You are probably a software developer, looking for global expansion opportunities for your application or software. You might have a unique idea or concept that has the potential to win the hearts of global audiences, but unfortunately, your app won’t find success in the international market. Don’t get us wrong, it’s just that you are unaware of the secrets that lie behind the successful global expansion. What are these? Keep reading to find out.
Not too long ago, software developers used to create applications for local markets only. With the passage of time and evolution in the field of technology, they got to know the importance of globalization. Luckily, they found reliable resources such as software and mobile app translation services to ensure successful global reach. They help developers adapt their products according to the target audience’s preferences. Even though translation services are easily available, there are still people not enlightened about the concept.
Translation or localization are indeed crucial factors but are complex and lengthy processes based on techniques that you must know to be a developer. So, let’s begin with:
Understanding Global Markets
Regardless of your app’s nature, niche, or genre, one thing that is important to consider before developing is understanding global markets. If you are thinking that an application or software developed while keeping the local market in mind will get famous in the global market right after its launch, sorry buddy, that’s all just fantasy.
Global market means you are targeting an audience who speak more than 7000 languages, follow diverse cultures, and have different preferences. And most importantly, all these things have a great influence on their buying habits. Like, if your application or software doesn’t speak the language of your target audience, almost 70% of people won’t download it. And the remaining 30% will uninstall it because it doesn’t adapt to their cultural preferences. This might sound complex, but it is what it is. So, believe it and do proper:
1) Market Research and Analysis
Before entering any new market, make sure you are well aware of your audience’s linguistic and cultural preferences. Also, find out whether the product you are offering is in demand or not. Because, if something isn’t the need of people, they don’t care to stop by and read captions.
Building a Global Product
If you see potential in the target market, the next and most important step is to localize your application or software. Localization is the process of adapting your application to diverse languages and cultures. This includes localizing the UI, the app’s name, description, and graphics. This is the key to ensuring success in the global marketplace. By getting your software localized from professional software localization services, ensure that your software resonates with the target audience’s local preferences. They are native linguists with subject-matter expertise who translate the content accurately to make your application easily accessible for everyone regardless of their linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
2) Compatibility
Well, localizing the app or software doesn’t fulfill your responsibility. Localization also includes alterations in content format and structure. This is common because during translation, the length of the content increases or decreases depending on the language you choose. Like, if you translate a sentence from English to German, the length of the sentence will increase to almost 35%. This is where problems occur. You are required to change the design, but the translated content doesn’t fit the default design. Or it gets scattered when you run the app or software on different devices. So, make sure that your application is compatible with a wide range of devices and supports older OS versions as well.
Expanding Your Team and Reach
Expanding your team is directly proportional to your reach. Sounds interesting, right? Let’s find out how. While going global, you are targeting various regions, languages, and cultures. Do you think that you can handle all of this alone? Do not dare to do that because globalization requires extensive resources and time. And all of your efforts will get shattered in the blink of an eye due to misinterpretation or mistranslation. For example, a joke that sounds humorous to you might sound offensive in another language. Or you might fail to translate the technical terms accurately and lose the context.
Here are the best ways to create a reliable team:
1) Hiring and Managing Global Talent
Even though you are hiring experts from different parts of the world, every member of your team should be in contact with each other. They can use any medium for communication but must be aware of who is responsible for what task. This collaboration helps in the overall development process by ensuring that everything is in a loop and smoothly running towards success. To ensure effective collaboration and productivity across diverse locations, it’s crucial to have robust systems in place for managing remote teams globally.
Develop a product that leaves a lasting impact on the audience’s mind, and they prefer you over competitors. Therefore, do not compromise on quality. Choose only professional developers, content creators, and a translation company to create a market-leading product.
2) Marketing and Promotion
Globalization requires marketing and promotion in multiple languages. Localize the marketing strategy and promotional materials while keeping the target audience’s likes and dislikes in mind. Know how your audience likes their advertisements, banners, or other stuff. Such as finding out whether your audience likes lengthy descriptions or short slogans, prefers bright colors with bold content, or has light colors with unique font style.
These strategies might sound common, but skip most minds while going global. Follow the above-mentioned techniques to create a fully localized application or software and ensure successful global expansion. Good luck!
