Localization is one of the key marketing terms of the 21st century, but how are companies using it to expand across the globe? The following examples show us how localization is being used in different industries to help businesses to expand using a local approach.
Travel and Tourism That Helps Visitors Connect
This is a good example of an industry where companies need to look far and wide for their clients. The likes of hotels and restaurants need to be accessible to people from different cultures and backgrounds while retaining the local appeal that has attracted tourists to the destination in the first place. This means giving them a genuine local experience they can connect with.
The Airbnb model has successfully disrupted the hotel industry and now operates in 190 countries. The customer experience begins with the all-important translate button, but also includes local customer service and payment options. Their model is heavily based on helping travelers to connect and to feel they belong wherever they go, so it’s no surprise that they’ve placed so much importance on localization as they’ve grown internationally.
Online Gaming and Betting Has a Local Focus
It might seem that everyone plays and bets in the same way. However, there are also local preferences. In terms of video games, this can mean more than a simple translation of the on-screen text or marketing materials. In more complex games or those from the major developers, graphics and voiceovers will be changed to make it feel as though the game was designed for the local market.
The betting industry has a series of unique challenges, as people from different countries also like to wager on their favorite sports or play their chosen casino games. Pronet Gaming tells us that their gaming platform for retail betting operators is fully localized for individual target markets and can also be customized. This lets each operator tailor the service to the markets they want to join and then deliver it speedily.
Streaming Services Opt for Local Content
Streaming services have become massively popular all over the planet, as millions of people choose the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu for their home entertainment needs. While these services typically have a large percentage of content that is available in every part of the world, they use high-quality subtitles and dubbing to help everyone enjoy it equally.
Netflix is now offered in just about every country in the world, and its strategy of producing local content has helped to establish it internationally. Data from 2019 confirms that Netflix original content with a local twist was the most popular part of their service in countries as diverse as Thailand, the UK, Japan, and Sweden, so expect them to ramp up the volume of local productions.
The leaders in the industries we’ve looked at have realized the importance of a solid localization strategy. However, it’s clear that this approach also applies to many other industries and is something we’ll be hearing a lot more about in the future.
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