Many of the most successful companies sell more than half of their products overseas and many of the most visited websites have some level of localization. But what is localization?

Localization means adapting your products & services for a local market that is different from yours whereas translation is the process of converting written text or spoken words to another language. A global market research report from Common Sense Advisory & Lionbridge reported that 72.4% of consumers say they would be more likely to buy a product with information in their own language. Fully 72.1% said they spend most or all of their time on sites in their own language. Another study by the Localization Industry Standards Association found that today companies are receiving approximately $25 of additional revenue for every $1 spent on localization.

Translating your website into a foreign language is not enough to localize it to a foreign country. Translation is the only a part of the localization process; in addition to translation you need to localize your marketing efforts, market research, business plan, customer support and even your products or services. Because a website is more than a software, actually a real business you need to localize almost all parts of your business for the foreign market.

The localization of your product or service is more likely to succeed when it is adapted specifically to the country which it is marketed bearing in mind the countries cultural, political, economic and religious differences and rules as well.

A sucessfull localization project should include localizaiton efforts for;

• Market & Marketing Research
• Translation
• Marketing
• Tailored products/services
• Communication (Support & Feedback)

Marketing Research

It is crucial to analyze the target marget before you spend money on translation, product  & service customization, translation, advertising and other areas of the business. You need to gather and analyze data about the potential customers, market size and local & global competitors already in the market. You can’t make a healtht decision about a market that you don’t have an idea. You may work with a local constant, or try to collect the data yourself, but the first is a better solution if you can allocate a budget. If not, at least try to communicate with native users in the market either by using your existing user base or social places on Internet.

Translation

A translation will be accurate if it is made by native speaker of the target language which also have an idea about your market. However translating your content, especially your marketing messages may not work as expected. Because the culture, traditions, demographics could be completely different from yours, an exact translation may be harmful and results a negative return.

Localize your marketing messages

A marketing message for Valentine’s Day may be similiar for different countries, but it may differ for Christmas! If you are going into o Moslim market, you should send a new year greetings instead of a christmas message. People outside from US also doesn’t care about the Independence Day. Moreover, as a foreign company sending greetings on their local/religious fest’s not only makes you different from other global competitors but also gives you an advantage over local ones. Getting greeting messages from local companies is usual for the people, but a greeting message for a local fest from a foreign company will suprise them. It is a way of saying, “You are important for us. We respect your country & culture.”

Marketing

Since the market you are marketing changes, you should change your marketing plan & tactics as well. Marketing decisions generally fall into the following four controllable categories (Known as The Marketing Mix or 4P’s of marketing) ;

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion

Since we are talking about .com business localization we can neglect place (You may need to take it into account depending on your market & business), but all of the others may require changes for the local market.

Say that you are running a website that offers online accounting software for small business’. Because the legislation & rules are different from your countires your “Product” needs some certaing changes & modifications.

Since the economy & level of competition is different from yours, you may adjust the “Price”.

Since the culture, communication channels and again the competition are different from your, you need changes in your “Promotion”.

This is why you need more than translation. Translating your product, price and promotion won’t work!

- You may have many competitors in US market for your Online Accounting Software, but be a monopoly on a foreign market. You’ll lose money for underselling your product.

Support & Feedback

Customer loyalty develops as customers feel a connection with the company and this is why a strong customer support is vital for having longterm successful relationships with the customers. You will definetely get a great advantage than your competitors if you make your customers feel that you care about them by communicating them in their own language. Don’t be afraid because of the big costs on support! You may find some local freelancers that are also fluent in your language, and make them operate your support services in the target language and supervise them when needed.

Need more tips about localization?

I can’t give you hints for a specific county. However I am going to write about general localization tips in the future. Additionaly, because I am a native Turkish speaker living in Turkey and some have some expertise on both Internet & Marketing (You can find more on “About” section) I’ll also share tips specific to Turkish market.

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