Localization Strategy: How to Plan Business in the Industry

Success in the international market does not only require good business products or business strategy. Companies also need to incorporate their business so it can fit perfectly with the locals. No wonder, many are drawn to use localization strategy to help their brand to succeed in the international markets. This strategy is not just about translating content from one to another. It is to fit the region's culture and become part of it.

This strategy will not be in vain since 75% of people are searching on the internet using their native language and 60% are in favor of making purchases from the website that use their native language. With those facts, it is now clear that companies should not disregard the importance of the localization process. What is localization you say?

Localization is the process of adapting products, websites, or apps to fit the cultural and linguistic references from the target markets. This process is not only simple translation work but also other matters too. This article will help you understand localization strategies that companies should be aware of.

What is the Localization Strategy?

First thing first, you need to understand what is the strategy of localization. It is the plan for the company to implement in different target markets. This strategy is to help adapt its products to fit the target market's cultural references, customer behavior, and purchasing habits.

This strategy is not the same as the global standardization strategy. The goal of this strategy is to help frame the market positioning of the company so it will suit specific target regions. It is not focused on applying the same standard for multiple target markets like the global standardization strategy.

This strategy also includes which elements should be localized as well as its language. A good strategy should also note the needs and preferences of the target markets but also keep out for any competitors and the legal requirements.

The localization process for a company does not mean making entirely new products special for target markets, even though this move is quite popular. This process is to help the products or services to be more accessible for their new customer in the target regions.

How to Apply the Localization Strategy to Business?

Every company will implement a different localization process and strategy to reach its goal. However, there are certain similarities that you could pinpoint in every localization process. Here are some of them.

• Identify Target Audiences

The first thing you need to do is to identify the target market. It is the most important move that could help the journey to penetrate the regions. It is also the main point of doing the localization. The localization process always tries to keep the customer in mind. A good localization will need information such as who is your customer, what it is they want, what it is they need, and how they will benefit from your company. To identify the target market, you can search for international customers who have used your products in recent years. You can also identify some of the countries that could benefit from your company. This will help you identify which is your target market.

• Research Market

After you identify your target markets, the next step is to do research on these markets. Do research in depth on these markets about the trends and customer behavior that could impact your business. Looking at the statistics and also current situations of these markets will also help. Do this research to understand more about the markets. This will also help you to make a plan and strategy. This process will take a long time but surely will help in the future. Research on this target market will also help to identify methods of customer contact. Nowadays, social media is the best way to reach out to them. However, you should also consider other methods that will suit your markets.

• Competitors Evaluation

There is one thing that you should not forget while doing market research for business, it is the evaluation of your competitors. Keep looking out for some of the products or services that hold the same benefits as yours. This will help you to strategize plans to compete with them in the future. These steps will allow you to understand their market and how big their company is in your target market. For example, doing a competitor evaluation will help to decide whether you need to change some of your business products to fit the markets. Therefore it could attract consumen better. Doing competitor's evaluation will also help gain the target market's strategy on business.

• Take Choice

After understanding the target market in depth, the next part is to take any actions regarding the information. This stage will involve the choice of localization technology to help integrate the ecosystems of your business, what kind of localization services you need to use to adapt to your target market, also what kind of change you need to do so you can compete in these new markets. This stage will help you define your KPI, estimate your budget, set a timeline, and also help you determine your goal.

• Action

After gathering the information and helping build the right plan, it is now your time to take action and execute those plans. You need to be able to assign roles and responsibilities. During this step, you need to make sure that your products are ready for localization. Make sure your products or services are formatted correctly, using the right slang or symbol, and use the best image references to avoid any damage in the future. Make sure that you do localization quality assurance to help maintain certain standards that will benefit your products or services. This could take a long time but will ensure the localization process is done correctly.

Benefits of Applying Localization Strategy to Business

After understanding what localization strategies are and how to apply them, now you must understand the benefits of them. There are many things you could pick if you decided to use this strategy to build your company internationally. Here are some of them.

• Help Deliver Good Customer Experience

Customer experience is an important part of the business. It consists of many things from the quality and usability of the products or services. Doing localization strategy in business will help gain specific information about the preferences of the target markets and build products and services that will fit them. A good localization will understand the audience and give you a perspective of them. It will define what is essential in some cultures and help practice it in business. Therefore, you should not hesitate to do localization. The localization process will always help to gain benefits for the company. A clear business and strategy of localization will develop and ensure the success of the business. Collaboration of the two is the key to success.

• Help Locally Adapted Your Products

A poor localization strategy for doing business in the new target markets will only do damage to business. Even though many companies are prone to do partially adapt products or services to the local, it often seems not to draw much attention and end up with mediocre results. This usually is the result of a lack of budget or strategy. A good localization will help to resonate the best of your brand image and identity while also adapting to the target markets. A good localization will ensure that the business will fit perfectly into the market and even hold a special place for the target audiences.

• Saves Time and Money

Doing the localization process and strategy might need a lot of time and energy. Not to mention the resources you need to use to help gain information about target markets. However, this is necessary to help your business from facing any localization mistakes that could be taken as irresponsible and half-hearted actions. Localization mistakes on products or services could also result in mediocre results in the end. It will waste a lot of money to start doing the localization process and strategy. Localization process and strategy will help to use resources as efficiently as it can to help gain benefits. It will also help maintain a certain image that will long last for the company.

• Help to Understand The Target Audiences

Customers always expect the brand to understand their needs and also provide a good user experience regardless of the company. Therefore, you need to understand the target markets right away to avoid losing customers from the competitors. The localization process and strategy will help to understand the core of local behavior and also help to understand their problems so they can be used in the customer journey. Therefore, you could provide and decide what is most beneficial to them and what is not.

Conclusion

So that is the explanation of the localization strategy. Now you should be aware that this strategy is important for the sake of expanding the company's business. A good localization will result in the success of the company in the long run.