How can a localization strategy help your business succeed globally?

Any organization with ambitions to expand globally must consider the power of localization. Localization is a strategy to ensure that your product or service meets the needs of an international audience in a culturally relevant way. It goes well beyond using Google Translate to translate your website. It involves adapting your brand message, content, and even your products to fit your target market’s cultural and linguistic preferences. By taking this strategic approach, you can eliminate the gap between your home market and potential customers worldwide.

Consider this insight from recent research conducted by the Common Sense Advisory (CSA): Businesses that started localizing were 1.5 times more likely to report a total revenue increase.

But what else should you know about this strategy? We’ve compiled some practices an organization should follow when implementing business localization. But first, let’s start with some basics:

What is localization?

Localization, often shortened to L10n (because there are ten letters between the l and the n), is the process of adapting a product or service for a specific market. Localization involves:

• Translation. Changing the content from the source language into whatever language(s) the target market speaks.
• Tailoring the message: This is about customizing the content for local preferences.  Imagine a website in English that uses American pop culture references. Localization would include reworking the content with references familiar to the target audience. This is sometimes called transcreation.
• Cultural awareness: Colors, symbols, and even humor can have different meanings across cultures. Localization avoids using (or adapts) anything that might be offensive or confusing in the target market.
• Considering regulations: Products might need to comply with different laws or safety standards depending on the location.
• Testing and engineering. Building products after translation and testing them to ensure they function correctly are also part of localization.

In short, localization ensures your product feels familiar and user-friendly to people in a different country, even if it originated elsewhere.

With this approach, your company is taking significant steps to feel customized for your target market and avoid awkward, sometimes expensive, mistakes. Through localization, your organization will create a seamless user experience that drives customer connections, boosts sales, and propels your brand across the globe.

The role of business localization in global growth

With localization, once-distant markets become wide open for business. Localization lets you tap into a global audience hungry for your offerings, skyrocketing your brand awareness and driving sales. Localization is the key to unlocking a world of opportunity for your business. It will help you:

• Go global more rapidly
• Boost sales in each market
• Differentiate from your competitors
• Increase brand relevance
• Build trust with current customers in-country
• Reduce risk

The ability to reach customers directly in a most understandable manner via their native language has massive value. Going back to the CSA research report, in which a group of Fortune 500 companies confirmed that localization was a great investment, we see that:

• 75% of businesses have established their presence in brand-new markets as a result of localization
• Businesses that localized their content were 2.5 times more likely to experience year-on-year profit growth and 1.8 times more likely to experience revenue growth

Key components of a business localization strategy

So now that we’ve covered the basics and the justification for this approach, let’s go into detail on these critical components an organization should follow when implementing business localization:

Choosing markets and languages

First, it’s about identifying the most promising markets. Data is your friend here: analyze the market size, growth potential, and competitor presence to make informed decisions. Look at your customer base, website traffic, and social media followers: where are they located?

Once you’ve identified your target markets, it’s time for language selection. This might seem straightforward, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. Consider dialects—Spanish, for example, has 26 variations across countries and regions. Castilian Spanish, predominantly spoken in Spain, won’t be appreciated (or understood) by audiences in Argentina who speak Spanish with a completely different dialect.

Defining what to localize

Not everything needs to be translated, at least not straight away. This defining phase is about pinpointing the content types that will impact your target audience most. During market expansion and entry, you may find websites, marketing campaigns and assets, product documentation, and customer support are all prime candidates. At this stage, prioritization is key. While high-visibility content like those mentioned should be at the top of the list, legal documents, packaging, and your website user interface (UI) shouldn’t be forgotten either.

Brand localization and the importance of culture

You’ll want to make sure your brand is recognizable across markets while also customizing it for the local market. This is a tricky balance. Importantly, localization goes beyond just words on a page. It’s about understanding the cultural nuances that make a brand genuinely care. Think about local customs, traditions, and consumer behavior. By factoring these elements into your strategy, you can tailor your approach for maximum impact.

A marketing campaign that hits the right notes in North America might fall flat in Asia. So, don’t forget that a little cultural misstep can go a long way. Ever heard of the Pepsi slogan that directly translates to “Bring back the dead” in Chinese? Localization avoids these kinds of PR nightmares.

Deciding on tools and technology

Building a global presence requires the right tools in your toolbox. From a translator’s point of view, Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools help them to work smarter, not harder, by suggesting previously translated phrases and managing terminology. Next, Translation Management Systems (TMS) streamline your workflow, providing a vital centralization of all your localization projects. Translation Memory (TM) management tools are your secret weapon for efficiency, storing previously translated content to save time and money on future projects. And finally, Machine Translation, specifically Neural MT and now Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, are used by many enterprises to speed up translation and bring down costs.

Human intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Language AI in the form of LLMs exploded onto the scene over the past year or two, although the localization industry has been working with AI for translation for the past 40 years. In the translation and localization industry, these developments are a bit of a double-edged sword. AI can offer speed and cost-effectiveness for specific content types, spitting out user manuals and product descriptions in the blink of an eye. However, AI isn’t perfect: it can struggle with nuance, humor, and cultural references.

Human expertise remains irreplaceable, especially for marketing content and brand messaging that require more emotional connection. AI has only been trained with words. It’s missing the human elements of perception, cultural awareness, emotion, and nuance. So, it’s okay to think of AI as a helpful assistant, but the final call should always come from a human translator who understands the cultural context.

Defining quality targets and your QA approach

Not all content requires the same level of quality. An FAQ or user reviews do not need to be perfect, but marketing content does. Also, legal documents are very complex and sensitive and require higher accuracy than marketing copy. So, it’s critical to set clear quality standards to ensure your top-value localized content is polished and error-free.

Once you’ve defined your quality standards, it’s time to establish your Quality Assurance (QA) approach. This spells out how you’ll make sure your translations meet those standards. Check out our post on “Tips for Optimizing Your Localization QA Process” for detailed insights on this crucial step.

Preparing your product for localization

Internationalization (i18n) is about designing your product with localization in mind. Think flexible code that can accommodate different character sets, text lengths, or reading directions—or leaving enough space in your user interface UI for translated text that might be longer than the original.

By following internationalization best practices for both code and content, you’ll save time and money when you’re ready to translate your service or product for global markets.

Planning for localization testing

Just like you wouldn’t launch a new product in your home market without testing it thoroughly, localization testing is crucial. A two-pronged approach ensures your localized product functions flawlessly and delivers a seamless user experience.

Functional testing, also known as localization (loc) testing, verifies that everything works as expected – buttons click, menus navigate, and error messages are clear. Linguistic testing, on the other hand, focuses on the translated text’s accuracy, fluency, and cultural appropriateness.

AI can also be applied here to speed up processes and drive higher-quality products.

Team and resources

Building a successful localization strategy requires having the right people on board. To start, a localization project manager is central to your effort. They’ll wear many hats, from managing budgets and timelines to coordinating with vendors and internal teams. Consider this role your Minimum Viable Team (MVT) as you get started.

Your next roles may include language leads for your core languages, technologists, and/or quality managers.  (If you outsource, the partner will have these roles on staff, and your PM will interface with them).

Choosing a localization services partner

It’s unlikely that your team is dedicated or able to do all this work themselves, so finding the right partner is critical. Look for an agency with experience in your industry and a proven track record of delivering high-quality work.

Also, ask questions like:

• How do they handle quality assurance?
• What technologies do they use? How do they use AI?
• In what industries do they specialize?
• Do they have native-speaking translators who understand your target markets?

Through careful due diligence when qualifying your vendors, you’ll increase the odds of a smooth and successful localization journey.

Considering budget parameters

Localization is a complex interplay of translation, engineering, and detailed project management, so pricing is not just about the per-word translation rate. There are many factors to consider when estimating your budget. The complexity of your content, the number of languages you’re targeting, and the chosen technology stack can all impact the final cost.

The good news? Localization is an investment, not an expense. Done right, it can unlock significant revenue growth and boost brand recognition in new markets. The CSA report referenced above notes that companies that invested in translation to gain an advantage over their competitors were 2.04 times more likely to see an increase in profits and 1.27 times more likely to generate augmented earnings per share (EPS).

Measuring success

So, you’ve launched your localized product – now what? Tracking your progress is essential to see if your localization efforts are paying off. Here’s where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) metrics help you to define success:

• Have you seen market share growth in a specific region?
• Increased customer satisfaction scores?
• A boost in revenue?

Once you’ve identified your goals, your team should leverage analytics and reporting tools to track the performance of your localized content. Don’t be afraid to adapt and refine your approach based on the data and feedback you receive. Localization is an ongoing process, and continuous improvement is the key to achieving sustainable global success.

The power of a strategic localization journey

The benefits are undeniable: Localization unlocks doors to new markets, propels brand awareness, and fosters customer loyalty – all contributing to significant revenue growth.

If we refer back to the CSA report mentioned above, businesses that localized information designed for communication with clients and partners were 2.67 times more likely to see a revenue increase and 2.6 times more likely to see profit growth.

But this journey is an ongoing process. As your business expands, so too should your localization strategy. Over time, you’ll add more languages, evolve your technology, localize more content, and refine your processes so you can do more with less.

Acclaro can help your team develop these strategies as your roadmap to navigating new markets and capturing international audiences’ hearts (and market share). At Acclaro, we simplify what may seem like a complex process to help you scale global growth and create lasting value for your customers. We’ve developed strategies that help the world’s leading companies succeed across cultures, and we’re ready to help you build yours.

Want to learn more about how Acclaro can help you achieve your business goals? Get started today.