Localization is not just about translations; it is a much broader and more complicated process. Localizing your brand requires a lot of research and effort, and you must take into consideration different aspects of your brand. For any band, it is very important to fit into the cultural, social, and economic characteristics of new markets. It would allow them to better connect with their customers and create a positive brand identity in that marketplace. And for the execution of that strategy, you can employ a professional localization platform or a translation solution for enterprises.
You must understand what goes into a smart brand localization as well as what are the major localization mistakes all brands must avoid. In this post, we’ll talk about some common localization mistakes made by companies, and how you can avoid them.
Top 5 Brand Localization Mistakes
Localization is a challenging task that goes beyond translations. You are likely to make mistakes that can badly affect your brand image in a foreign marketplace. You must be very careful while localizing your brand without mistakes. Following are some common localization mistakes every brand must avoid.
Totally relying on a translation management system
The translation is a major aspect of any localization project, and it is important to maintain the quality of content. If you’re only relying on machine translations, it would make your content more prone to errors and mistakes. There are many open-source translation tools available for translations, but it is never recommended to use them for professional purposes. However, you can use a professional translation management system, but you may still need human assistance to ensure the quality of translation. Machine translation tools use advanced algorithms to generate high-quality translation, but you can’t totally rely on them. To avoid errors, you should use technology and human expertise side-by-side.
Translation blunders are quite common, even the top brand has gone wrong with their translation. For instance, KFC, once in China, translated their tagline “it’s finger licking good” as “eat off your fingers”. It seems like they’re relying too much on machine translations.
Ignoring the cultural nuances
Translations should not be just about swapping words from one language to another. How you communicate with your audiences has a huge influence on your overall brand’s credibility. When you simply translate your brand content to another language, ignoring the cultural context, it is very less likely to resonate with your potential customers. So, you better honor the culture of the target market and create content that is culturally appropriate and causes no offense to people. Most of the time, companies that overlook the cultural context end up offending the locals. Such businesses have a hard time building brand trust.
Culture is an important thing to consider while doing localization; otherwise, it would not just affect your brand but also put you in trouble. For instance, portraying females in exposing clothes in your ad isn’t acceptable in countries like Saudi Arabia. You must know it to avoid any legal penalties.
Using one format for all regions
People are familiar with different formats and methods depending on the countries they live in. You should be mindful of the formatting used in different countries to represent time, date, etc. For instance, there are some countries that use a 12-hour clock, and some are more familiar with a 24-hour clock. On your website, if you’re showing the time, you must use the time format accordingly. And the same thing goes for date formatting. Using the right formatting on your website would make the content more understandable for the customers, and it will also enhance their online experience.
Similarly, if you’re using only one payment method in all regions, you’re making it challenging for your customers to buy stuff from you. So, make sure you are providing more payment options to your customers, based on their countries. It would make online ordering more convenient and easier for them.
Hardcoding the content
It is very important to start your business keeping localization in mind. Whether you’re developing a website or building software, make sure you’re not hardcoding the elements and keeping room for modification. Hardcoding the content is a major mistake made by companies that make their localization processes more time-consuming and troublesome afterward. When you hardcode elements in your website or software, you have to write new code from scratch, whenever you want to enter a new marketplace. So, you must first create your software considering the localization in the future, and for this you do Unicode. You hire developers who are familiar with Unicode, which saves a lot of time in localization. When your software is made using Unicode, it will automatically make changes to itself based on every new region, all you have to do is to make minor adjustments.
Not localizing the graphics
It is not just the textual content, but also the visual graphics that you need to localize your new marketplaces. Graphics have more impact on your audiences than the textual content and they also play a role in getting you more eyeballs. Any symbol or image you are adding to the visual must be recreated for every region so it will blend in with their culture. Wrong depiction of visuals of an object that doesn’t resonate with the culture or a scene that causes offense to locals should be removed from the images. Understanding the cultural trends and taboos would help you mindfully design the graphics for every new market.
Final word!
We know that a brand that looks native is more likely to grab the attention of your target customers, and you can only achieve it with a solid localization strategy. However, it is important to do your research and get all the required tools and expertise before starting the localization journey. Mistakes that are mentioned in this article could badly affect your brand’s reputation, so you must timely deal with them. Knowing the potential mistakes and how to eradicate them, would help you get desirable results from your localization project.
If you don’t have an in-house localization team, you can partner with a professional localization platform, get a translation solution for enterprises, or get your hands on a translation management system. Having these tools would make your localization project management easier and hassle-free for you.
