Where to Start with Localization?

Introduction

The importance of localization cannot be understated when entering a new market. Especially in Japan, showing a local market presence is key to gaining the trust of Japanese buyers. Local language support and localization a key aspects of building a local presence.

There’s more complexity to localization than just translation. Translating the language is one important aspect, but local optimizations require a more nuanced approach than just translation. Localization is a great starting point for market entry, but localization itself is a large initiative. Clearly identifying the short and long term goals will provide clarity when putting together a localization plan.

Is Internationalization Complete?

Before even putting a localization plan together, it is important to understand whether localization is even possible. The prerequisite for localization is to have internationalization complete.

Internationalization is the process of designing and preparing software applications so that they can be easily adapted to various languages, regions, and cultures without requiring changes to the core code. The goal is to create a flexible software product that can support multiple languages and cultural conventions, facilitating its use in different global markets. Aspects of internationalization include:

1. Locale-Aware Formatting: Ensuring the software correctly handles date, time, numbers, and currency according to the user’s locale.

2. Unicode Support: Using Unicode to represent characters to support multiple languages, including those with non-Latin scripts.

3. Separation of Text and Code: Storing all user-visible text in external resource files, enabling easy translation and updates without modifying the code.

4. Layout Flexibility: Designing user interfaces that can accommodate different text lengths, especially for languages that require more space (e.g., German vs. English).

5. Directionality: Supporting right-to-left (RTL) languages like Arabic and Hebrew, which may require flipping the UI layout.

6. Cultural Differences: Adapting symbols, icons, colors, and imagery to fit cultural norms and preferences.

7. Time Zones: Managing different time zones and daylight saving time adjustments.

8. Sorting and Collation: Handling language-specific sorting rules, which may differ significantly from one language to another.

9. Input Methods: Supporting various keyboard layouts and input methods, particularly for languages with complex scripts or input systems.

10. Accessibility: Ensuring the software meets local accessibility standards for users with disabilities.

There may be more considerations, but internationalization tends to be a pretty big technical project. Many teams underestimate the level of effort to internationalize. Internationalization tends to be more time-consuming for larger, more complex applications. If international expansion is a long-term goal, having internationalization in mind early while makes sense. It may take a little longer to build, but it’ll likely save time compared to working backward to complete internationalization. Here’s another good resource on internationalization.

The good news is that most platforms can be internationalized in chucks. Many companies can localize the homepage, documentation, CMS (blog), and app separately. Given that the app is usually the most complex, it usually takes time. If the internationalization isn’t complete, the best approach is to prioritize the short and long term goals of the market entry.

Prioritize by Setting Clear Goals

Regardless of whether the internationalization setup is complete, the importance of laying out the goals of market entry cannot be understated. The long-term goal is rather simple: Revenue from the new market. The short-term goal may vary based on the sales and marketing funnel. Here are three scenarios that may change the order of localization:

Scenario 1: Servicing Existing Customers

In the fortunate case of having existing customers with no localization, the priority may be to increase engagement from these customers. The increased engagement may lead to stronger adoption and ultimately expansion of revenue. The ideal situation would be to ask the users whether local language support would increase engagement. To get a deeper understanding of the situation, asking whether the documentation or the app in the local language would help can add clarity to the localization plan.

Documentation and the app are the usual suspects in increasing the engagement of existing customers. Unless the user is familiar with English, the usage may be limited. The documentation will provide clear instructions for the end users. The app is also important for further adoption. Even if some end-users are familiar with English, it’s unlikely that all end-users have English familiarity. The documentation will address the initial set up and the app can positively impact further adoption. If the internationalization setup is not complete, the suggested order would be documentation then the app. Internationalization of the documentation is usually less complex.

Content could also be helpful in further educating the existing customer base. Useful content can intrigue the end-user to engage more with the app. Education is a key part of market entry, especially in Japan, as the technology itself may be new to the market. There tends to be a lag in the availability of software in Japan, so what’s ubiquitous in other markets may still be relatively new in Japan.

Scenario 2: Increasing Engagement from Leads

If leads are coming through the funnel, the priorities may change. If leads are coming in, it’s important to understand where the blockers are. If leads are not engaging the app at all, the documentation and the app are focus areas for localization. Localizing the documentation would be a good place to start, as the internationalization setup is less complex. If the engagement doesn’t improve with the documentation, the app should be considered for localization.

Understanding why leads don’t convert to paying customers if there are leads in the funnel. The usual suspect is engagement after the initial signup. If it’s not engagement, then the problem likely lies elsewhere.

Scenario 3: Traffic and Lead Generation

If there are no existing customers or leads, the priority will likely be traffic and lead generation. To generate traffic and leads, content is a great place to start. The good news is that the CMS is usually less complex to internationalize, so the technical setup may be less time-consuming. Generating traffic and leads through content may take time, so having patience is key.

Once traffic and leads pick up, it’s important to monitor whether they are engaging the app and are converting. There are cases where early adopters purchase the app without localization. Limited conversions may signal the need to localize the app and documentation.

The one caveat to starting with traffic generation if there are no leads or customers is the complexity of the product. If the product is complex and there is evidence that engagement will be low without localized documentation or app, it may be good to consider doing all three simultaneously.

Deriving Goals with Sales and Marketing Funnel

The sales and marketing funnel will be different for each company. Though documentation, content, and the app should be localized over time, the current sales and marketing funnel can provide direction on where to start the localization efforts.

If the goal is to increase engagement from customers and leads, then the documentation and app are good places to start. If the market entry is a fresh start, generating traffic and leads is important.

Two factors that also play into the decision are the internationalization setup and the complexity of the app. By incorporating all the considerations, the order of the localization should become clear.

Conclusion

Though this post focused on the initial aspects of localization. Further localization includes offering pricing in the local currency, creating case studies with local customers, and providing local language support and sales. Monitoring the results of the initial localization efforts will provide help provide additional context when considering full entry. The initial steps of localization should be strategic, so the best results can be observed in a timely manner.

AI is reducing the barrier of localization, but it is important to make sure not to only rely on machine translations. AI is also changing the overall GTM landscape. If you’d like to learn more about entering the Japanese market, book a free consultation here.