Have you designed a winning product? Do you believe that it appeals to a global audience? If so, you shouldn’t focus on only one market. You should leverage localization to make your product available for foreign users.
Do you doubt whether product localization is necessary? Here are some convincing statistics. Despite the fact English is the most popular language online, it represents only 25.9% of worldwide users. If you take a look at the list of the markets with the most iOS and Google Play downloads, you will see that more than 70% of them are non-native English countries.’
In today’s world, product localization defines international success. If you want to grow your business globally, follow these four tips.
Create your product with localization in mind
The vast majority of startups act this way: they create a product for a local market and then make attempts (usually failed ones) to localize their product. That’s a wrong approach. If you want to go global, you should design your product in a way it will be easily localized.
You should discuss localization issues with your product development team in advance. Front-end and back-end developers should be aware of your strategic plans. It will help them to create a website/app that will work smoothly in any market.
Here is a quick example why it’s important to design a website with localization in mind. Take a look at the following screenshots – that’s how Payoneer website looks like when browsed in different languages. The size of the main CTA button varies from language to language – it may include from four to 27 characters.
Screenshot source: payoneer.com
When your developers know that product will be localized and texts will be translated into multiple languages, they create a flexible design that can be adjusted to any market.
Choose markets wisely
Have you already decided to go global? Don’t rush to localize your product into 50+ languages at once. Choose a few markets where your product is supposed to be in the highest demand and start with them. It will allow you to manage your resources more wisely and promote your product more effectively.
Here are a few tips that will help you choose the right markets for a start:
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Check whether there is a market need for your product in the market. Let’s say your product is a tax management app. Since taxation policies greatly vary from country to country, your app might be useless in some markets – you should understand that even though all locals pay taxes, they may not want to use your mobile app for this purpose.
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Define the number of prospective customers. If this number is too small, there is no sense to waste time and money on product localization for this market.
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Conduct a competitive-environment scan. Find out whether local companies offer products similar to yours.
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If your product is truly innovative, check whether local customers are ready for it. Markets (developing markets in particular) tend to reject new ideas and innovations. So you may have to wait for a few months or even a few years to introduce your product to the chosen markets.
Make a strategic plan
Every startup is unique and requires a unique localization strategy. For this reason, startup founders make different strategic decisions. While some localize each piece of content, including websites, blogs, and social media posts, others localize only core app content.
Depending on the type of product you promote, you should consider the following aspects of localization and write a plan:
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Define the content elements that should be localized: textual content, visuals, UX elements.
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Specify whether localization will be applied to app/software/website only. Think of whether you should localize blog posts, social media posts, and marketing newsletters.
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Define the tone of voice of product localization. Specify whether it should be friendly, formal, informal, etc.
Your task is to outline the requirements for product localization in one solid document. Later this document will be used by your startup team and linguistic experts.
Hire professionals
As you have already guessed, Google Translate will not help you with product localization. Therefore, you should hire a team of professional translators. You need to find specialists who have expertise in digital product localization as well as experience in your field. For instance, if you’ve designed a marketing app, you should hire someone with a marketing background.
Also, you should opt for native speakers rather than random “experts”. Only native speakers or individuals who have lived in a designated country for a few years understand the cultural aspects of the local language and can translate texts accurately. You can find localization specialists at popular work marketplaces for freelancers. Or you can use an online localization service.
Wrapping up
In today’s world, product localization is essential for attracting global users and achieving international success. So if you want to expand your startup globally, you should write a compelling localization strategy and bring it to action. Use these four tips, and you will boost your localization and marketing efforts.