How important is (marcom) marketing content localization to increase visibility of products globally? – From LinkedIn Answers
This is a follow up to a previous post. Localize and Improve Your Sales
How important is marketing content (marcom) localization to increase visibility of products globally? How much is invested in translating the content and adapting it to the flair of the target audience?
Communication is an action that creates a common bridge from the semantic point of view ( a common-action). Filling the gap of language barrier is still a huge issue to tackle in marketing; recreating a totaly new content is a laborious work, rates should be adjusted accordingly and investment should be a priority for companies who want to go global. Pls give me your opinion on this – Maurizia Gregorio
My Answer:
Localization/translation is paramount when entering or operating in a foreign market.
For example; when sending out marketing material you have a very short amount of time to get the readers attention. If it is not concisely written in the target markets language you don’t have a chance.
Another issue with marketing is that different countries/regions view marketing in different ways. Something that gets a lot of attention and works well one place may not work well in another or even have legal implications.
First impressions are very important and if the reader doesn’t understand the message because of poor language, they are not going to believe that you can provide them with a superior product. Your brochure ends up in the trash. This is a huge issue because you have lost a potential
client before they even know anything about your product.
Furthermore, many companies don’t localize things such as software, websites or manuals. I’m sure most of us have gone through the frustration of trying to assemble or configure a new product and not been able to understand the instructions. If you had the choice between two essentially equal products, but one of them had a manual or instructions that you could clearly understand because it was written by a native speaker; which would you choose to buy?
I’m always surprised to see how many international companies use non-native speakers to translate their materials for foreign markets. Whether it is out of ignorance, arrogance or for cost reasons, in the long run having your products localized for each market where the company operates is extremely important. Simply doing this can drastically improve you marketing success, sales volume and
retention of clients! If you want to go global, get local!
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