Why Is Content Localization Being Embraced by Global Brands?
Approximately 28% of all business is conducted online. Modern technology empowers organizations across all industries to complete market data, reach new audiences, and improve customer convenience. The increase in online business gives companies a broader reach, spurring many to take their brand global. However, international expansion requires more than accessibility—it requires content localization. Businesses face these challenges:
Accessing a dependable supply chain
Following new regulations
Successfully connecting with new audiences
Some issues can be resolved with adequate information and the right business connections. However, the hurdle of engaging your new audience could define the success of your global expansion efforts. For customers to establish a relationship with your brand, they need to understand your product and build trust in your company. Content localization is one of the most effective ways to establish an authentic connection with an international audience, making it a growing trend for global companies.
Content Localization Goes Beyond Translation
It's no secret that accurate translation is essential to overcome language barriers when expanding a business to new regions. However, language is only a piece of the puzzle that makes up content localization. Translation is the process of translating your website content into other languages. It makes content more accessible for different audiences but doesn't consider context, cultural differences, or website design.
Content localization is creating or adapting content to suit a specific region's linguistic and cultural needs. It includes these processes that go beyond translation:
Adjusting imagery to align with cultural nuances
Altering text for various dialects and cultures
Adding support for multiple currencies
Complying with international laws and regulations
How Content Localization Improves Marketing Efforts for Global Companies
All forms of marketing should create connections with your target audience. But modern consumers expect personalization now more than ever before. Seventy-one percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized content. Seventy-six percent get frustrated when companies don't provide it. Localized content helps create these personal connections by accurately displaying how a product or service integrates with the lifestyles of target customers in a specific locale.
When expanding into new countries, it's essential to understand how your ideal customers will perceive your brand and make informed decisions. Developing nuances in your content to reflect cultural norms, language complexities, and accurate visuals shows your target customers that you understand their needs and pain points. Successful localization can help boost your globalization success with these essential results.
Increased Engagement
Modern consumers are inundated with choices. They don't have to (and won't) seek reasons to interact with your brand. 87% of consumers won't purchase from an English-only website. Localized content engages customers by providing all necessary information and support in a format that is easy to understand and use within a specific region. It begins with effective search results and continues throughout every touchpoint of the customer journey.
From SEO to accurate product information and through post-purchase customer support, your content should include local references that your customers will immediately connect with. When you take the time to understand and adapt to the nuances of a specific region, customers will have access to content designed just for them. Your efforts will pay off with an improved local reputation and customer loyalty.
Reach New Audiences
Global expansion is gaining popularity among companies of all sizes. With today's technology, companies can expand beyond their country's borders. However, growth doesn't guarantee success. Effective localization combines careful research and targeted efforts to connect with new audiences.
Similar to the damages caused by failed translations (like the Chinese translation of KFC's "finger-licking good" to "eat your fingers off"), poor localization can fall flat with new audiences. For example, when Starbucks expanded to Australia, it didn't consider the country's active coffee culture. Australians were disappointed by the sugary drinks and high prices. They also preferred the unique environment provided by existing local coffee shops. As a result, Starbucks never became popular among local coffee drinkers in Australia.
By researching your customers' lifestyles and adapting your content to meet their needs, you can accurately introduce the quality of your products and services to new audiences. As a result, you can gain a competitive advantage in new regions.
Improve Brand Consistency
When companies integrate localization into their globalization efforts, they can control their messaging in ways that provide a uniform experience. It can also help companies avoid critical translation and cultural blunders without diluting their brand.
Personalized Messaging
You likely already use market data to better segment your audience and speak to their needs. As a global brand, localization will allow you to better control your online message in ways that cater to customer needs in different regions.
Content localization makes your online presence available in multiple languages across various channels. When you research your target audience's preferred social media platforms and how they engage with mobile sites, you can better tailor your content to meet their needs. The same effect applies to targeted marketing, which depends heavily on personalization. These efforts create a positive user experience that new customers will associate with your brand.
Improve Internal Communication
Localized content is not only an excellent resource for customers. It streamlines the jobs of local sales support teams and other company employees. Even when companies are predominantly US-based and corporate content is in English, it's common for employees to prefer to work in their native language. By extending your localization efforts to include communication materials like contracts, instruction videos, and employee training sessions, you can better arm your employees to serve customers effectively. Labor laws in some countries may even require you to translate materials into the native language of the region.
Your localized website can also be a valuable resource for your sales and customer support teams. The localized site complies with local regulations and is already set up to accept the standard currency in the region. It can also provide information about locally specific products and services that employees can pass on to customers.
Using Content Localization to Connect With Your Global Audience
Content localization is a process that empowers global brands to make authentic connections with new audiences. It gives you the resources to interact with new audiences in ways relevant to their cultures and lifestyles. When consumers see incorrect spellings, references that don't reflect their culture, and poor translations, they assume the content wasn't made for them and bounce. But when a business gets localization right, it identifies the pain points of its new audience and provides accurate messaging consistent with the local lifestyle.
As more brands expand internationally, consumers increasingly expect accurate localization. Failure to meet these expectations could lead to a costly lesson in the value of adequate preparations.