Nowadays, localization has become increasingly important for businesses to acquire customers in different areas speaking different languages. Following are things that may need localization when you enter a new market.
It’d be better if you start to think about localizing your product in the development phase and consider adapting the function of the product based on the concerns and needs of the local customers. Some functions can be redundant in one place but quite useful in another area, and a localized product would be more attractive to the local customers. But if it’s not practical or cost-effective to modify the function of your product, you may consider simply localize the manual and description of the product, as there are studies showing that people are actually much more likely to purchase a product simply because the description of it is in their native language.
There are studies showing that customers prefer using websites in their native language, and it’s more likely that they would buy the product if the price is in the local currency. Having a multi-language website can increase the website traffic, and prospect customers would have better experience navigating around your website.
Many businesses value the importance of localizing their websites and have websites in multiple languages; however, some of them don’t realize that they also need to localize their SEO strategies to make the most use of their multi-language websites. Using the right keywords can improve the ranking of your website and drive more traffic to your website. If you have websites in multi-language but don’t add keywords in other languages, it may be harder for people speaking those languages find your website. Even your target customers also speak English, you may also be careful regarding the keywords you select for SEO. People speaking American English and people speaking British English sometimes are using different words for the same thing, and you need to consider the difference when deploying your SEO strategies.
If you are doing business in different countries, you may need to be mindful of all the business practices and standard in those countries and adapt your business policies based on the standard in those countries. Some standards are set by the law in the country, while some are the service standard generally expected by the local customers. For example, the shipping and return standard may be very different in different countries. In some countries people are expecting the product to arrive fast and if you fail to meet their expectation they may not come back and purchase again. Abiding by all the standards can be costly, and this would be something you need to consider before entering the market.
You may need to adapt your marketing message, advertising, and promotion based on the preference of your target customers. People in different areas enjoy reading contents in different styles and formats, and your messages would be much more attractive to them if you tailor your messages to their preferences. Additionally, the time of the holiday season in a year may be different across countries, and you may need to adjust your promotion events accordingly.
If you have a retail store in a different area, the layout of the store can be important. If the store is well designed based on the preference of the local customers, they would be more likely to enter your store and stay longer, which may increase the likelihood of making a purchase in your store.
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