Localization services bring your business to more people around the world. Here’s how to become a global brand with a local feel.
Localization is a step above translation. It’s more than just changing your words into another language. Localization changes the look and feel of your product or content to suit the target markets.
Why do 92% of multinational companies invest in localization? Here’s some key stats to consider:
- 56% of consumers feel product information is more important than price
- 74 million North Americans speak a foreign language at home
- 72% of customers are more likely to make a purchase in their first language
- 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a website after a bad experience
- 50% of countries in the top 10 for app downloads don’t speak English
- 128% increase in iPhone app downloads through localization
Need we say more? Ok, we will anyways.
Difference Between Translation and Localization Services
Localization (l10n) refers to the adaptation of all your company’s parts to the linguistic and cultural standards of a given country or region.
This applies to website content, software, mobile apps, marketing, branding, desktop publishing – basically all elements/information on the products and services you are providing.
And it’s not just the text goes on the “to localize” to-do list. You must also consider the following to meet cultural standards in each locale:
- Images
- Infographics
- Videos
- Icons
- Call-to-action buttons
- Date and time formatting
- Currency values
- Units of measurement
- Address formats
The overall design must be considered too. Some languages read right-to-left, for example. Additionally, translating content from English into another language, you can almost guarantee it will take up a different amount of space.
Consider anything that can be seen or heard and assess whether it’s acceptable for each specific target audience.
3 Reasons to Choose Localization
Maybe you’re wondering at this point whether it’s worth the trouble to localize.
The short answer is yes.
Any business that wishes to expand its operations to other countries will have to go about the process of localization.
If you’re a software and app company, for example, 70% of iOS downloads and 90% of Google Play downloads come from non-native English-speaking markets.
What’s more, 52% of the world’s internet users are in Asia. The continent has over 2.5 billion internet users compared to North America’s 330 million.
Here’s three specific benefits to keep in mind.
1. Scale
Become a true multi-national brand by bringing your products and services to a global audience.
2. Adapt
Customize your product information and offering to each market’s unique linguistic, technical, and cultural needs.
3. Engage
Resonate with your audience and create brand loyalty by giving your product a truly locally made feel.
To really show you why it’s important, let’s talk about Ellos.
Case Study: E-commerce Localization Services
The Ellos Group is a leading e-commerce group from in the Nordics with over 550 employees and SEK 3.2 billion in sales. The group includes four fashion and home décor brands: Ellos, Jotex, Stayhard, and Homeroom.
Ellos’ presence across the Nordics creates the need for an e-commerce experience for each of the Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish markets.
E-commerce companies like this have a unique challenge. They have potentially thousands of new products going live on their websites every day. Any delay in communication results in a delay in online sales.
E-commerce sites also have diverse types of content. Not only do they have product text and descriptions, but they also have images, marketing content, payment information, and other site elements that require localization.
Given Ellos’ diverse needs, we came up with two separate processes: one for the product text and one for other content.
We set up a system by which we receive files for product localization twice a day. This includes product descriptions from Ellos’ own brands, plus the other 700 external brands carried by their online stores.
These files are automatically analyzed by our translation platform. After the adaptation is done, the files are delivered to Ellos’ CMS and published live to the website with minimal human intervention.
We also developed a separate process for ordering localization of other website content. Those requests come in via a dedicated, customized web-based form.
This form also connects to our translation platform, which allows the finalized content to be imported automatically.
The end result? A system that allows products and marketing copy to be localized and translated almost in real time. This keeps the many regional ecommerce sites up to date and allows Ellos to get to market quickly in every market.
Get to Know Our Localization Services
Summa Linguae Technologies, we offer localization solutions to match your project needs.
We recently launched Summa Studio.
It’s a flexible translation and localization platform.
It tailors the workflow to your needs, and you control all your products and content localization in one place.
Our clients appreciate our extremely versatile and unconventional thinking. We focus on innovative solutions and don’t shy away from a challenge.
Additionally, our fully in-house managed services act as an extension of your team
This is what helps us build lasting partnerships and localization solutions that grow with your business.
Contact us today to get started.
