A popular saying in the world of broadcasting is that though there are global companies and global viewership, there are only local viewers. This idea at present rings truer than ever with the rising emphasis on content localization from the viewers, broadcasters, and obviously, the marketers.
So, why has localization taken such a front seat in the present times? Localization, which is a process of adapting content or product to a specific market or locale, can break or make the success of a company abroad. It allows the differentiation of the brands that effectively communicate with the international markets from those brands that are foreign and remain inaccessible to the international audiences. A sizeable investment in the content that speaks to the language of the audience and aligns with the respective cultural norms aids the companies in garnering new market share all over the world. The aim of catalyzing growth and garnering new revenue opportunities as offered by Content localization makes the marketers increasingly interested in this model. The following are the top five trends in localization that every marketer needs to know.
- The emergence of new markets and the advancement of the present markets: Most of the companies are looking to have their footprints in at least seven different markets and translate their content into seven different languages. Besides the multilingual market of Europe, the markets of Africa and Asia are also offering new opportunities. This attracts more companies to promote their brand in different languages. To enter the new markets successfully, the external facing content is being translated into native languages of the international market.
- An increase in sales in the target markets of the world: One of the biggest advantages offered by Content localization is the increase in sales in the target markets. It is not enough for the translated content to look good to the international audiences. The marketers will be able to see a clear picture of their return on investments from the efforts of localization and this will directly impact the bottom line of them.
- The demand for the right automation tools: One of the biggest issues with Content localization is that the process is manual and needs more automation. Emailing the spreadsheets back and forth with the translators becomes difficult to manage, especially when the aim is to scale up for international operations. For the companies looking to scale more international markets in the upcoming years, improving the automation tools will continue to be the major focus.
- The speed is the name of the game: Recognizing return on investment from the international markets becomes challenging when the translation of the source content is not timely. The speed is turning out to be the name of the game whereby, technology is helping to decrease the go-to-market time for the translated content from three days to only ten minutes. The challenge of slow time to market is gradually going away.
- Targeted messaging leading to tripled user engagement: The aim of any marketing initiative is to ensure triple user engagement and that is exactly what localization has ensured. The targeted messaging technique as fostered by localization has tripled the user engagement. The viewers are more interested and receptive towards the content that is being carefully curated only for their languages, tastes, and regions.
Based on the given trends, continuous global expansion and an increase in investments in the arena of localization has come up as the top priority for the marketing executives. Over ninety-four percent of the multinational companies are planning to increase the localization spending in the upcoming year.