Once you decide that you want to take the dive in expanding your operations into another country, a lot has to happen BEFORE you can actually start operating in that country. Believe it or not, one area that will determine your success rate is how well you localize your content not only related to your products and services, but also content related to your internal operations as a company.
It should be well understood by now that your target audience is not likely to give your company importance unless content is available in their language. In some instances, you have to do further localization into a specific dialect. For example, Canadian French or Saudi Arabian Arabic.
Localization process
To that end, you will experience efficiency and cost savings if you streamline your localization process. According to a study done by Gilbane and authored by Ciarlone, Kadie, and Laplante “the Global Content Value Chain (GCVC) is a strategy for moving multilingual content from creation through consumption according to the needs of its target audience. The strategy is supported by practices in disciplines such as content management and localization/translation management. The enabling infrastructure for the strategy comprises people, process, and technology.”
According to the same study, the end result of applying GCVC should make your content to be:
- Accurate
- Accessible
- Brand-worthy
- Consistent
- Quality Driven
Localizing content
To that end, it is vital that you set up a system for translating/localizing content from the start when content is being created. In other words, translating your content should not be an afterthought. Rather it should be an integral part of your content creation process that relies on people, process, and technology.
There are a variety of options you have when it comes to creating a solid operating infrastructure for your localization needs. Contact us today to discuss your needs. We will help you to become more efficient and save money in the long run.
Acknowledgement: Gilbane-Multilingual-Communications-Report-July-2008.pdf