If you are ready or have already attempted to take your brand global, then you know the importance of connecting with customers around the globe who have a culture and traditions that are different than your own. To be successful on an international basis, you must develop a global localization strategy.
Components of a Global Localization Strategy
There are many different components to a localization strategy:
- Market Research – Before you dive into any market, you need to know who is currently has the largest market share, who will be in your target audience and potential pain points as they will be different for each location.
- Stay Competitive – Investigate steps that you must take so that your product is attractive to customers in each location.
- Understand and Follow Local Laws – Ensure that you are following all written and unwritten laws in each new location.
- Tweak Your Brand – While your brand should represent you, your messaging and logo may need to change slightly in each location to convey your message to your customers.
- Revisit Your Current Content- You have spent hours and lots of money to develop your current content, so adjust it for each new location after prioritizing it so that you do not have to reinvent the wheel.
- Consider Translation Options- While you can have a machine translate your content, chances are it will not play well with your target audience, so consider your translation options and your budget.
Ways to improve your Global Localization Strategy
If you have already tried to develop a global strategy, you may have been a little disappointed with the results. Do not give up, but you may need to change some things about the way that you are approaching the process, including:
- Consider in Country Feedback – Even if you do market research, you still need to take in-country feedback very seriously as there may be things that you miss, so make sure you are using a listening tool that adjusts to each country’s internet usage.
- Lead People Through the Sales Funnel- You have spent time developing your sales funnel in your home country, but your funnel may be different in another country, so be prepared to change it.
- Use Localization Experts- Do not expect a translation service to catch every nuance that can affect how your brand is perceived.
- Learn From Each Market – While you need to market for each country that you enter, consider if the things that are creating your sales in one place can be translated into other areas, including your home market.
- Network – Build strong connections with others in related fields who already have built a strong presence in an area you are exploring.
As with almost anything in life, there are pros and cons of using this strategy. Done correctly with lots of help, you will build a much stronger brand. Keep in mind that you can hurt your results in markets where you are already strong if you fail, so you must work with global localization experts to build and execute a winning plan.
Understanding the Importance of Localization, Internationalization and Globalization
Ask any successful marketing guru online or off and they will tell you that the key to successful marketing is the ability to establish a personal relationship with the client. The customer should know from the translation services that you are willing to speak to them in their own language. However, they are not likely to trust you until you show them how much you know and understand life, their problems, and can offer them solutions based on their localized perception of life.
Localization is an opportunity for you to fully personalize the translation services, but far beyond the limitations of language. Localization for translation services can be used to use local expressions and local vernacular to the target audience rather than expressions that may seem more foreign in nature, no pun intended. Localization can also include the use of pictures more relevant to the target audience.
References to geographic locations can be replaced with similar geographic features in the new location and culturally significant phrasing in the marketing content can similarly be replaced with cultural references more in line with the thinking of the foreign-language audience. In this way, localization services ensure that you can establish the direct and personal relationship necessary to create a bond and ensure the success of your marketing campaign.