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Palexgroup - Localization Strategy: Entering the Global Market Guide

Anna Zhuk

Chief Marketing Officer
21 April 2022

Localization Strategy: Entering the Global Market Guide

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Globalization is one of the key features of our time. Some companies can’t handle this competitive environment and leave the market, while others adapt to change and thrive worldwide. Undoubtedly, everyone wants to be in the second group. One of the key tasks to achieve this is to localize your product. This means not just translating an online course or instructions on a box, but making the product indistinguishable from those created in the target country. You should develop a localization strategy to avoid chaos in your international expansion efforts. Thus, you will evade common mistakes and effectively tailor your product to a new audience.

TABLE OF CONTENT

(click to show)
  1. What is Localization Strategy?
  2. Why Do You Need a Localization Strategy?
  3. Creating Localization Strategy
    1. Take a Closer Look at Your Current Customers
    2. Analyze Your Target Audience
    3. Conduct Market Research
    4. Estimate Your Prospects
    5. Find an Expert Localization Partner
    6. Start Local to Go Global
  4. Localization Strategy Examples
  5. We're Glad to Answer your Questions

What is Localization Strategy?

A localization strategy consists of certain vital steps to adapt a product to a new market. This includes not only the product itself, but also its website, social media, ad campaigns, and other details. A well-designed strategy helps make the tone of voice, imagery, and texts harmonious so that new consumers feel comfortable interacting with the company.

Why Do You Need a Localization Strategy?

As soon as you’re thinking of entering the international market, start building the localization strategy. It will help you:

  • Create a good customer experience,
  • Better understand the characteristics of your audience,
  • Avoid mistakes and misunderstandings

Let’s imagine that the company “X”, a manufacturer of household goods, enters the international market. Its managers don’t pay enough attention to localization and offer foreign customers the product as is. It turns out that the instructions are translated incomprehensibly, and ads don’t attract the audience at all. Moreover, the company can’t offer customers the needed products, simply because marketers haven’t analyzed the new market. The level of sales is low, and it seems that the idea of going global has failed. However, this could’ve been avoided with a localization strategy.

Creating Localization Strategy

We hope that you’re already convinced that you need a localization strategy to adapt the product for global growth, and you’re ready to create it. We’ve collected the main aspects that will help you develop a clear localization plan and consider all the crucial details. Working on an expansion strategy will also help you understand how competitive the product will be in a new market. Perhaps you will need to finalize it or offer something different to the global audience.

Take a Closer Look at Your Current Customers

To predict a brand’s success in a new region, you need to look at its current condition. Answer the following questions:

  • Who is the main audience?
  • Are people satisfied with the service/product?
  • What main features attract customers?
  • Which marketing campaigns and channels work well?
  • What is the bounce rate?
  • Are your investments paying off?

Your product may involve other aspects and metrics; consider those too. Thus, you will better identify your strengths and weaknesses. You will understand whether it’s worth entering a new market at all. You’ll also get to know your potential customers in other countries better.

Analyze Your Target Audience

Simple tools like Google Analytics will help you analyze customer requests and find out what interests them. You can also search for data in other companies’ reports and news sources. First, you will understand whether this audience even needs your product. You will also find out the gender, age, and solvency of global consumers. In addition, at this stage, it’s essential to find out if your offer fits the local culture, mentality, and laws.

Conduct Market Research

You need to clearly understand how developed your niche is in the target country and whether you have worthy competitors. With a lot of competition, it will be challenging to promote a non-local product. Study this issue carefully and find out how crowded the market is.

Knowing your competitors will be especially useful if they come from a foreign market. Study their mistakes and successful localization decisions and apply everything that will help you grow faster and win the trust of customers.

Estimate Your Prospects

At this stage, you have a rough understanding of how to promote your product. Now you can calculate what you need to implement an effective localization strategy:

  • time,
  • employees,
  • money,
  • information,
  • software and other tools.

Estimate in advance what resources you will need, so you can assess how realistic your plan is and prepare to start. However, be ready to adjust the numbers in the future: a new market may behave unexpectedly.

Find an Expert Localization Partner

One of the best decisions you can make is to work with professional translators. No matter how much you study the experience of other companies and the target market, there’s always a chance that your mistakes will complicate the localization process. Specialized companies have been localizing products for many years, have expertise in different languages, and are well versed in the peculiarities of different markets. They can help you localize content, tailor marketing strategy, prepare an SEO strategy, edit videos, and more. If you work with them, the path to the international audience will become much shorter and easier.

Start Local to Go Global

Last but not least: take your time. Test your localized product in small local markets before promoting it globally. This will help you fine-tune the strategy, complement the offer, and better understand people’s reactions to the product. After trying the product on a local audience, you will be able to go global with a better solution.

Localization Strategy Examples

Not many products in the world are as popular as Coca-Cola. You can see different names in different countries: Coke, Coca, Cola. Coke can slightly differ in each part of the world because the manufacturer considers the preferences of users. The product is positioned using words that evoke pleasant associations: “happiness”, “enjoy”, and others. Thus, the company uses a single positioning strategy, while adapting it slightly for each country.

Localization Strategy Examples

Starbucks is more specific so its global branding strategy is different. Various countries have specific attitudes towards coffee. For example, Starbucks coffee shops in Japan are made in the traditional Japanese style, and the menu includes dishes made of local products and tea, the most popular drink in Japan. The company carefully studies each market and becomes its harmonious part.
Wise, an international fintech company, also adapts the product to foreign markets. The main value that the company gives users is the cheapest money transfers. Wise has different advertising campaigns for various countries. For example, for Canada, it’s a static recognizable image, whereas for Turkey, it’s an animation with a clear idea: Wise is cheaper. Even if the product doesn’t change, its unique selling proposition can be presented in the best light for different people.

We're Glad to Answer your Questions

Palex has been providing translation services for over 20 years. We have gained expertise in professional translation among more than 50 languages, in various niches: from medicine to entertainment. We work by international standards and are well aware of the peculiarities of different global markets. We’ll be glad to implement the best localization practices for your product. We can start our communication with a free consultation so that you understand the amount of work and its stages. Email us at [email protected] and we’ll gladly answer your questions and start developing a localization strategy for you.

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