Why Website Localization? The Top 6 Benefits of Localization
Kulturellt relevanta, lokaliserade marknadsföringsbudskap väcker gensvar hos globala kunder. Talar du deras språk?
 8 min. läsning |
 Reagan Evans |
 05 augusti 2022 |
| 8 min. läsning |
Reagan Evans |
05 augusti 2022 |
Dagens digitala tekniker gör det lättare än någonsin för globala kunder att hitta de produkter och tjänster som uppfyller deras behov. Och de söker efter information om dem på internet, på sina egna språk. A recent study has shown that 56% of consumers rated the ability to obtain product information in their preferred language to be even more important than price.
Suppose your company's website isn't localized to appeal to customers willing to purchase based on brand connection to their language. In that case, you're missing a significant opportunity to build your business. However, you are also giving your competitors a significant advantage in the quest to increase market share.
Brass tacks: When you’re expanding globally, investing in website localization services isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s mission-critical.
Introducing new products to a global marketplace typically requires both translation and localization. Translation converts content from one language into another. Localization moves beyond changing existing content and marketing collateral into another language.
Localization is vital in how it establishes a connection with potential customers on a personal level. This is because the localization process involves understanding how culture and market conditions affect customers' buying behavior and not assuming you'll be successful in your target market simply because you exist there.
The localization process aims to adapt meaning to relevant content for a targeted market. In addition to changing language, localization might incorporate different images, conversions to new measurement systems, time zones or currencies, and different layouts to accommodate language changes (such as if a language is read right to left, or if words in the target language tend to be longer than in the original language).
Below, you'll find examples of the significance of localization. Then, dive deeper into the benefits and advantages of localizing content when planning a global expansion.
The localization process is crucial to global expansion. Expanding would be fruitless if potential customers don't or can't understand your content, products, or services. Companies that tend to be the most successful balance the desire to meet global standards with the need for local flexibility. If you're looking to expand and don't prioritize localization, your business can seem static and impersonal to potential customers outside your home base.
Developing a proper localization strategy can assist you as you prepare for expansion. A localization strategy takes a very close look at the who/what/why/when, and how questions you need to answer before you take measures to expand. Developing a localization strategy involves the integration of language translation, image appropriateness, cultural message matching, process definition, and regulatory compliance. Once you work through your strategy, the localization process becomes predictable and repeatable, so you can continuously grow measurably.
Nu för tiden förväntar sig globala kunder webbinnehåll på sina föredragna språk. De överger snabbt webbplatser och varumärken som inte tillhandahåller det. Fundera på denna globaliseringsstatistik:
While 60% of all content on the Internet is in English, native English speakers only make up about 5.4% of the world’s population. Only 25.3% of the Internet market share prefers English-only content, which leaves nearly 75% who prefer to consume content in another language.
China and India are still winning the Internet. China currently has over 1.02 billion online users, while India ranks second with over 658 million. Inget av länderna har engelska som förstaspråk.
Global shopping has gone mobile. More than 55% of global smartphone owners use them to shop online, and they like to do so in their preferred language. Trends like these prove that speaking your customers’ languages through localized content is essential to your marketing success.
Varför är kulturell relevant, lokaliserad marknadsföring så viktig? Till att börja med är det helt avgörande för att du ska kunna skapa genuina kontakter med kunder.
For example: Imagine that you're sharing content with Italian customers about a Christmastime holiday sale. Om du då annonserar på samma sätt som du talar med dina kunder i USA kommer du att få problem. USA:s marknad betonar julafton och juldagen som de viktigaste helgdagarna, medan Italien fokuserar på den 6 januari - trettondagen.
Ett sådant simpelt snedsteg kan verka ofarligt vid första anblicken. Men det kan underminera dina marknadsföringssatsningar genom att demonstrera att du inte riktigt förstår den italienska marknaden lika bra som andra företag. Kunderna kommer att märka det. De kommer inte att gilla det.
När din webbplats är översatt och lokaliserad för globala kunder däremot, bevisar du att du förstår och bryr dig om dem. Därigenom skapar du starkare band med kunderna.
Webbplatser och annat digitalt innehåll som lokaliserats gör det möjligt för dig att skapa genuina, autentiska kontakter med kunder och nå till en högre nivå med fördelar som dessa:
You can show that your brand respects other cultures through website translation and localization. According to CSA Research, 60% of non-native English speakers rarely or never buy from English-only websites. In fact, 64% of buyers say they value localized website content. You can gain genuine trust from your target audience through cultural adaptation.
In turn, when trust is enhanced, key performance indicators (KPIs) see a sizable lift. KPIs measure the performance of a company, its activities, processes, and the progress of projects. In order to be significant, KPIs must correlate to quantifiable business goals. Determining the success of any localization program is tied to the overall expectations of the expansion project or business strategy.
The increase in trust localization creates can lead to important retention KPIs improving, including
Kunders liv påverkas av vad de använder i vardagen – inklusive vilka plattformar för sociala medier, mobila webbplatser och så vidare de föredrar. Content localization makes your online presence available in multiple languages, across all channels, and ensures that your company will be able to reach more people where they live and work. This enhances a positive user experience for global customers and helps them trust your brand.
A positive user experience directly results in an increase in sales conversion rates and engagement rates, as well as lower bounce rates. User experience has become incredibly important, especially when looking at statistics that show how 74% of customers can switch brands if the purchasing process is too difficult for them; or, that 86% of users are inclined to pay more for a great customer experience. It's no wonder that global spending on customer experience has been estimated to reach $640 billion by 2022.
Att lokalisera din närvaro på webben handlar inte bara på det dina kunder kan läsa på din webbplats. Med rätt översättningslösning kan allt lokaliseras – bilder, multimedia, sociala medier, dynamiska PDF-filer och så vidare. Keywords, metadata, and hreflang tags can be localized to improve global SEO efforts and drive engaged global traffic to your website. Once there, global customers will benefit from an enhanced user experience and content that speaks directly to them.
Translating websites for your global markets gives you full control of your message, and delivers a consistent brand experience across all markets. Det är lättare att säkerställa att ditt varumärkes budskap kommuniceras som avsett istället för att tredjepartsföretag eller tredjepartsbyråer orsakar fel i kommunikationen. Localization takes this a step further, ensuring that the content is not only translated, but accounts for the cultural nuances and preferences of each location. This ensures brand consistency and improves brand image.
Today’s leading website translation services and localization solutions make it easier than ever to share customized messages to customers in different global markets. Du kan behålla kontrollen över ditt budskap på webben och samtidigt tillgodose regionala kunders behov – och samtidigt expandera ditt företags digitala fotavtryck. This improved ability to segment markets and speak directly to local audiences can enhance the effectiveness of messaging and targeting.
Lokaliserade webbplatser är inte bara en utomordentlig resurs för konsumenter – de är bra för lokala sälj- och kundtjänstteam också. En lokaliserad webbplats kan betona marknadsspecifika produkter och tjänster, följa gällande lokala bestämmelser och juridiska krav och tillhandahålla information som lokala marknadsföringsteam kan dra nytta av när de jagar efter potentiella kunder.
These days, your company must speak the local languages of your global customers. Och genom att tillhandahålla lokaliserat innehåll i alla kanaler förbättrar du ditt marknadsföringsteams räckvidd och framgång på varje marknad du betjänar.
To make the most of your online localization efforts, partner with a digital-first translation agency that employs expert human translators hand-in-hand with advanced technology solutions such as translation memory, to get your marketing message to your customers in the languages they prefer. Translation memory is a part of a larger system called a CAT (computer assisted translation) tool, which describes software used to increase translation productivity, catch mistakes, and improve consistency.
Utilizing translation memory helps support the localization process by allowing the re-use of translations for other projects, such as document translation, app localization, image translation, or for translating emails or other content.
MotionPoint provides website localization services that support business localization goals anywhere. MotionPoint's technology minimizes operational complexity and maximizes translation and localization impact, and can provide you with flexible and consistent brand imaging, messaging, and marketing content through global markets.
