Internationalization
According to the article “International Growth Strategies in Consumer and Business-to-Business Markets in Manufacturing and Service Sectors” by Svante Andersson, published in the Journal of Euromarketing, “Internationalization is a widely used concept in research on international business and has various interpretations”.
Although “internationalization is an important part of many firms’ marketing strategies, there have been few attempts to discuss internationalization to explore the relationships between different marketing contexts of content localization and firms’ international behavior” (Andersson, 2002; Coviello & Martin, 1999).
Localization
Localization is defined as the linguistic adaptation of content for the target region, its languages, and cultural characteristics to make it appropriate, easily understandable, and comfortable to use for local native language speakers.
As stated in Dimitra Anastasiou and Reinhard Schäler’s article “Translating Vital Information: Localisation, Internationalisation, and Globalisation” published by the Research Centre for Next Generation Localisation, “the Localisation Industry Standards Association (LISA) defines localization as the adaptation of any aspect of a product or service that is needed for a product to be sold or used in another market.”
International Translation Companies & Brand Visibility Upscaling
In a recent blog article, we reiterated the Localization Industry Standards Association’s statement outlining that the typical business achieves a return on investment (ROI) of US $25 in revenue for each US $1 it spends on Localization.
In addition, our recent study on the Importance of Website Localization illustrates people’s propensities towards website traffic and navigation in their native languages – a proportion of 54.7% always preferring to access websites available in their native language, while an overwhelming 78.6% choose to make online purchases only from websites that are available in their native language.
A localized website is only a stepping stone for any brand to set its solid footprint into, building and instilling the credibility of their value propositions and overarching content, adapted to the rigours and demands of foreign competitors and targeted global markets. Beyond this, there are multiple cultural layers and nuances, playing an invaluable role in brand identity establishment.
Strategically, an International Translation Company possesses the ability, resources, and expertise to achieve this and ensure website content volumes are seamlessly translated into many languages, so that businesses can tap into their targeted global markets and enhance their overall brand identity.
This global growth strategy is divided into two main points of action, namely:
• Enhanced localization
• Global Market contingency and adaptability
A professional and International Translation Company employs enhanced localization frameworks to achieve exclusive and customizable content experiences for brands seeking to step up their game.
Enhanced Localization is essential in defining or redefining the image of a brand or online business identity through full-suite, customizable website assets that provide a streamlined User Journey for visitors, in turn, boosting conversion rates and enhancing the existing customer base with valuable new leads.
In “Global Business Strategy: A Contingency Approach” by David Lemak and Wiboon Arunthanes, published in the Multinational Business Review Academic Journal, it is argued that “firm performance can be maximized through synergy created by proper alignment of critical variables in a holistic contingency approach.”
Equally, “advocates of the concept of market orientation using adaptation or local adaptation argue that while basic human needs may be similar everywhere, differences in cultural and other environmental factors significantly influence the buying behavior of people in different countries” (Boddewyn, Soehl, & Picard 1986; Douglas & Wind 1987; Kotler 1985; Sommers & Kernan 1967).
Therefore, the key role of an International Translation Company in performing effective Localization, with a global market contingency and adaptability stronghold, provides an unequivocal advantage that any business can employ in terms of their overarching global growth strategy and branding.
Effective Localization = Successful Business Growth
In our blog article “Boost Your Sales with Localization Services” we presented a series of successful examples of brand localization, ensured through the effective employment of subject matter experts and linguists working for successful International Translation Companies.
Example #1
Purity Cosmetics Inc., the owner of the cosmetics brand 100% Pure, has quadrupled their year-on-year profits by fully localizing all of its products and redesigning them to appeal to the local market.
Their effective use of internationally acclaimed translation and localization services has resulted in booming growth, both digitally in China, and locally through a chain of stores, with over 70% of their sales coming from the Web platform.
Example #2
Neil Patel in his Blog post, “How to Increase Your Traffic Through Content Translation”, Neil Patel, “top web content influencer” ranked by the Wall Street Journal, states that, in just three weeks of translating the entire content of his website into 82 different languages, his traffic increased by 47%.
Implementing multilingual translation and SEO for his website content not only created more opportunities for people landing on his page to interact with the content, but also increased traction, multilingual queries, and user count by nearly 60%.
Example #3
Amazon - “The Amazon example” illustrates the effectiveness of enhanced content Localization for web platforms in boosting sales traction for e-commerce specifically.
Amazon's UK website and its US counterpart are quite different in terms of design and UX than other Amazon platforms, focused on a particular section of interest for its broad audiences, such as e-books, kindle readers, and other similar accessories. At the same time, Amazon Japan localizes its interface to meet the country-specific requirements, focusing on entertainment and electronics, while its Indian platform works on mobile phones and GSM accessories.
The success of Amazon’s e-commerce strategy is linked to highly versatile and effective content and UX localization, as consumer buyer behavior is inextricably linked to immediate wants and needs which, if not targeted and tackled optimally, can result in website bounces or alternative e-commerce platform choices.
