What is localization in business? Best practices for global growth

Localization goes beyond word-for-word translation, ensuring products, marketing materials, and user experiences align with cultural expectations, preferences, and linguistic nuances. It overcomes language barriers and adapts content to resonate with local audiences so businesses can enhance customer engagement, build brand loyalty, and ultimately drive higher sales.

Localization is more than a “best practice.” It’s a necessity for global brands that hope to achieve sales goals. According to CSA Research’s “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy” study, 76% of consumers prefer to purchase products with information available in their own language. And translation alone isn’t enough to beat the competition. Content must be carefully adapted to ensure it feels native to each new market.

This guide explores localization’s crucial role in growing business sales and explains why it’s a game-changer for international expansion. From the benefits of localization to successful business examples, we’ll illustrate how translation and localization services like Smartling can help businesses thrive in new markets.

Exploring localization’s meaning in business: Top 5 benefits of localization

Localization grants organizations access to new markets by presenting multilingual content that feels natural to the target audience. Here’s why localization is important for global businesses:

1. Enhanced customer engagement and trust

Localized business content resonates with audiences by ensuring messaging aligns with their cultural norms, values, and expectations. When a brand speaks its customers’ language—both literally and figuratively—they are more likely to engage, trust its products, and make a purchase. This builds a foundation for strong brand-consumer relationships, fostering long-term customer loyalty.

Additionally, localization ensures all aspects of communication, from website content to customer service interactions, are tailored to meet the expectations of distinct cultural groups. Beyond translated text, localization employs imagery, colors, humor, cultural references, and payment methods that are familiar to local consumers.

2. Increased sales and revenue

Investing in localization can directly impact your business’s bottom line. A well-localized website or e-commerce store removes language barriers, streamlines the customer journey, and provides a seamless shopping experience. This results in higher conversion rates and increased revenue from local markets.

Without localized content, you effectively lock out a large swath of your potential customer base. This is particularly critical for e-commerce businesses. A survey of 10 non-Anglophone countries by CSA Research found that 60% of online shoppers rarely or never buy from English-only websites. E-commerce giant Amazon owes much of its international success to its commitment to website localization. 

Localizing product descriptions, checkout pages, and customer support helps businesses eliminate friction in the purchasing process, encouraging more customers to complete transactions. Translation tools that integrate with e-commerce platforms (e.g., Smartling’s Shopify Connector) make this process easy and efficient.

3. Brand consistency across markets

A strong and consistent brand image is crucial for global businesses, and localization plays a vital role in maintaining that consistency. When expanding into new markets, companies must ensure their messaging, tone, and visual identity align with their established brand while also adapting to cultural nuances.

Localization helps businesses avoid misunderstandings or cultural missteps that could harm their reputation. By tailoring content, marketing campaigns, and product messaging while preserving brand identity, companies ensure each new market receives a cohesive experience and develops a similar image of the brand.

For example, global brands like Coca-Cola maintain a consistent visual identity and messaging across multiple languages while making subtle adaptations to align with local markets. This balance of localization and brand consistency strengthens consumer trust and global recognition.

4. Improved SEO and online visibility

Localized websites rank higher in local search engine results, helping businesses attract organic traffic from new markets.

Search engines prioritize culturally relevant content written in the target audience’s native language. Users are also more likely to spend more time interacting with a localized website—another important factor that can increase your relevance in the eyes of search engines.

Brands that localize their content are better positioned to attain a prized first-page ranking in search results, improving visibility and driving more potential customers to their offerings. 

5. Stronger brand loyalty and retention

Localization fosters deeper customer connections by providing a familiar and relevant user experience. Brands that invest in localized content build long-term relationships with their audience, increasing customer retention and loyalty.

People respond better to content presented in their first language, and cultural considerations regarding UX further increase this appeal. In addition, making an effort to localize your content demonstrates your commitment to understanding and respecting customers’ specific needs and preferences. It’s a powerful differentiator against competitors that haven’t bothered to tailor their approach to local markets.

Localized business success stories

Major international brands provide excellent examples of the power of localization. Here are two case studies in appealing to global target markets:

Netflix: Personalized content for global audiences

Netflix’s incredible success in global markets owes much to its localization strategy. The streaming giant offers localized interfaces, subtitles, dubbing, and region-specific recommendations. This ensures audiences in different countries enjoy a seamless, engaging experience and receive content that aligns with their preferences.

Netflix goes beyond simple translation by adjusting show titles, descriptions, and promotional materials to align with local cultural norms. The company also produces original programming tailored to specific regions, such as “Lupin” in France and “La Casa de Papel” in Spain. These approaches help Netflix engage international viewers on a more personal level.

By prioritizing cultural relevance and usability in multiple languages, Netflix has built a loyal subscriber base in over 190 countries, outpacing competitors like Amazon Prime that had, in some cases, established themselves in local markets well before Netflix.

McDonald’s: Adapting to local tastes

McDonald’s offers a famous example of successful localization. Rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all approach worldwide, the fast-food giant offers regionally specific menu items to target audiences while embracing local values and sensibilities in its marketing campaigns.

In India, for example, McDonald’s advertising leans heavily into local values like family togetherness, and restaurants offer a beef-free menu with a wide range of vegetarian-friendly options. This approach is ideal for a country where cows are sacred and around 30% of the population avoids meat altogether.

Meanwhile, Japanese customers can chow down on teriyaki burgers and matcha hand pies while enjoying fun collaborations with popular franchises like Hello Kitty and Pokémon.

By adjusting its branding, advertising, and menu offerings to meet local market preferences, McDonald’s successfully appeals to various consumers worldwide. This cultural adaptation fosters stronger consumer connections and boosts brand affinity.

How localization turns global challenges into opportunities

International markets present challenges for many businesses, from linguistic barriers to cultural differences. However, localization services can turn these challenges into opportunities by streamlining multilingual content production.

When you cater to prospects in their preferred language, you aren’t just giving them information; you’re giving them the confidence to be your customer. You’re building a stronger, more consistent brand that’s easier to find and interact with.

Smartling provides a strategic advantage for enterprises seeking international expansion. Our AI-powered translation management platform delivers everything you need to automate and manage translations at an enterprise scale. Simplify the localization process and make global markets more accessible with automated workflows, integrations with popular tools, and intelligent QA.

Leverage your content localization strategy with Smartling

Supercharge your localization efforts today by downloading our eBook, “Top 5 Insights to Improve Your Localization Strategy.” This free resource contains actionable tips from our most recent Global Ready Conference that you can use to boost your company’s success in new and emerging markets.