What is Localization and why does it matter for businesses?

First of all, the term “localization” stands for adapting a product or content to fit a specific market or country and adjusting its functional properties to accommodate the linguistic, cultural, political and legal differences.

Localization is often confused with translation, the process of converting text from one language to another. While these terms might be somewhat similar, translation is actually just one aspect of localization with the latter being the more extensive of the two processes.

Localization allows you to enter New Markets more rapidly.

Also, the localization process can speed up the time it takes to enter new markets as localized products help to overcome cultural barriers. This results in customers being more likely to spread the word about the product.

In other words, Localization is the adaptation of a product or service to meet the needs of a particular language, culture or desired population's "look-and-feel".

Here, I could say Localization, is a cultural translation that not only speaks the language of your target audiences, but also understands their unique interests.

This can be done in a few different ways, depending on your goals: Translation – “Encoding” the same information from one language to another.

It’s important to business because it gives the ability to expand a company's potential customer base is essential in today's globalized world. Adapting existing products to new markets through translation and localization management is key for global growth.

Thus, Localization allows more consumers to learn about your products and increases your customer base.

By the end of the localization process, your product should look and feel as if it was created in the market or country you’re targeting.

 

Here’s why it matters for your business:

·       Go global more rapidly

It’s tempting to think that entering a new market will be as easy as launching a Facebook ad or any platform targeted to a specific location or country.

However, it takes more than that. There are several barriers that you will need to overcome, especially if you want to enter a market that’s geographically and culturally distant from your home country.

Through the process of localization, you’ll overcome these barriers more rapidly, tailor your product or service to fit a specific culture, and allow your future customers to adapt to your product with less effort.

In other words, localization will enable you to succeed in new markets and help your product or service adapt to your target location. As a result, the customers will be more likely to spread the word about your brand and you will create a positive brand image. This in return will ensure better customer engagement with your products as opposed to your competitors who are not taking the localization path.

·       New Markets

Open new markets – Very few products (Coca-Cola is one) are truly global. Chances are there are markets that your software, app, or service can still be introduced. Localization will open these new markets by creating products that seem like they were created locally, not on the other side of the planet.

·       Boost sales

most of multinational enterprises believe that localization is either important or most important if you want to increase revenue from global operations.

So, if you want to boost those export sales and set a pace for your competitors, localization is the way to go.

 

·       Increase brand relevance

Through the process of localization, your brand will become more relevant to more people in more markets.

For example, quote Li Run, Senior brand director at TCL, the Chinese TV brand that constantly manages to stay at the very top of Amazon’s best-selling charts, “only by understanding consumer needs and providing products and services that meet their local needs and values, can a brand achieve the deepest level of connection – getting beyond acceptance and towards being loved by local consumers.”

·       Reduce risk

Localization acts as a safety measure that mitigates these risks and ensures your business runs smoothly oversees.

Remember that in some countries, certain expressions and even colors can bear a negative connotation. Through the process of localization, you can avoid falling into these traps that even some of the big giants have not managed to avert.

In some countries, certain colors or expression can bear the meaning of bad luck or insult. There are certain risks from cultural conflicts when you go global. Your localization agency can help you stay away from those possible gaffes.

Localization acts as a precaution for you to ensure that your business runs smoothly in other country. The investment in localization will benefit you in both short-term and long-term.

It would be a big loss if you have to spend money and time to correct the gaffes caused by the lack of proper localization. That is why the importance of localization cannot be denied.