The global business localization strategy includes a complete content translation plan as well as the localization of other brand elements to resonate with local audiences. A strong localization strategy makes it easier for you to enter global markets and increase your market share worldwide. The purpose of creating an effective localization strategy is to make your brand feel more familiar to local audiences.
Modifying your product to the local needs of customers is critical for your brand’s global growth. Developing robust localization can help you make the most of international markets and capture global customers. You can make a localization strategy yourself, or partner with a company offering a reliable localization solution for enterprises.
If you are seeking international growth, you better come up with a solid localization strategy. This article is an ultimate guide to creating an effective localization strategy to build a brand that connects with local audiences.
Tips to Create Smart Localization Strategy
Massive globalization leads to intense competition among businesses around the world. There are loads of growth opportunities available for your business in international markets. However, simply bringing your business to the international markets is not enough. You have to come up with a solid localization plan to capture the attention of maximum audiences. Following are some important guidelines that you must follow to create a robust localization strategy for your global business expansion.
Planning & Research
It all starts with research and planning. Before launching your product into the global market, you better do extensive research on the market, competitors, customers, and current trends. No matter how good and innovative your product is, getting into foreign water without knowing the depth can be devastating. For successful product adoption and sales, you need to build your localization backed by proper research and planning. If you have a website, you must analyze the user traffic and their geographical locations. This will help you see potential in different marketplaces. From the very beginning, you must have your business goals and expansion plan defined, so you can create a strategy aligned with your business goals. Moreover, in this step, you must also make a list of all the tools and resources that you may need down the line throughout your localization journey.
Get Market Knowledge
Once the localization goals are defined, you have a plan in place. It’s time to gain some market understanding. You can’t simply enter into any market because not every market has the potential for your business. Choosing the right market\s for your business expansion is critical for long-term success. For this, you have to conduct extensive market research to understand the demand of customers, and how you can fulfill that demand better than other competitors. So, you should know the dynamics of your target market and the pain points of your customers to modify your product more efficiently for the target market. Conduct a detailed customer analysis through an online survey, so you better know what your target customers are looking for and whether this new marketplace has potential for your product.
Translation Management Plan
We all know translation is the most important aspect of your brand localization. You must start with a solid translation plan. Managing translation for multiple marketplaces could be challenging because it takes time and effort. First of all, you have to define how you’re going to manage the translations. Are you going to partner with language service providers, buy a translation management tool, or manually manage the translations? It is important to know your preferences and choose the most appropriate method of managing translation based on your project needs.
Don’t Ignore the Culture
Whether you are doing translation or modifying other elements of your brand, you should never ignore the culture and social norms of the targeted region. Culture has a huge influence on the buying behaviors of customers. It is not just about doing translation from one language to another, you have to translate the cultures as well. Things that can be normal in one culture could be taboo in another culture, so you must keep in mind all cultural sensitivities while modifying your brand attributes.
Go Beyond Translations
Localization is not just about translations, so you must go beyond translation when it comes to brand localization. Your localization strategy must cater to all elements of your brand, including translations, design, layouts, formatting, and illustrations. Localization is also transforming the whole brand experience of customers that resonates with their psychologies. Language services providers offer a professional localization solution for enterprises that adapt their brand image to the local interests and demands.
Conclusion
Considering all the factors mentioned in this article would help you develop a strong localization strategy for your brand. From business expansion goals to market understanding, everything should be clear in your mind from the very beginning, so smoothly carry out your brand’s localization. If you don’t have the right expertise and tools for brand localization, there are other ways to deal with it. You can also hire a reliable language service provider to share your localization burden. Marshub is a professional localization platform with extensive features that can help you in managing your everyday localization tasks.
