We live in a globalized world, in which buyers are no longer limited by geographic boundaries. The possibilities of landing new markets overseas gives companies the chance to grow by gaining new audiences. To become noticed in other countries, there are several marketing strategies needed to improve the brand’s presence. But, at the same time, content needs to be readapted to the new target audience.
To gain an international presence it is key to growing your business globally. Companies need to speak to their clients in their native language. Research has showed that language has a profound impact on the customer journey. When it comes to thinking about how companies can work abroad, to land new markets, we need to think about localization.
The importance of localization
Localization is necessary to provide global users with unique and tailored local experiences. Localization is about adapting a source content into a target content, this means the transformation of not only texts but software, games, apps, websites and more.
As it is said in the article published on the Harvard Business Review called “The First Secret of Success Is Showing Up,” technology helps us connect with anyone anywhere instantaneously, crowdsource ideas, and work on virtual teams without ever being in the same place. “Showing up in a particular place is also critical to the new globalization, which increasingly means localization. Instead of inflicting one-size-fits-all standardized universal products on every market, companies realize the importance of adapting to local customs and tastes and learning from them.”
In this way, companies that seek to enter new international markets apply different strategies to “showing up.” This means that even before creating a commercial presence they seek to contribute to communities in other ways, such as making access possible to valuable content and information. Showing up can be understood as a sign of carrying.
A multicultural approach
To land in new markets, it is fundamental to have a multicultural perspective. Each audience is located in a specific context. Languages change a lot from one country to another, but also cultural expressions, customs, protocols, laws, etc. This means that something that is well-received by an audience can be extremely disrespectful to another.
In this way, localization considers not only the translation of the text, but also the adaptation of images, videos, audios, UI, design and even payment methods. For this reason, it is key that localizers not only have language abilities, but also a profound cultural background. When hiring a language service provider, it is essential to see if those companies work with native speakers.
There are different types of localization:
- Software localization
- Website localization
- Game localization
- La localisation multimédia
- eLearning Localization
Each one of these services are specifically generated to increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
It is key for companies that want to appear global to assure high-quality in their communications channels and digital supports. For this reason, working with experts who are native speakers and have a cultural knowledge of the target audience, becomes a must.
Why growing your business?
Feeling local can have some significant benefits to your company:
- Growth: appearing local means expanding the company’s markets, and therefore allows obtaining a higher turnover. It allows to increase the volume of business of the company and, indirectly, the level of income of the whole local economy.
- Competitiveness: It can favor cost reduction; it can improve sales and exports; competitiveness can allow the company to take advantage of economies of scale and incentivizes efficiency improvements; there is a greater search for innovation; companies gain insight from understanding how other global businesses work.
- Diversification: internationalization allows diversifying markets. Companies that are not internationalized depend on their national market.
- Ensure the supply of inputs for its production. For certain companies, which need inputs for their production process that are not produced in the national market, internationalization is the way to ensure the supply of these goods.
To find out more about how you can take your business to the next level and start appearing local, contact us today and get a free quote!
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