Expanding into global markets is an exhilarating prospect for any startup. Yet, hard facts show that 70% of startups fail to scale and grow. Understandably, founders often want to enter as many markets as possible to attract the widest audience. However, going into global markets without the proper preparation and support risks significant financial and brand damage, which is what makes 70% fail. Let’s see some examples.
Jumping Headfirst Into Global Markets Can Lead to Setbacks
To expand internationally, companies focus on picking target markets and product localization. Other teams focus on opening offices, acquiring customers, and generating revenue. It is inevitable that when teams enter new markets without fully optimized systems and proper governance, problems arise quickly. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) collected AUD 552.5 million in income tax liabilities during 2023-24, and most non-compliance was “simple mistakes” in Australia. Businesses failing to align with ATO requirements face costly fines. Fines have further consequences that can severely damage your brand and disturb business operations.
Localization to Consider: Cultural Differences
Marketing success at home does not mean instant success globally. Even among neighboring countries or regions, cultural differences in societal values, consumer attitudes and behaviors, and more can vary drastically. For example, Pampers by Procter & Gamble wanted to target new parents in Japan with the ad campaign that was successful in Western countries. However, their vision of a stork carrying a baby turned out to be rather off-putting to Japanese parents.
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Operational Integration: The Cornerstone of Success
Successful expansion means success through integrated operations. No global company can succeed if each office and country office works separately from each other. Systems and processes should be consistent and standardized from day one. Many teams only realize they have a problem when, for instance, a newly opened office cannot efficiently deliver sales pipeline reporting, project profitability reports, or when people use a spreadsheet to manage the project workflow. Finance requires a formalized system to connect. The operational department often becomes involved only after key indicators are no longer met or the red flags keep popping up.
Localization to Consider: The Fit for Purpose Strategy
Localization agencies are here to help you. Work with localization partners who can provide you not just translation but insights on choosing and executing the right markets. Translation is not just a multilingual website in 30 languages, but all web copy, social media, email templates, marketing materials, and customer communications being correctly translated. With localization as an integral component of your expansion strategy, your brand remains consistent throughout all communications.
Localization: Go Beyond Translation
Localization also means:
- Local vocabulary and phrases used
- Promotions tied to local holidays and events
- Adjusted content per season (summer, winter)
- Region-specific contact information, currency, units, and terms.
Product managers need a detailed strategic and financial plan before signing leases or hiring employees to ensure expansion decisions are driven by a solid business case, not vanity.
From Chaos to Clarity: Laying the Groundwork for Scalable Localization
Scaling localization isn’t simply a matter of grand ambition. You also need a scalable localization infrastructure that will scale alongside your growing global operation as you venture into more and more markets. A scalable base will turn one-off translation projects into an organized localization engine that can handle any scale or complexity while remaining effective.
First, you need to start with the correct set of localization metrics that define how you plan to measure success. Setting clear targets and KPIs for localization success is a critical first step for any organization. But what exactly are you localizing for? Are there higher sales figures? Reducing bounce rates on a website? Increasing app downloads? Improved customer retention? As always, establishing clear goals will ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page and reduce wasted effort and resources.
Second, your market targeting needs to be laser-focused. Market research should include potential users, regional competitors, and the unique value proposition of your product to customers in each market. Be aware that language differences may exist within a language by region. For example, Spanish as spoken in Spain is different from the Spanish of Latin America. The writing system for Mandarin will be different in mainland China vs. Taiwan, for example.
A more detailed resource plan should include:
- Budget and scope: Define priorities so you can devote resources to markets with the highest ROI potential.
- Timeline and quality requirements: Use human translation or machine translation, depending on your needs.
- Team composition: Build a centralized localization team to increase cohesion and communication efficiency.
Centralized localization teams also outperform decentralized localization within different departments. In fact, a recent study found 64% of global marketers have specialized content localization teams now, up from 47% two years ago. This approach helps to eliminate silos and gives a single point of ownership for each market under a localization manager.
You may staff your localization teams with internal and/or external resources. Some businesses will have a core internal team in-house for their most important markets and may outsource or co-manage other content with external providers. An experienced localization partner is an excellent source for market intelligence and brand consistency.
The key to your localization pipeline is your content management platform. It’s essential to choose a solution that offers seamless integration to your software development platforms and CAT tools, as well as automatic logging and an intuitive user interface. Automating as much of the manual logging and tracking effort as possible will save resources and allow you to track project status at a glance.
In addition, you should consider shifting from a traditional waterfall localization process to agile localization workflows as you scale. With an agile localization approach, you can localize continuously and reduce the risk of significant delays.
The Tech, Teams, and Workflows Behind Smooth Global Execution
Successful global marketing efforts have well-oiled machines that encompass technology, teams, and processes. There’s been a marked growth in the international footprint of U.S. companies: more than half (51%) have a presence in two or more countries, and 23% have a four-country operation underway. Companies can’t reach that level of international growth without operational excellence—otherwise, they risk the failure points we mentioned earlier.
Marketing technology has evolved over the years, and localization companies leverage it to transform how organizations target potential customers across markets. With this technology, marketers can retarget potential customers with personalized messaging as their browsing habits change. In the past 10 years, we’ve shifted from targeting large groups to hyper-specific personalization.
A hybrid structure with standardization at the core and flexibility at the periphery supports the strongest global marketing operation. The most successful companies move their localization staff into a single group. It centralizes teams and improves coherence by removing silos between them. 64% of global marketers have unified their team structure so that one person, the localization manager, has clear ownership.
Carefully chosen technology supports operational excellence. A translation management system (TMS) is the center of any scalable localization infrastructure. The TMS is the hub of localized workflows and houses language assets for an organization. The right platform offers:
- Integrations to development platforms and CAT tools
- Automated status and workflow management
- Multi-content support that goes beyond plain text
- Access control and version management.
The hybrid onshore/offshore production model is particularly successful with omnichannel content efforts and can lower your costs by 42%. Onshore can handle the strategic direction of content, while offsite handles production and execution at scale.
AI is a crucial tool in localization workflows, with companies leveraging generative AI saving 11.4 hours per week per marketer. Teams reallocate this saved time to focus more effort on campaign strategy and creative ideation. Content writers have come to refine the AI-drafted first-pass copy, accelerating ideation time by over 50%.
A localization company’s technical knowledge will help you build an operational backbone to turn content chaos into consistency. It’s not just the translation—it’s an ecosystem where people, processes, technology, and governance function in tandem to produce content that’s on-brand, on-time, and on-budget.
How Top Brands Build Localization Into Their Marketing DNA
Big-name brands have made cultural understanding a core part of their organization’s culture. One study found that the top-performing companies were 36% more likely to have the highest ethnic diversity. This demonstrates that cultural intelligence can have a direct and positive impact on business performance.
The Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign is an example of this approach in action. Labels on bottles were localized with common first names across 70 markets. In Australia, bottles had names like “Sophie” on them. In China, bottles featured “Classmate” and “Best Friend”. As a result of these cultural customizations, brand affinity increased 158% and volume grew by 5.4%.
Netflix has invested in localization by building local teams dedicated to content creation. This is just one component of their localized experience. The streaming service changes subtitle options, currencies, and adjusts its pricing tiers based on each market’s income distribution. The key is partnering with a localization company that has the cultural nuance capabilities that extend far beyond language translation alone.
Airbnb has advanced localization by featuring listings that reflect local architecture and interior design elements. Users can access their platform in over 60 languages, and customer reviews are translated into local languages. Attention to these details has contributed to Airbnb’s expansive reach of 1.5 million listings across 34,000 cities.
Companies are aware of the return on investment of localization efforts, with 84% stating that it has had a positive impact on revenue. When working with the right localization partner, global messages can be tailored into local personalized experiences that enhance user engagement and conversions.
Conclusion: Scalable Ops Aren’t Built Overnight—They’re Built Local-First
A localization-ready marketing machine is the launchpad for businesses that seek to scale their operations on a global stage. We’ve identified how operational readiness is the game-changer between achieving business expansion and expensively missing the mark. Product managers must shift their mindset to view international growth with a more methodical approach instead of acting opportunistically.
The right localization partner can transform potential cultural pitfalls into opportunities. Additionally, it provides a uniform brand voice resonating with target local audiences across every channel. Investing in localization can boost revenue by up to 84%, cementing this strategic choice as an essential rather than a luxury.
Effective organizations use a centralized team structure to combat silos and establish clear localization ownership. This prevents the fractures that typically derail international marketing strategies. Product managers should also consider the hybrid onshore/offshore model to optimize expenses and maintain high quality across all target markets.
The technology landscape is crucial in scaling efforts. Employing a dependable translation management system alongside AI-driven solutions can free up marketing teams by 11.4 hours per week. Time thus saved can be redirected to strategic initiatives. Product managers must ensure their localization partner excels in these technical domains while being attuned to the nuances of the industry.
Examining brands like Coca-Cola, Netflix, and Airbnb reveals how localization can become a strategic advantage when ingrained in the company’s DNA. These brands do not simply translate words; they adapt their entire playbook to the local market’s distinct characteristics. Product managers can extract localization lessons to make cultural fluency a core competency, not an afterthought.
Ultimately, the companies that have successfully launched on a global stage embrace localization as a strategic business function rather than merely a translation exercise. Product managers who set well-defined goals, assemble dedicated teams, leverage the right tech, and partner with seasoned localization companies will position their businesses for sustained international success. This fundamental shift in perspective often bridges the chasm between struggling enterprises and global market leaders.
