“Localization” to Get the Most out of Your Business
Adapt and change is the key to successful marketing.
I remember when one of my friends back in Sweden compared mobile phones of several different brands. One was an imported smartphone with no translation option and strictly displays the apps inside in foreign language. Another has Google translation app to translate the language to Chinese, which naturally, none of us understands. Fortunately, it did update its layout in Swedish. The last one not only translates apps, operation system and manual to Swedish, but also localizes everything on screen, for example words, images, videos, voice of smart assistant, etc. Obviously, he chose the last option.
Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) once referred “localization” as the process of adapting a product or content to a specific market. In my friend’s case, translation is only one of several elements of the localization process.
In fact, localization extends as far as encapsulating the product to look and feel as if it were produced in the targeted market in the first place.
According to a report by Common Sense Advisory, 75% of consumers agree that when faced with the choice of buying two similar products, they are more likely to purchase the one that has product information in their own language. In other words, if they can’t read it, they won’t buy it.
Like it or not, if you plan to build an international brand, you have to think global and act local.
Localization of marketing requires in-depth analysis and knowledge about local lifestyle and news. From adjusting the marketing messages to be more identifiable with local customers, re-designing the marketing materials and products to fit local lifestyles, to adapting social media content as well as learning the local culture and tradition, these are crucial to reach customers on a more personal level. After all, localization takes into account of diversity, values, and behaviors that shape each market’s specific culture and reality.
That being said, localization needs to be done since the very beginning of the marketing process to minimize errors. Successful localization can capture local audience’s heart and resonate your brands and products with them.
What comes next is more palpable: collecting vivid data to optimize marketing strategy, planning for market expansion and perhaps advancing more ambitious sales pitches. The point is, thriving in localization leads to competitive advantage, which is imperative for establishing global presence.
In Conclusion
Of course, the ultimate goal of localization is to create and improve customer experience and therefore, ensuring the loyalty from customers that will drive a brand to continuous growth. It might sound like a no-brainer, but the truth is forming an adamant localized marketing strategy can save a company millions of dollars.
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