With many years of marketing under your belt, you’ve essentially become an expert in your field. You’ve faced many difficult marketing decisions and the answer isn’t always apparent. One of those decisions might be whether to venture into new markets through localization.
If so, ask yourself three questions to get your answer.
The Three Localization Questions
- Are you facing stiff competition? If you’ve been competing with the same players day in and day out, it’s time for something new. They know what you’ve been up to and can quickly counter against your marketing efforts. It becomes a zero-sum game in the long run, which is great for customers but is unfortunate for businesses. In this scenario, consider expanding your target market. If your competitors are domestic-focused, you’ll set the pace in any new markets and gain the first-mover advantage.
- Are there market opportunities for your product or service in another market? This sounds like common sense, but it’s not easily known. You’ll need customer insights. And even then, your team has to follow through and execute. As a result, knowing the culture and customer habits is a must when building out a localization plan. Both lay the framework for understanding and succeeding in a new market.
- Is demand for your product and service growing on a global scale? If so, localization is definitely the answer. Just don’t forget that certain English phrases, idioms, and assets do not translate into other markets. A good translation partner will not overlook these details and will leverage localization and transcreation to address them. Note, that both localization and transcreation will preserve the intent of your language across different languages and markets.
The Bottom Line / TLDR
If you’ve answered yes to the above three questions, then localization is perfect for you! Through localization, penetrate new markets and align your messaging and product with your customers. If you’re in need of a sanity check for your current localization efforts or want to explore localization, contact Uplancer for help! We’ve helped our business partners localize their product and service offerings across 35+ languages!
