Picture by @macrovector via Canva
Let’s talk about globalization…
If your product is good, you’ll definitely be interested in knowing how to help it reach the whole world.
The word ‘globalization’ has been rolling off our tongues for such a long time, it almost seems like borders no longer exist, but they do. If we look at the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of globalization is “the increase of trade around the world, especially by large companies producing and trading goods in many different countries”.
If you plan to sell your product on a worldwide scale, you’ll need to do some market research and plan different strategies.
Let’s take a look at a few localisation-related tips to consider before launching your product on a new market:
1- Find out the legal requirements related to translation in each country where you’re interested in selling:
- Do product safety, assembly or operating instructions need to be translated by law?
- Will you need to add any labels?
2- Localise your product:
- Check which languages you may need translated, and don’t assume English will do for all of them.
- Adapt your product to the market you’re looking to enter and translate packaging, marketing materials, manuals, etc.
3- Consider selling your product online: update your website content to include the languages of the countries where you want to sell it.
If you prefer to use an e-commerce platform, choose one that enables you to offer content in different languages.
It’s also important to be able to modify the web design (images/colours) in order to adapt them to each market.
4- Promote your product with marketing campaigns adapted to each country or market.
Your content needs to take into account the cultural differences in each country, mainly to avoid unintentionally offending these different cultures.
An illustrative example is Japan, which has a very demanding market so you have to be very careful when translating material for this country.
Other points to consider, but which we will not go into here, are whether there is demand for your product in that market, and analyse the competition, distribution channels, customer/user support and quality controls there.
If you want to work with, or market your product in a country in the medium to long-term, you need to invest in communication adapted to that country. You’ll achieve more effective communication that will end up being a competitive advantage.
At LocalizationLab, we are used to working with companies that decide to go international or are already international but want to broaden their horizons even further. We can advise you on the order in which it would make sense to translate your content according to your needs. We will determine with you which is the right tone to use with your clients and whether any variations are necessary depending on the country you wish to target. We will compile all the necessary information and share it with our linguists to ensure we use exactly the right tone and terminology in your translations.
We will work as a team to bring your products to the world.