Local IQ™: Your Localization Intelligence
Local IQ™ is the only framework that can successfully localize your product or service offerings into another country or market.
What’s Local IQ™?
One of the biggest challenges when entering any market is knowing whether your product or service is going to succeed. This is already a huge undertaking domestically and is even more complicated globally. Ask yourself the following questions about your market:
- Do you have the time for extensive research on your target market?
- Do you have access to all the insights that only experience from that market can provide, and how will you leverage those insights?
- Do you have the technical resources to localize your product or service?
You’ve got a lot to think about, but the good thing is, you don’t have to do all the thinking! Explore how Local IQ™ can help you succeed in new markets.
The Three Pillars of Local IQ™
As a localization partner for clients and as a company localizing our own services, we identified three attributes for effective localization. First, getting the language translated correctly was always a major challenge. Idioms don’t always translate directly and what’s acceptable to say in one country may not be acceptable in another. Second, any creatives that we used had to be localized and captivating for a native audience. Clothing, colors, and even gender must be considered when selecting creatives. Third, technology had to be localized and played a critical role for customer engagement. Device and app preferences are important to know.
We realized that when all three were executed well, synergies started to emerge. Customers would engage with this 3-pronged localization at extremely high rates, often times increasing engagement by 100%. This raised many eyebrows from our internal team and made us want to learn more. And so we did, developing Local IQ™, which is broken down into three pillars:
Language
Language is everything and is first of three ways for localizing to your target audience. Language localization requires the right mix of the tone, intent, and message. This mix isn’t always apparent and is dictated by what’s most receptive by your target audience.
Design
Language isn’t the only way customers engage with your brand; the images that you choose will also impact, reinforce, and support your localization efforts. By localizing relevant assets for your target audience, you’ll increase your win percentage in different markets.
Technology
When entering new markets, knowing your customer’s technological preference is key for successful localization. Understanding whether your customers are more receptive towards a desktop ad than a mobile ad will help better allocate your budget and improve your ROI.
THE FRAMEWORK
How Does Local IQ™ Work?
There are four phases for Local IQ™: Discovery, Assessment, Alignment, and Learning. Each phase is designed to uncover a 360-view of where you’re trying to go and how you’re going to get there through localization. Below details the four phases of Local IQ™.
01.
Discovery
This is the first and most crucial phase. We’ll ask the right questions and dive deeper into your brand to understand your needs and the problems you’re trying to solve. In doing so, we will craft a successful plan of attack. At this stage, we’ll also identify KPIs and other factors that we want to baseline as we unravel and understand your Local IQ™.
02.
Assessment
After discovery, our next step is to uncover the full picture of your current localization efforts. We use our proprietary methodology, which is backed by research and data, to flush out and address any localization gaps within your organization.
For a successful assessment, input from stakeholders across your organization’s localization chain is needed. Therefore, we will engage with them to map out your current process. At the end of this phase, you’ll receive a report of localization gaps (if any) and action items to address and capture more localization value.
03.
Alignment
With the assessment completed, our team then collaborates with stakeholders across your localization chain to execute on the action items from the Assessment phase. If you lack key capabilities, such as translations, marketing, and web development, identified during our assessment, we can offer our own capabilities or introduce you to partners who can.
In addition to execution, we’ll start tracking your KPIs. We’ll also establish a localization system (spreadsheet, translation management system, or some other automation) that not only implements easily managed workflows, but also opens up a feedback loop for process improvement.
04.
Learning
If you’re familiar with agile principles, then the Learning phase is just an extension. Here, we’ll benchmark your new localization process against your baseline KPIs. Local IQ™ is dynamic and ever changing and as such, it requires continuous improvements. You’ll find yourself repeating the Assessment and Alignment phases to incrementally improve your localization. Your Local IQ is dependent on this phase and without Learning, your localization will eventually fall flat.
THE FRAMEWORK
How Does Local IQ™ Work?
There are four phases for Local IQ™: Discovery, Assessment, Alignment, and Learning. Each phase is designed to uncover a 360-view of where you’re trying to go and how you’re going to get there through localization. Below details the four phases of Local IQ™.
01.
Discovery
This is the first and most crucial phase. We’ll ask the right questions and dive deeper into your brand to understand your needs and the problems you’re trying to solve. In doing so, we will craft a successful plan of attack. At this stage, we’ll also identify KPIs and other factors that we want to baseline as we unravel and understand your Local IQ™.
02.
Assessment
After discovery, our next step is to uncover the full picture of your current localization efforts. We use our proprietary methodology, which is backed by research and data, to flush out and address any localization gaps within your organization.
For a successful assessment, input from stakeholders across your organization’s localization chain is needed. Therefore, we will engage with them to map out your current process. At the end of this phase, you’ll receive a report of localization gaps (if any) and action items to address and capture more localization value.
03.
Alignment
With the assessment completed, our team then collaborates with stakeholders across your localization chain to execute on the action items from the Assessment phase. If you lack key capabilities, such as translations, marketing, and web development, identified during our assessment, we can offer our own capabilities or introduce you to partners who can.
In addition to execution, we’ll start tracking your KPIs. We’ll also establish a localization system (spreadsheet, translation management system, or some other automation) that not only implements easily managed workflows, but also opens up a feedback loop for process improvement.
04.
Learning
If you’re familiar with agile principles, then the Learning phase is just an extension. Here, we’ll benchmark your new localization process against your baseline KPIs. Local IQ™ is dynamic and ever changing and as such, it requires continuous improvements. You’ll find yourself repeating the Assessment and Alignment phases to incrementally improve your localization. Your Local IQ is dependent on this phase and without Learning, your localization will eventually fall flat.
The Bottom Line / TLDR
Be intelligent. Local IQ™ is a framework that redefines localization. By analyzing the three key pillars of localization – language, design, and technology – Local IQ™ optimizes localization success in current and new markets. Connect with our team today to get started with your Local IQ™.
Explore Local IQ™
The DevLearn Cotton Candy Challenge
See how we used Local IQ™ to get the crowd raving about Uplancer at DevLearn with our cotton candy theme.
Local IQ™: Everything You Need to Know about It
Understand and leverage our Local IQ™ framework to benchmark and improve your localization efforts in language, design, and technology.