Brand localization is a kind of thing that founders and entrepreneurs often think a lot about. If you’re a business owner and want to capture global markets, you will need to rethink your products, brand message, and assets for new audiences.
If you don’t have an excellent localization strategy in place, it would be difficult for you to grow your brand on an international scale. However, if you could properly execute your localization strategy, you will not sound out of place. This will help make sure you don’t break any local regulations or rules as you enter new markets.
Here are 4 important steps you must take in order to implement great localization for your brand and make it more appealing worldwide.
- Research your new target audience
Before actually starting your brand localization, you must conduct in-depth R&D about the new audience(s) you want to target. This generally involves understanding the cultural values, norms, demographics, and language characteristics of that new target audience.
You need to consider things like what language our new audience speaks on a daily basis. Similarly, what cultural references will they easily comprehend? Plus, how they like to buy their stuff.
The more narrowed down your research is, the better. For instance, if you’re entering Japan, you must do research into Japan and the Japanese market. Instead of just searching about Asia and the Asian market in general.
When you receive quality international leads, it’s time to engage with them and collect such demographic information as their primary language, country, education level, age, and preferred social platform. After the research is done, you should think about parts of the world that will offer you the best ROI.
- Make a localized pricing strategy
Localized pricing plays a defining role in making a localization project successful. So, consider what amount you will charge going into the new market. For localized pricing, there are usually two types of it.
- Cosmetic localization: In this process, your potential customers will see actual prices in their local currency.
- True localization: The goal of this process is to keep prices on a level that potential customers in a specific target market will be willing to pay.
Take into account the economic space each consumer occupies. Get an idea of the purchasing power of your average consumer. Ask yourself how my competitors are pricing their offerings in this new market.
- Consider local resources
So you know the way you’re going to price your products or services in a certain market. The next stage is to get help from local resources who will assist you in reaching your goals successfully.
Since locals know a specific culture better than anybody else, you need to rely upon local expertise from the regions you want to target. This could be in the shape of hiring local staff, local agencies, or through in-country partnerships. When you have locals invested in your mission, you will be able to create localized and authentic experiences for everyone.
Suppose you need to translate website materials or some marketing communication into other languages. Your best bet is to work with native, professional linguists who know different cultures, communities, and languages. Doing so will ensure your translated messages not just convey the original meaning but also sound natural.
- Make use of the right tools
Once you’ve opted for the local resources to do the job for you, it’s equally important to make use of the right tools for it. You will find so many tools in the market that make it easy to manage localization processes.
For example, translation software will be good for project managers because communication will become easier for them. Similarly, if a big company or enterprise needs to manage its overall localization tasks, then it must employ a modern localization solution for enterprises. These localization tools and solutions are great for streaming the workflow, managing localization teams, translating huge volumes of content, managing translation resources, and more. Thus, take a look into your localization needs and employ the right tools tailored to your business requirements.
Final remarks
The key to effective brand localization is you provide a personalized customer experience in each target market. Having said that, you cannot expand globally in a successful manner without understanding your target audience, localizing your pricing, opting for local resources, and using the right tools. If you don’t take these into consideration, your localization efforts are sure to have a shaky foundation, to say the least.
