“Think globally, act locally” has become a true mantra for many businesses today. Localization is one of the first steps to take if you’ve decided to follow this motto.
Expanding to new markets is impossible without talking in the same language as your potential clients. The majority of people say that they won’t purchase unless the information is in their native tongue. None of the businesses wants to lose their potential clients. Therefore, many of them decide that they need to localize their products.
But how exactly can localization help your business and make it successful? Let’s look at how going for professional online translation services might help you grow your business and make it global.
1. Reaching new audience
The main thing you achieve by localizing your content is reaching new people from foreign markets. You might think that having your product in English is enough, but it’s not 100% true. Indeed, English is the most used language on the web, making up 25.9%. However, it also means that 3 in 4 users are unable to understand more than 60%
of all websites on the Internet.
In real life, not on the web, English is not the most spoken language in the world. For instance, the Chinese language has more first-language speakers than any other language. Also, Hindi and Arabic languages form a big audience, so consider them if you plan to go worldwide.
Moreover, the majority of purchases happen in the local markets. Thus, businesses need to adapt their online and offline activities to the local audience and its culture if they want to stay successful.
Localizing content to languages other than English will broaden your audience. Moreover, it will decrease the barrier for new potential customers.
2. Increasing Brand Loyalty
Of course, your clients can google translate your web page. But you should admit it’s not user-friendly. People should understand your messages without making huge efforts. When clients see that you respect their culture, you will get more trust and commitment. You establish a strong connection, so clients are eager to return and stay for a long time.
And don’t forget that about 40% of users say that they won’t buy from websites in other languages than their native ones. And about ⅓ of businesses say they lose clients because of not offering multilingual support.
Localization is not only important for online content but also for offline projects. There is a well-known example of Mcdonald’s: when it decided to expand to France, it realized that it should serve wine and beer to become popular with the French. So, sometimes to boost customer loyalty, you need not only professional online translation but also more wine:)
Another thing to get some additional points in brand loyalty is local support. Support in the native language drastically increases brand loyalty among customers, and they are more likely to stay even if they had some problems with the product.
3. Boosting your Business Numbers
Numbers measure business success. Thus, it’s essential to see how localization can influence your company’s figures.
Localized content is proven to perform better than content in your original language. The experiments show that visibly local images and videos on social media increase organic performance by up to 2500%, and engagement rises by up to 4100%.
Also, localized ad campaigns outperform English campaigns on click-through rates and conversions.
4. Getting Competitive Advantage
Translating your content into various languages can give you a competitive edge. It has been proven that foreign clients are more attracted to a brand that speaks their native language.
Therefore, if your competitors don’t use localization services, it’s your chance to get their foreign customers.
5. Improving communication and eliminating misunderstanding
Communication is everything between people, and to make it perfect, you need to help your clients fully understand you. Using localization services allows you to speak the same language with existing and potential customers from foreign countries.
Localizing content ensures that all your messaging is used in the proper context and format. Providing your users with a great experience and giving them content in their local language is one of the best ways to prevent user churn.
However, if you don’t localize carefully, you might get a tragically awry translation and find yourself in a sticky situation.
For example, Ford, an American car manufacturer, was lost in translation when launching its Pinto model in Brazil. ‘Pinto’ often describes a man with tiny genitalia. It seems that it was not the exact messaging that Ford wanted to deliver.
Therefore, choosing a reliable professional translation team can save your localization and reputation.
Summing Up
Localization is a strong tool to increase sales, boost customer experience and brand loyalty, and eliminate misunderstandings. Businesses that know how to adapt to changing circumstances become the winners.
Sometimes the only thing keeping you from global expansion is unlocalized content. The good news is that it’s quite easy and fast to fix it and bring you international success.