Localize! Localize! Localize!

So you want to make your business accessible to potential customers who speak other languages. That’s great! You’ll be expanding your customer base and increasing goodwill with customers of different language backgrounds. However, you need to be sure you translate your business materials the right way.

Is there a wrong way, you may ask. Yes, yes there is.

Translation isn’t just taking the words you write in one language and writing them again in a different language. If it were that easy, we wouldn’t need translators, just dictionaries. Translations are nuanced and subtle and require a depth of knowledge and mastery of the language. But even this isn’t enough. You still have to translate the right way.

Ok, so what’s the right way, you ask. Well, I’m glad you asked.

The right way to translate business material is localization. Localization is the process of adapting your content to the local market you’re looking to serve. This is more than just using the language spoken by the customers you’re looking to reach. You need to utilize the manners and mores of their local area and their culture in order to appeal to your customers and convince them that you understand the way they live their lives.

Localization is important in an era of globalized business. This is not immediately obvious. Many people think that if you make a website it will have universal appeal. After all, your company is the same no matter who is looking to buy from you, right? Wrong. A company that presents only one face to every customer comes across as monolithic, impersonal, and out-of-touch. It’s a sure-fire way to turn off customers.

So what do you do?

You need to thoroughly review your business materials with an eye toward the culture that will be consuming them. Did you know that colors have different meanings in different cultures? For example, while the color white may read as sleek and clean in Western contexts, in Eastern cultures like China, Japan and Korea it is the color of mourning and death. Obviously, this can have a big impact on your business if you choose colors that read “wrong” in different cultures.

You also need to be sure that contact information is listed in the proper format for the country you are targeting, including postal codes and phone numbers, which differ between and even within countries. In the UK, for example, different areas have different length telephone numbers. Little details like whether to write the date as 18 April 2008 or April 18, 2008 go a long way toward showing your customers that you understand their way of life and are a caring partner in their community.

But it’s not all about image. You also need to be sure that your localized content is appropriate for your audience, does not inadvertently cause offense, and is appropriate for selling your products or services in the environment you are targeting.

Overall, the bottom line is this: Localization is an often-overlooked necessity for expanding a business into new markets. Ignore it at your peril!