In today’s digital environment, companies are very much aware of just how powerful social media really is. With the rise of eCommerce and as more people gravitate to the convenience of shopping online, having a successful business means investing in great social media management tools, content creation, and of course a website. As your business grows, eventually you’ll also want to tap into the international markets from right around the world. This is where website and social media localization comes in.
In today’s post, we’ll be giving you some must-know tips to help you to get closer to your goal of reaching your audience through social media and your website no matter where they are in the world.
A Quick Recap on Localization
When your product or service enters the international scene, there are a few important things that need to be done to ensure that your marketing does not fall on ‘deaf ears’. This is where localization comes in.
Localization involves the complete and deliberate adaptation of your product or service to meet the needs of those within a particular population, i.e. country, culture, and of course those who speak a particular language.
Localization encapsulates the overall look and feel of another region when it comes to marketing, advertising, messaging and so much more. Successful localization gives the consumer the impression that the product or service is developed locally, thus making them gravitate towards it.
The Importance of a Website and Social Media Localization Strategy
Now that we’ve refreshed our memory or now understand what localization entails, it’s now time to understand why having a localization strategy is important.
Localization helps to instill a connection between you and your consumers no matter the region they are in or the language that they speak. This process allows you to zoom in on specific markets and sell more of your unique products and services.
Additionally, having a localization strategy gives you the opportunity to meet the increasing demand for multicultural products and services; something that is becoming increasingly important for international markets that are seeking products and services suitable to their local markets.
3 Must-Know Localization Tips for Your Website
Before consumers put a face to your business or brand, they usually do a web search to see whether or not you have a website and if you do, find out what you’re all about. With this in mind, localizing your website is absolutely a big deal and we’ll give you some tips on how to go about getting it done in the right way.
#1 – Create the Best Online User Experience
The way you go about reaching and appealing to your audience serves as the basis for localizing your website. This means that the contents of your website are to be impactful and relatable, no matter who it is reaching.
#2 – Ensure Your Website Provides ‘Ease of Use’
Let’s say you have an eCommerce website, the currency that your website is in should be that of the local users. If this isn’t so then a barrier is created for your consumers which may hinder them from making purchases.
#3 – Your Website Must be Trustworthy
In the world of business, trust is a big factor. That said, your website shines bright as that symbol of trust. Your website allows your consumers to understand what you stand for and it helps to build your integrity and instill confidence in the products and services you’re offering. This is where the critical factor of language aka translation shows its true potential. This applies not just to the content on each page, but to the site as a whole. As such, you’ll need a great domain name that is also suitably localized for the intended audience in order to earn their trust.
3 Must-Know Localization Tips for Your Social Media Channels
Where would so many businesses be without social media? For many, they start out using social media to bring awareness to the business as well as its offerings and then they take it from there. Here are a few tips to help in localizing your social media.
#1 – Create a Local Social Media Page
This one might sound obvious, but in many cases, businesses and brands have a single social media page that they use to serve an international market. This means that for each country or region you are now serving, you need a social media page for each and of course use local language and images to suit the demand of the market.
#2 – Target Your Posts
Post targeting is one of the best and easiest ways to get your message to the right people. This type of approach helps when you are still in the process of setting up local social media pages.
#3 – Measure Your Work
As long as you’re in the social media field, you should be familiar with the terms measurement and optimization. Measuring is easy. All you have to do is observe how your posts work, how well your audience interacts with it and whether or not it fulfills the intended purpose. You can do so by examining the social media analytics report to get insights on how the audience interacts with the posts.
Optimization on the other hand allows for change and adaptation. Whatever you gather from your measurements, store it. Your findings are valuable to optimize future posts and improve on it as you go along.
Wrapping Up
Being aware of the importance of localization for your business is a game changer. Of course, we couldn’t give you all the tips for website and social media localization. But we hope these 6 tips will help you in a big way. If you need assistance with your localization project, reach out to our experienced localization department! Here at Day Translations, we’re geared towards bringing the world closer together, one language barrier at a time!