. This diversity of subject matter makes work fun for the team. They get to learn something new on a daily basis as each category they create is unique and sometimes the products/services they work on are completely new to them. The team especially enjoys being able to get creative while writing ad copies for the said categories.
- Flexibility – Team members appreciate the flexibility in schedule that comes with being a language consultant at MatchCraft – whether it’s working from home (pre-COVID as well) or scheduling office days that work best for them.
- Learning Opportunities – Our Native Language Consultants (NLCs) are given several opportunities to learn & use analytical tools to research and gather data with the goal of influencing the customer journey.
Top Challenges
- Constant Change – Maintaining & optimizing our 20+ language strong library of ad copies and keywords requires in-depth knowledge of local cultures and how different products and services are sold in various countries. So, in order to be effective in their roles, members of the team have to keep up with not just changes in ad-tech & platform guidelines but also with events across the globe – languages evolve as the world does. A good example is the current pandemic and the terms that have become commonplace as a result of it – safer-at-home, BOPIS, etc.
- Data Management – It should come as no surprise that the Taxonomy team is responsible for creating, classifying and managing a rather large amount of data. The tools being used to create the content, along with the content itself, can be a challenge to manage at times. A challenge the team takes in its stride and excels at overcoming.
- Languages and Dialects – Most of our NLCs either speak multiple languages or multiple dialects of the same language (eg: Spanish Spanish vs Mexican Spanish or Canadian French vs French French) and sometimes it can be tough to take into account the differences in 2 dialects of the same language while writing location-specific ad copy.
- COVID – Even though being able to work-from-home gives the team members the ability to have flexible workdays, in recent times they have missed having the ability to see their fellow team members in person.
If Not A Language Consultant Then What
- Alexander would probably be a guitar maker.
- Eleanora, a police officer.
- Denisse calls herself an eternal student and says she would probably be back at school working towards a second or third degree.
- Mira would like to be a traveling food critic. Now that is an alternate profession we can get behind!
- Hue would be traveling and volunteering.
- Kenny is a filmmaker and so spends most of his time filming and editing.
- Astrid who is an author feels like she is already in a great position, getting to combine her language skills with her love for writing.
- Meike would be a purchasing manager in a small company in Australia.
- Fiona would probably be writing songs for artists. She also hopes to someday work with deaf children.
Why Taxonomy?
From their passion for digital marketing to the ability to make good use of their native language skills, many things drew our language consultants to the field of Taxonomy. But it’s the novelty and complexity of the work that keeps them going.
By researching keywords, proofreading, and writing unique ads catered to individual consumers in their native languages, members of the team enjoy being able to influence consumers’ purchase decisions at a granular level.
Evolution of Taxonomy
Over the years the role of language consultants has become much more refined. Where in the past their main role was content translation and interpretation, today they are more focused on content localization and terminology management.
The way taxonomies are created and managed has evolved as well, in response to the ever changing needs of the SEM marketplace. The way people look for goods and services online has changed quite a bit over the years. Today more and more people are using mobile devices to search & purchase – “near me” is a very popular search term appendage. And all this means that the way our language consultants research and create taxonomies has had to become more personalized and location-centric.
Within MatchCraft the role of the Taxonomy team has expanded too. The team now works in tandem with all the other departments and members of the team are involved in several projects outside the traditional scope of language consultancy. Projects such as product localizations & company presentations.
The team truly is multi-faceted!