Bringing products to global markets involves a multitude of steps to ensure you’re meeting the expectations and needs of new cultures. But one important element often forgotten is content localization.

Your content should create a welcoming and informative introduction to your products for customers in new markets using their native language. Companies already put significant effort into crafting great content for their countries of origin. Global customers expect the same from you before they make a purchase.

Companies will need increasing amounts of translating power to keep up with growth in global demand. CSA Research found companies need content in 14 languages in order to access 90% of the internet-accessible GDP. That increases to 17 languages by 2027.

You might consider solving this problem by running your product descriptions through Google Translate and putting the results live on-site. But you’re missing key details discerning what global customers want and making it harder to reach your overseas sales goals.

Global customers expect localized content

Localized content is what makes your business stand out in a global marketplace. Your product descriptions are a big part of your overall global product plan, and you should be investing the time and attention needed to create content that resonates with audiences in different languages.

The market is demanding this kind of content. Research has found that 75% of global customers prefer buying products in their native language, and 60% rarely or never buy from English-only websites. Companies producing an engaging purchasing experience in native languages will attract and retain the loyalty of global customers.

For almost all online customers, the product description introduces them to your products. Well-crafted descriptions matter to your country-of-origin markets, but for global markets, the content forms the basis of the translated descriptions you’ll use to make impressions on customers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Where to start with content localization

While you’ve gathered your products and are prepared to take them into new markets, you also need to have your content translated. Where do you start when you’re ready to create localized content?

You should already be conducting market research to determine which of your products are best for a new global market. Review the accompanying product descriptions and refine the copy to produce a stronger original product description. When you’re translating content into potentially more than a dozen languages, it’s much simpler to execute the process with clean and compelling original content.

If you’re managing thousands of SKUs, translating them all can easily overwhelm. Instead, make the process more manageable by thinking like how a customer would shop. Start translating the most popular items and move down the list. Your top-performing products’ content will be prepared to capture global customers, and your other content will follow in time.

While systems like Google Translate might seem the easiest path forward to translate your content, you should consider the benefits of human-powered translation. Having the right words solves part of the equation, but the context of the words matters just as much. Humans can serve as your in-country review specialists, ensuring you understand the specific cultural context to use the translated words correctly. You’ll then have matched content to a culture’s expectations to create a natural-sounding conversation with customers, making it easy to buy from you.

Content localization is all about putting the customer first and creating strong content to inform buying decisions. That way, they’ll better understand your products’ benefits. As you expand into global markets, ensure you’re properly planning to localize product descriptions with help from human translators to best relate to your new customers.