Localization is the entire process of adapting your product and marketing to a specific location or market. It involves adapting graphics to target markets, modifying content to suit the tastes and consumption habits of the local market being targeted, and adapting design and layout to properly display translated text. Furthermore, localization entails converting units of measurements and currency to local conventions, formatting dates, addresses, and phone numbers, and addressing local regulations and legal requirements.
Here are Top Reasons why Localization is The Secret Weapon When Expanding Internationally:
- Improves Global Reach
Out of the world’s 7.5 billion people, just 1.5 billion (20%) speak English. If you want to go global, then you must first act local. Localization helps you reach and connect to any market in the world, regardless of language or culture. A quality localization company offering Foreign Language Translation can help you localize your expansion efforts by making sure your marketing connects with the groups of customers you wish to target. Localization not only helps you speak their language, it can also help your marketing be more culturally relevant so that it resonates with your customers. - Improves Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
When expanding into international markets, localization is especially important when it comes to SEO. As a marketer, you are probably already aware of how important search traffic is as a customer channel. People often will refer to your products or services differently from one country to the next. For example, in Australia, coriander is the preferred word used to describe what Americans refer to as Cilantro. If you were an American exporter, marketing a cilantro-based product to Australia, then you would want to localize for that term by calling it coriander. Otherwise your Australian customers would not be able to locate your product or even understand what you are selling. That is why it is important to do your research before expanding internationally. You will want to fully understand the way an audience in a new country will be looking for your product or service. This means Foreign Language Translation can help you select the right terms to improve your SEO for successful expansion into international markets. - Builds Trust, Loyalty and Lifetime Value with Customers
When you speak in your customers’ native languages and localize your marketing content appropriately, you are better able to connect to them and have them return to you again and again. Research indicates that over 50% of consumers regard the ability to obtain information in their own language as more important than price. Furthermore, majority of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand if their website and product information is available in their native language. In essence, by partnering with Homeland Language Services to localize your product information and support materials, you can improve loyalty with all customers regardless of what language they speak or where they reside.