The growing digital arena has enabled brands to make their product and service reach their target audience spread across the globe. Globalization has been the biggest immunity booster for; markets to reach consumers and for consumers to get their hands on a product or service of their choice within just a few clicks. With increasing players in the market, consumers are now diverting towards picking those brands that offer them a localized yet global shopping experience. 

Well, what does that mean, you ask? Customers simply prefer to choose brands that offer their products in their own language, rather than the standard English website. 

Keeping this in mind, it has become increasingly important for brands to implement a brand localization strategy that helps brands to outbeat their customers and appeal to them in the same language they converse in. 

If you’re wondering how you can create a global business localization strategy, we’re here to tell you all about it. In this article, we’re going to dive deep into localization, its benefits, and how it can help you unify all your teams in your company. Let’s get started. 

What is localization? 

Localization simply means going local. Yes! It is nothing but the process of ensuring that your brand is adaptive to the cultural and linguistic needs of a particular location. With close context to global brand asset management, brand localization is ensuring that all your branding, marketing, and promotional assets are dynamic to specific target markets that you sell to. 

What is brand localization? 

Now that we have understood what localization really means, what is brand localization and how can one do it? Brand localization — also popularly known as BAM localization or localization marketing — helps ensure that all of your company’s offerings are in compliance with the new markets or countries that you are going to target. This includes your products, services, websites, message, content, and other marketing. You should also remember that the core values and messaging of your brand is going to still remain the same, but you are just going to create a brand localization strategy that is in line with your target audience. 

Here’s a small example that can help you understand brand localization at its best. Netflix is a super global company yet it allows users from over 190 countries in the world to stream, view, and binge content. But, how does Netflix make this possible? It’s simply through brand localization. Netflix places high value on language. The only way they were able to double their subscriber base by 50% in just two years, is to focus on translation, says Weglot. They strongly believed that the only way to  appeal to their subscribers is to ensure that they offer dubbed content and subtitles as a pathway to enter into the market. This helped Netflix’s customers to ‘feel like home’ and immediately fall in love with the product. This is what marketers call brand localization. Translation is one of the core elements of BAM localization. Netflix not only dubbed content in different languages but they continuously conducted A/B tests to ensure that the content was authentic and true to the language. That’s how a brand achieves brand localization.

Why is localization in global brand asset management important? 

Today, all businesses are global. Brands are now opening their doors to global customers and this calls for them to be inclusive to their target audience. Here are top 5 reasons why localization in global brand asset management is important. 

1 . To appeal culturally 

Every culture has unique values, beliefs, customs, and thought processes. It is important to have a brand localization strategy that appeals to the culture of the target audience. Having a global business localization strategy can help customers to perceive brands as their own and respond in their own likeness.  With a strong brand asset management strategy that is deep rooted in the foundations of localization marketing, consumers can instantly resonate with products in the market. 

2 . To maintain brand consistency 

A brand asset management strategy helps brands ensure that they remain consistent on all marketing channels. Brand localization allows you to remain consistent with brand elements across every region your brand is targeting or intends to sell to. Whether it is related to your core messaging, website, or social media channels, brand localization ensures that all elements of the brand are intact. 

3 . Increase in engagement rates

With a strong brand localization strategy in place, you are speaking to your customers in their own language. This simply means that you will not only be able to reach them better but this will also open up opportunities for customers to resonate with the brand and build stronger relationships. These relationships, if nurtured well can lead to increase in engagement and further translate into conversions. 

4 . Improved user experience

A strong brand localization strategy with all your brand assets in line with the local language and interests of your target audience  increases users’ experience on your platform. This way, you not only ensure that you speak to your target audience in their language but also make sure that you attend to the needs of and offer a positive experience to your potential customers. 

5. Higher sales 

The primary goal behind brands venturing into brand localization and adopting brand localization strategies is to increase revenue. It is through brand localization that companies keep their products and services visible to varied customers and engage them. With increase in engagement comes increased brand awareness and improved customer engagement. This further translates into higher sales and revenue in every market they enter. 

How to build a brand localization strategy as a global brand? 

Here’s how you can build a brand localization strategy for a global brand. 

A. Research and analysis

The first step to setting up your brand localization strategy is to research and analyze your brand during the course of time. This research process will involve identifying your target market and understanding their linguistic, cultural, and ethical standards. It is also important to study the regulatory standards and rules, legal procedures, and other statutory requirements to ensure your brand compliance. It is also important for you to study the total market dynamics, customer nuances, and other preferences. 

B. Culture and language 

The second stage to building your brand localization strategy is to dive deep into the linguistic and cultural adaptations of the market that your target market resides in. It is important to study the language very carefully and understand various modulations of them. This will help in translation of all your brand assets and your entire brand asset inventory into the local language. As a brand, you can work with translation experts and ensure that they produce high-quality content that can resonate with your target audience. 

C. Undertaking A/B tests 

The third step towards building your BAM localization strategy is to conduct as many tests and quality checks as possible. This is a recurring activity and will require a lot of resource investment. With continuous tests and quality checks, you can ensure that your brand messaging and content is free from any errors and meets local standards. It is important to pay high attention to this stage. You must take necessary steps to conduct rigorous tests and quality assurance checks to meet local expectations. 

D. Implementation and maintenance

The last and the final stage of the brand localization process is implementation and maintenance. Ensure that all the details of your research feed into your final brand localization strategy and that there is consistency across all your brand assets. Your localized brand messaging, visuals, and all marketing channels that your target audience can ideally come in contact with must be in unison. This way, you can build a sense of trust and authenticity with your target market. 

Once you have a brand localization strategy in place, remember that your task doesn’t end there. You need to set relevant metrics and performance indicators to measure the success of your BAM localization strategy. Take time to frequently analyze these metrics and determine whether your current strategy needs changes and improvements. With this analysis, you can keep revamping and changing your brand localization strategy and keep it effective so as to reach your target audience. 

What are some challenges faced by global brands in the localization process? 

Here are some of the challenges faced by global brands during their brand localization process. 

Language and cultural differences 

One of the biggest challenges global brands face while carrying out their localization process is to deal with cultural and linguistic differences, including the adaptation of label design software and proofing software. Every culture comes with a set of different beliefs, values, and customs, and it is important to ensure that the target audience can understand your brand messaging so that they can resonate with it.For example, your brand slogan can work well in North America, but might not be understood by your customers in India and Japan. Make sure to create your brand messaging in such a way that they are aligned to such minute factors. 

Budget constraints

One of the less spoken challenges faced by brands during their localization process is budget. There is a lot of time, manpower, and money spent in localizing all your brand assets. Localization can be an extremely expensive process as it involves translation of not just the language but also the crux of the entire message. It is important for brands to allocate adequate funds and resources to ensure this process runs smoothly. With localization being an expensive activity, you can start by selecting markets that are profitable and where you can potentially create a strong footing and grow consistently. Once you have identified such markets, you can then start your localization process for those markets first and then simultaneously move on to other markets. It is here where you can also look for software that can manage and make your entire creative workflow in an easy and efficient manner. 

Time barriers 

One of the other growing challenges of brand localization are the time constraints that come along with it. When you’re venturing into a particular market, you must be quick and ready with all your brand assets, including Label Management software, to capitalize on the new opportunity. Consider using Workflow management software that can help in automating your workflows, increasing your overall turnaround time, and ensuring efficiency in your creative process. Artwork Flow is a one-stop solution to manage your creative and brand assets in an effective way. Start your seven-day free trial now! 

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Takeaway 

In conclusion, a successful brand localization strategy is crucial for every brand that is looking to expand their reach into new markets, whether international or domestic. It is important for your brand to invest its time, money, and resources into understanding the culture, language, and values of your target audience. This can help you to build a sense of trust and loyalty towards the brand which will then lead to increase in brand recognition and higher global sales. 

It is also important to consider that brand localization and brand strategy is not a one-time solution. Every market is unique and your strategy should suit the specific needs of each target audience. The brand localization strategy should be established in such a way that it is flexible, dynamic, and adaptive to market changes while also keeping the brand steps ahead of the competition. Finally, having a thoughtful and strategic brand localization approach can help brands build long-lasting relationships with customers across cultures, languages, and borders. If you want to know how to streamline your creative and digital process efficiently, while reducing your total turnaround time by over than 60%, check out Artwork Flow. Start your seven-day free trial today. 

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