Were you perhaps under the impression that localization meant customizing your message (website, documentation, sales material, etc.) to a foreign language-speaking market abroad? Well, despite the fact that this assumption is generally applicable, it is not entirely true.
The reality is that in countries with high levels of diversity, localization may imply adapting your message for people that live in your base country and perhaps in your very same local community. For example, in the United States it is quite well known that the Hispanic demographic commands significant purchasing power, and that furthermore many Hispanics in the US are more likely to make purchases or request information when they are being targeted in their native language.
Hence, during the drafting of a localization strategy and plan, companies need to remember that they should keep their gaze close to home as well as further afield, identifying valuable targets not only in foreign markets but also in linguistically differentiated local demographics.
To help drive the point home a little more forcefully, it doesn’t hurt to keep the nearly $1 trillion in annual purchasing power that the burgeoning US Hispanic population enjoys in mind…just a thought.
