Learn the difference between internationalization and localization, and how these strategies can help your business expand globally. Discover the importance of translation and cultural adaptation for successful brand localization.
From SaaS platforms like Shopify to restaurant chains like McDonald’s, the most successful brands in the world thrive because of their strong internationalization and localization strategy.
You're probably already familiar with the process of translation—converting text from one language to another. Before you expand your business to new locales, it's important to understand localization and internationalization as well.
Internationalization is the process of preparing products, services, and internal operations for expansion into global markets. Localization is the adaptation of a specific product or service to a unique local market.
Let's explore internationalization and localization in more depth.
Sometimes abbreviated as “i18n,” internationalization refers to the process of making products and services more adaptable to easy localization. Most business experts agree that marketers need to internationalize their content before localizing it.
Internationalization is a key step for selling products and services to consumers in different countries. However, it doesn’t involve any actual translation. For example, IKEA internationalized its assembly instructions by using only illustrations and diagrams, which eliminated the need for translating different sets of instructions for each region.
However, most businesses will eventually need to translate their content for international markets. Before translation, it’s important to internationalize the text by making it as culturally neutral as possible. For example, you might make a text more multilingual by removing culturally specific references or slang.
Here are a few important digital components that should be internationalized.
To sum it up, internationalization concentrates on developing a product that can easily be adapted for target audiences in many different countries. Next, localization takes the internationalized product and makes it as relevant as possible for a specific market.
Sometimes abbreviated as “L10n,” localization is the practice of adapting a product or service to a local target market. This typically takes place after a brand has prepared the content with internationalization.
Let’s use McDonald’s as an example. With more than 30,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, McDonald’s is a popular global brand. Their core product menu is designed to be appealing to various cultures and tastes around the world—this is internationalization. From there, McDonald’s also localizes its regional menus to cater to specific audiences. Here are just a few examples of their localization practices in different cultures:
Successful localization maintains a global brand identity while simultaneously customizing products and services for local markets.
Translation and localization are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are some important differences. Translation is the conversion of text from one language to another. Localization takes translation one step further to make a product or message resonate with a specific target culture—as if it were created there in the first place. A successful localization approach requires close attention to various cultural factors that go beyond words.
Here are some examples:
When your brand is ready to go global, a trusted translation management system (TMS) like Localize can help you jumpstart the localization process. Localize is a no-code translation management system (TMS) translation solution for SaaS platforms, allowing you to easily translate your web app, dashboard, API docs, status page, and much more.
With hundreds of language pairs, just 3 easy steps, and no technical knowledge required, you can localize your SaaS platform in minutes.
Contact us now to learn more about how Localize can help you establish your brand in new markets.
At Localize, our passionate writers explore a wide range of localization topics, from technology trends to cultural insights. With diverse backgrounds in various fields, they bring unique perspectives to their articles, aiming to inform and inspire our readers.
Transform your event management journey from concept to analysis with Releventful. Elevate each step with our comprehensive tools designed for unforgettable event experiences.
Explore our features now!