Most startups never think about localization or translation until later on in the business cycle. However, if started earlier, it can accelerate business growth and increase revenue streams.
Owners of small businesses or tiny startups are normally focused on recouping their starting capital. This money might have been raised through a bank loan, financing through friends and well-wishers or even through savings made over many years. Therefore, their minds are predominantly fixated on offsetting such debts and regaining stability in their lives.
The greatest focus is generally placed in getting as much revenue as possible through large sales volumes. The situation is understandable as any miscalculation might lead to a significant loss yet there are still other debts to be paid. This might even push a business owner into enormous debt.
Likewise, the owners need to cater for personal expenses and bills. Therefore, marketing strategies such as translation are still a foreign concept to them. However, the earlier an enterprise embarks on this process, the better it shall be for the business.
For one, he or she will be able to capitalize on a larger customer base in case the area is composed of people who speak different languages. As such, the business does not have to rely on local speakers of a language to succeed. Though there are some people, who might not understand the language used in a product but still like it. To boost the loyalty of such people, you need to incorporate their vernacular in your product description, end-user agreements, marketing materials any existing contracts. It makes them feel at home with your product.
Following the law of diminishing returns, once your business expands beyond a certain size, you will saturate your current market. As such, you will need to expand to a different region and capitalize on new markets. Localizing the content of your product and service information is vital if you intend to accelerate your growth. Other benefits of localization are as follows:
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You Easily Gain Market Information on a New Area
Professional translators can help to localize your marketing to suit your region. You can get your message across all the major languages spoken in different regions of the world as well as your locality.
This shall also enable you to get client feedback in different languages and translate them. Different countries and cultures have preferences that are generally different from others. However, some individuals might have preferences similar to those within your local market.
Therefore, the complaints and compliments from the foreign buyers of your goods and services can even help you tailor your products following the specific region. This ensures that your franchise remains popular despite being targeted at different markets, regions, cultures, nationalities, etc.
According to Oleksii Vitchenko, the CEO of Translate.com,
“We are knocking down the language barriers and allowing companies to connect globally with customers in their native language. We’re creating that global platform for communication.”
You Expand Your Revenue Base
Some people can never use a product or service they do not understand. What’s more, within a certain locality, it is inevitable that foreigners will visit at one time or another. They might either be tourists, expatriates or people of the same nationality undertaking specific contracts or projects in the area. Failure to localize your product information across various languages means that you are likely to miss out on a huge proportion of these potential clients. Some of them, especially tourists are big spenders and would have generated large volumes of revenue for your business if only they understood your products in a language, they understand best.
A Good Starting Point for International Expansion
Once your franchise has tremendously expanded within your country of origin, it is inevitable that you would like to go beyond your national borders. At first, you might start by expanding your business activities within a certain region. This is called regional expansion. You will need to hire the nationals of a particular country who shall market your products in the local languages to boost sales. Therefore, through your website, you will have to create a subdomain for a specific region or nationality that users within such an area can natively access without first going through the original site. This makes it very easy to access information about your products and services. Globalization, on the other hand, is simply a conglomeration of regional markets all under a parent corporation. You can also slightly rebrand your product to a theme that matches the culture, religion, and tastes of a particular place.
The Elimination of Miscommunication
In all forms of marketing, communication is constant. Furthermore, there are different types of marketing used by companies. These involve print media such as newspapers, magazines, flyers, banners, static billboards, etc. Others are electronic such as animated billboards, television adverts, social media adverts, radio adverts, and online affiliate marketing. Promotion campaigns such as free samples, discounts, etc. are also used especially while trying to gain a foothold into a new market. However, no matter how many resources you spend marketing through all these means, if the target audience does not properly get the message, then the exercise and investment are all futile. The translators must have a proper understanding of the local languages as well as phrases to avoid miscommunications that might offend or even send an inappropriate message.
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Final Words
Lastly, in your efforts to penetrate a new market, ensure that your web developers and translators translate website information in tandem with the business and marketing regulations of a given state or region. All your terms, product information, and license agreements must be succinctly written to save you from liabilities as well as avoid copyright infringement whether intentional or unintentional.
