Does Posting English Content From Germany Hurt Reach?

I’m currently building a DTC brand and documenting the journey on TikTok (build in public / founder content).

I’m based in Germany, but my product is a niche product and I believe the potential audience is spread across many European countries rather than concentrated in Germany alone.

My dilemma:

Should I create content in German or English?

My concern is that TikTok initially tests content locally. If I post English content from Germany, many German viewers may skip simply because of the language, which could hurt retention and prevent the content from reaching a broader international audience.

On the other hand, if I create content in German, I might get better local performance, but all the effort goes into reaching mainly a German audience, while my potential customer base is much more international.

The content itself is mostly top-of-funnel / middle of funnel founder content (building a business, creating a product, wins/failures, behind the scenes), not niche product content.

For those who have experience growing internationally:

How would you approach this?

Would you go English from day one, German first and expand later, or some hybrid approach?

And how much does language actually affect TikTok's initial distribution and ability to reach international audiences?

Would really appreciate any insights from people who have experience building an international audience while posting from a non-English-speaking country.

Comments

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Ever-Else•about 1 month ago•1

No. It doesnt matter. Only if you target only german people and have english content that hurts reach.

Ambitious-Emotion764•about 1 month ago•1

That's nice! I think you should create content in German with English subtitles. Sometimes you can create content in English, since it's spoken and understood worldwide. Goodluck with your TikTok journey.

gptbuilder_marc•about 1 month ago•1

TikTok's initial distribution is geo-weighted but not geo-locked. The algorithm does push English content to German users who have shown English content affinity. The bigger risk is the first 24-hour audience signal. If your German followers don't engage with English content, the algorithm reads that as low-quality and restricts the reach.

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