Going Global? What Marketers Need to Know about Translation and Localization
Today marketers invest lots of money in translation and localization efforts. According to Smartling&IDG Research https://www.idg.com, companies spent $38 billion in 2015, $12 billion more compared to 2010.
What is localization and why is it important?
Localization is the process of adapting a product or content to a specific region of a country or foreign market. Many times success of a company depends on how their content and product are received in a new market. Translations through localization are aligned with cultural norms in that market. It differentiates the successful global brands from those that remain foreign in new markets. Investment in localization can help brands entering new markets around the world increase their new market share significantly.
What are the trends for global companies?
On average, global companies step into 7 different markets & translate content into 7 different languages. Many of these companies aim to double their international base and need the right technology and translation service partner to succeed.
Global companies see ROI from their content localization efforts & increase in their bottom line. That is partly because customers tend to ignore products with labels they cannot read & love it when they can. Top 2 benefits of content localization are:
- Increased sales in target markets
- Increase in leads (forwarded or shared content on different media platforms)
Content that companies translate and localize is in the following top 5 areas:
-website
-social media
-digital
-video
-technical information
Based on 2018 language industry research survey, 94% of companies plan to increase their localization spending, 50% of companies believe that content localization is too complex to manage, 62% of companies believe content localization can benefit from more organized & structured processes. While wanting to tap into more markets around the world by automating & streamlining processes, many companies look for ways to improve their brand communications to new markets by using cultural insight & human translations or transcreations.
