Business Localization When businesses expand into international markets, they face a host of new challenges. Decision-makers must understand local culture, language differences, and audience preferences before marketing their product or service to a new customer base. Localization helps organizations overcome these challenges and seize opportunities by adapting their brand to international markets.
Localizing a product offering often involves translating marketing materials or website content into the native language so that locals can effectively read promotional materials and connect with the company. A company may also modify product features, packaging, or even colors to suit cultural preferences.
This guide will define localization, explain why localization is important when entering global markets, and describe its benefits to a growing organization.
What is localization in business?
Localization is the process of adapting a company’s content, products, or services to suit the language, culture, and preferences of a specific target market. Companies that adapt to local expectations do so to facilitate trust and engagement in those markets.
Localization is more than just translating into another audience’s language. An organization can change images to fit cultural norms, adjust prices to reflect the local economy and currency, and ensure that marketing feels natural and appealing.
Business localization can also extend to internal processes. Companies that work with international partners must translate business documents into their native language. These translations need to be accurate and legally compliant to comply with local regulations and requirements. Improper localization can lead to misunderstandings, legal issues, contractual disputes, and even a loss of trust between business partners.
7 Ways Localization Drives Global Success
The benefits of localization go beyond language, helping businesses adapt to cultural expectations, local preferences, and consumer behaviors. Here are the top benefits global businesses gain from localization :
1. Increase sales by expanding into new markets
Most people prefer to shop on a localized website that features products in their native language. In fact, 65% of consumers prefer content in their own language, even if it’s low-quality, and 40% of denmark whatsapp number data 5 million consumers won’t buy anything from a website in another language. That’s a huge audience your business could be missing out on.
Localization services remove these language and cultural barriers, helping customers understand what they’re getting so they can feel confident making a purchase. Businesses that invest in a localization strategy see higher conversion rates and better sales in new markets.
2. Increase brand relevance and connect with local audiences
In a globalized marketplace, businesses must compete with competitors from around the world to stay relevant and keep their customer base engaged. Through localized marketing , businesses can create creating original and valuable content stronger connections with local audiences by tailoring their messaging and product offerings to meet the cultural expectations of each region.
If you speak your customers’ native language, adapt to their cultural vacations, and offer familiar shopping experiences, your brand will be more accessible than one that simply translates its website and hopes for the best. A company that localizes its content and user experience for local audiences will consistently outperform a competitor that only offers a single English-language customer experience worldwide.
3. Improve your international SEO and ASO for better visibility
It’s important for brands to optimize their website for international search engines. Search engines and app stores rank content based on local keywords, user behavior, and language preferences.
For example, a Business Localization clothing brand gambler data in the US might rank for “sneakers,” but that won’t help in the UK, where people search for “sneakers.” A localized website that uses the right terms for each target market will perform better in search rankings.
The same applies to app store optimization (ASO). If an app is not properly localized, it will not appear in searches for users who speak different languages.
4. Improve customer support with multiple languages
Getting help from a company that doesn’t speak your preferred language can be frustrating, and a global company without localized customer service is a recipe for unhappy customers. Companies that employ a multilingual support team can provide faster responses with fewer misunderstandings, fostering customer loyalty.
5. Create personal connections with customers
Communication is the foundation of understanding. Customers feel more comfortable reading, asking questions, and purchasing in their own language. That’s why successful global brands invest in a localization strategy that supports multiple languages across websites, customer support, and marketing materials.
Even if two people speak the same language, differences in dialect and slang can greatly affect how a message is received. For example, a sentence that makes perfect sense in American English may seem unnatural or confusing to someone in the UK. The same goes for Spanish speakers in Spain versus Mexico. Rather than translating word for word, localization changes the content to sound natural to each audience. Without localization, businesses risk losing potential customers due to communication difficulties.
Maintaining multiple languages and dialects across different platforms can quickly get complicated. Fortunately, Smartling’s translation management system (TMS) helps companies centralize and scale their localization efforts by managing translations, maintaining brand consistency, and streamlining updates all in one hub. Additionally, Smartling’s computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool gives translators visual context so they can see how their text fits into the final design before it goes live, avoiding any awkward wording or formatting issues.
6. Make online shopping easier with location
Would you buy from a website where the prices were in another currency, the measurements were unknown, and the checkout page was difficult to understand? Probably not.
A localized ecommerce site displays the correct currency and payment options, simplifying the customer Business Localization experience. Without these adjustments, businesses risk losing sales due to an incorrect user interface.
7. Support long-term growth
Global localization helps companies stay competitive by adapting their products, websites, and marketing to feel at home in each target market. Internationalization simplifies and standardizes entry into new markets so companies can grow faster.
While localization is about adapting a product to a specific market, internationalization ensures that products and services are easily adaptable in the first place. Companies that build their infrastructure with internationalization in mind—through flexible design, multilingual support, and a globally friendly user interface—can enter new markets without rebuilding from scratch.
For example, Spotify uses internationalization to deliver a personalized music experience around the world. Its internationalized backend can easily adapt to different languages, support linguistic nuances like right-to-left text in Arabic, and even adjust licensing agreements to comply with local regulations. This allows Spotify to easily localize playlists, featured artists, and recommendations based on regional listening habits when entering a new market.
Get perfect localization with Smartling’s all-in-one solution
Expanding into global markets is challenging, but location can determine whether a business thrives or struggles. Brands build long-term trust and loyalty when they speak their customers’ language, adapt to cultural nuances, and provide a seamless shopping experience.
Smartling helps businesses maintain an accurate and relevant message, no matter where their audience is. With Smartling’s translation management system (TMS) and translation services , businesses can centralize the translation and localization of their content. Glossaries, style guides, and automated quality checks ensure that translated .