Nutidens digitale teknologier gør det lettere end nogensinde for globale kunder at finde de produkter og tjenester, der opfylder deres behov. Og de søger efter disse oplysninger online, på de sprog, de taler. A recent study has shown that 56% of consumers rated the ability to obtain product information in their preferred language to be even more important than price.
Suppose your company's website isn't localized to appeal to customers willing to purchase based on brand connection to their language. In that case, you're missing a significant opportunity to build your business. However, you are also giving your competitors a significant advantage in the quest to increase market share.
Brass tacks: When you’re expanding globally, investing in website localization services isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s mission-critical.
Why is Localization Important?
Introducing new products to a global marketplace typically requires both translation and localization. Translation converts content from one language into another. Localization moves beyond changing existing content and marketing collateral into another language.
Localization is vital in how it establishes a connection with potential customers on a personal level. This is because the localization process involves understanding how culture and market conditions affect customers' buying behavior and not assuming you'll be successful in your target market simply because you exist there.
The localization process aims to adapt meaning to relevant content for a targeted market. In addition to changing language, localization might incorporate different images, conversions to new measurement systems, time zones or currencies, and different layouts to accommodate language changes (such as if a language is read right to left, or if words in the target language tend to be longer than in the original language).
Below, you'll find examples of the significance of localization. Then, dive deeper into the benefits and advantages of localizing content when planning a global expansion.
Localization is Crucial to Successful Expansion
The localization process is crucial to global expansion. Expanding would be fruitless if potential customers don't or can't understand your content, products, or services. Companies that tend to be the most successful balance the desire to meet global standards with the need for local flexibility. If you're looking to expand and don't prioritize localization, your business can seem static and impersonal to potential customers outside your home base.
Developing a proper localization strategy can assist you as you prepare for expansion. A localization strategy takes a very close look at the who/what/why/when, and how questions you need to answer before you take measures to expand. Developing a localization strategy involves the integration of language translation, image appropriateness, cultural message matching, process definition, and regulatory compliance. Once you work through your strategy, the localization process becomes predictable and repeatable, so you can continuously grow measurably.
Localization is a Growing Global Marketing Trend
I dag forventer globale kunder online-indhold på deres foretrukne sprog. De forsvinder hurtigt fra websteder og brands, der ikke tilbyder det. Overvej disse globaliseringsstatistikker:
While 60% of all content on the Internet is in English, native English speakers only make up about 5.4% of the world’s population. Only 25.3% of the Internet market share prefers English-only content, which leaves nearly 75% who prefer to consume content in another language.
China and India are still winning the Internet. China currently has over 1.02 billion online users, while India ranks second with over 658 million. Ingen af disse nationer har engelsk som modersmål.
Global shopping has gone mobile. More than 55% of global smartphone owners use them to shop online, and they like to do so in their preferred language. Trends like these prove that speaking your customers’ languages through localized content is essential to your marketing success.
Localization Turns Cultural Differences into an Advantage
Hvorfor betyder kulturelt relevant lokaliseret marketing så meget? Til at begynde med er det afgørende for din evne til at skabe ægte forbindelser til forbrugerne.
For example: Imagine that you're sharing content with Italian customers about a Christmastime holiday sale. Hvis du taler til dem på samme måde som du taler til dine amerikanske kunder, har du et problem. Det amerikanske marked lægger vægt på juleaften og juledag som vigtige helligdage, mens Italien lægger mest vægt på helligtrekongersdag d. 6 januar.
En simpel fejl som denne virker måske harmløs ved første øjekast. Men den kan underminere din marketingindsats ved at demonstrere, at du ikke fanger det italienske marked lige så godt som andre virksomheder. Det lægger kunderne mærke til. De bryder sig ikke om det.
Når dit websted bliver oversat og lokaliseret til globale kunder, beviser du dog, at du forstår dem og interesserer dig for dem. Du skaber stærkere bånd med kunderne på den måde.
The Benefits of Localization
Lokaliserede websteder og andet digitalt indhold giver dig mulighed for at skabe ægte, autentiske forbindelser med forbrugerne og få nogle af disse fordele:
1. Increased trust
You can show that your brand respects other cultures through website translation and localization. According to CSA Research, 60% of non-native English speakers rarely or never buy from English-only websites. In fact, 64% of buyers say they value localized website content. You can gain genuine trust from your target audience through cultural adaptation.
In turn, when trust is enhanced, key performance indicators (KPIs) see a sizable lift. KPIs measure the performance of a company, its activities, processes, and the progress of projects. In order to be significant, KPIs must correlate to quantifiable business goals. Determining the success of any localization program is tied to the overall expectations of the expansion project or business strategy.
The increase in trust localization creates can lead to important retention KPIs improving, including
- Generating higher sales
- Higher customer satisfaction
- Delivering an excellent customer experience
- Increasing net promoter score (NPS)
- Lower attrition rates
2. Easier interaction with your brand
Kundernes liv påvirkes af det, de bruger hver dag - herunder deres foretrukne sociale medier, mobilwebsteder og meget mere. Content localization makes your online presence available in multiple languages, across all channels, and ensures that your company will be able to reach more people where they live and work. This enhances a positive user experience for global customers and helps them trust your brand.
A positive user experience directly results in an increase in sales conversion rates and engagement rates, as well as lower bounce rates. User experience has become incredibly important, especially when looking at statistics that show how 74% of customers can switch brands if the purchasing process is too difficult for them; or, that 86% of users are inclined to pay more for a great customer experience. It's no wonder that global spending on customer experience has been estimated to reach $640 billion by 2022.
3. Driving better online search results
Lokalisering af din online-tilstedeværelse er ikke begrænset til, hvad kunderne kan læse på dit websted. Med den rigtige oversættelsesløsning kan alt blive lokaliseret - billeder, multimedier, sociale medier, dynamiske PDF-filer og meget mere. Keywords, metadata, and hreflang tags can be localized to improve global SEO efforts and drive engaged global traffic to your website. Once there, global customers will benefit from an enhanced user experience and content that speaks directly to them.
4. Stronger brand consistency
Translating websites for your global markets gives you full control of your message, and delivers a consistent brand experience across all markets. Det er nemmere at sikre, at dit budskab bliver formidlet, som du har til hensigt, i stedet for at blive misformidlet af tredjepartsvirksomheder eller -bureauer. Localization takes this a step further, ensuring that the content is not only translated, but accounts for the cultural nuances and preferences of each location. This ensures brand consistency and improves brand image.
5. Better segmentation
Today’s leading website translation services and localization solutions make it easier than ever to share customized messages to customers in different global markets. Du kan holde styr på dit online-budskab, samtidig med, at du tager dig af dine regionale kunders behov - og samtidig udvider din virksomheds digitale fodaftryk. This improved ability to segment markets and speak directly to local audiences can enhance the effectiveness of messaging and targeting.
6. More support for in-market teams
Lokale websteder er ikke kun gode ressourcer til forbrugerne; de er også gode til lokale salgs- og supportteams. Et lokaliseret websted kan fremhæve markedsspecifikke produkter og tjenester, overholde lokale regler og lovkrav og give oplysninger, som lokale marketingteams kan trække på, når de forsøger at skabe leads.
Take Advantage of the Benefits of Localization
These days, your company must speak the local languages of your global customers. Og du styrker kun dit marketingteams rækkevidde og succes ved at tilbyde lokalt onlineindhold på tværs af hver kanal på hvert marked, du betjener.
To make the most of your online localization efforts, partner with a digital-first translation agency that employs expert human translators hand-in-hand with advanced technology solutions such as translation memory, to get your marketing message to your customers in the languages they prefer. Translation memory is a part of a larger system called a CAT (computer assisted translation) tool, which describes software used to increase translation productivity, catch mistakes, and improve consistency.
Utilizing translation memory helps support the localization process by allowing the re-use of translations for other projects, such as document translation, app localization, image translation, or for translating emails or other content.
MotionPoint provides website localization services that support business localization goals anywhere. MotionPoint's technology minimizes operational complexity and maximizes translation and localization impact, and can provide you with flexible and consistent brand imaging, messaging, and marketing content through global markets.
Senest opdateret d. 05. august 2022