The Impact of Localization on ROI

本地化对投资回报率的影响

2021-01-16 00:00 Memsource

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The Impact of Localization on ROI Localization has numerous benefits but when it comes to convincing your stakeholders to invest in a localization strategy, it boils down to one thing: ROI (return on investment). Measuring the impact of localization can be challenging as it is just one instrumental factor when entering new markets. There are other costs involved and other forces that will impact the ROI. It can be difficult to distinguish the revenue that’s directly generated from localization—it’s not as simple as “dollars in, dollars out”. While there is no precise formula for calculating localization ROI, there are several aspects you can take into account when measuring its influence. Here are some key considerations that can help you secure the budget for a localization strategy in your company: Define tracking metrics You need to create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in order to measure the success of your localization projects. Be sure to involve different stakeholders to help narrow down which metrics can and should be tracked. Some examples of localization KPIs are: Usage rate in different markets Conversion rates on localized landing pages Incremental sales in regions covered by your supported languages Number of support tickets per language SEO ranking in key regions There isn’t a distinct list of localization KPIs. Select the metrics that make the most sense for your product and business and make sure they align with your overall business goals. You should also consider tracking the customer experience in your different markets. Surveys are a great way to see if your customers are satisfied and where localization can be improved. Identify localization costs Localization goes far beyond simply paying translation vendors. There are multiple costs to consider when allocating budgets. Man power. You may have a dedicated localization team in your company or localization experts embedded within multiple teams, from engineering to marketing. You should also take project management time into consideration and gather input from the various teams involved. Technology. Use a translation management system (TMS) for effective and efficient localization. There are many features that help reduce the cost of translation, automate processes, and increase your time to market. But a TMS is not the only tech investment to consider. Machine translation and integrations may also increase the initial investment but will result in long-term savings. Strategy. Not all localization strategies are created equal. Using machine translation will influence how you allocate resources and have a huge impact on the bottom line. While you will save on the amount of human translations needed, you will need to allocate resources for MT post-editing and training to reap the long-term savings. Different market costs. Localization spend will vary by market. Languages in high demand will cost less than low frequency languages. When determining your localization costs, speak to all involved parties to get a clear idea. You don’t want to end up with surprise costs further down the line. Determine your revenue potential In which markets will localization make the biggest impact? How big is your potential audience? You should estimate the expected income generated from introducing a new language into your localization strategy. Actual performance will depend on the extent of your investment. You may choose to localize selected content or products, or you may choose to localize the entire buyer journey. Setting Benchmarks If you are trying to convince your stakeholders to adopt a localization strategy, and they want to see numbers, you can estimate how localization is influencing revenue streams with a standard ROI calculation. While this number will not be definitive, and the formula does not take the complexities of localization into account, the estimation will help build a case on how localization can increase your company’s revenue. You should also demonstrate the importance of localization through KPIs. A significant decrease in support tickets in a specific language or increased conversions on localized web pages are bound to highlight the value of a localization strategy. Evaluate your KPIs quarterly and you’ll start to see your ROI grow. Having hard data and being able to demonstrate the positive impact localization will have on your business is key to getting stakeholders on board and keeping them on board. How to reap the long-term rewards Remember that localization is a long-term investment. When leveraging TMSs and other translation technologies, you’ll see your translation costs significantly reduce over time. The more content you translate, the less money you’ll spend per job. Features such as translation memory store translation strings that will be automatically reused when translating similar content. Reducing both time to market and man-power. German e-commerce company Tennis-Point, reduced human translation by more than 90%, not to mention the 30% faster localization cycle thanks to other automation features. Machine translation also has long term benefits. When MT engines are matured, you’ll see higher quality translation output that will inevitably reduce the amount of post-editing needed. For businesses to reap the benefits of localization requires patience, commitment, and a cohesive strategy that is supported throughout the organization. You may see some benefits of localization instantly, but it will also flourish and grow overtime as you save on manpower and cut costs, while delighting markets around the globe.
本地化对投资回报率的影响 本地化有很多好处,但是当要说服你的涉众投资本地化策略时,本地化可以归结为一件事:投资回报率。衡量本地化的影响可能具有挑战性,因为它只是进入新市场时的一个金融工具因素。还有其他的一些成本和因素会影响投资回报率。很难区分由本地化直接产生的收入——这不是“钱进钱出”那么简单的。 虽然没有计算本地化投资回报率的精确公式,但在衡量其影响时,有几个方面可以考虑。以下是一些关键的考虑因素,可以帮助你获得公司本地化战略的预算: 定义跟踪指标 为衡量本地化项目是否成功,你需要创建关键绩效指标。一定要让不同的涉众参与进来,帮助缩小范围,确定哪些指标可以并且应该被跟踪。以下是一些本地化关键绩效指标的示例: 不同市场的使用率 本地化登陆页面的转化率 支持语言覆盖区域的增量销售额 每种语言的支持请求数量 重点地区搜索引擎优化排名 没有一份清晰的本地化关键绩效指标列表。选择对你的产品和业务最有意义的指标,并确保它们符合你的总体业务目标。你还应该考虑跟踪不同市场的客户体验。调查是了解客户是否满意以及本地化哪些地方可以改进的好方法。 确定本地化成本 本地化远远不止简单地付钱给翻译供应商。在分配预算时要考虑多种成本。 人力。你公司可能有一个专业的本地化团队,或是有多个团队,其中有从工程到市场营销方面的本地化专家。你还应该考虑项目管理时间,并从所涉及的各个团队中收集投入数据。 技术。使用翻译管理系统进行高效的本地化处理。其中有许多功能可以帮助降低翻译成本,进行自动化处理,并增加用于市场营销的时间。但翻译管理系统并不是唯一需要考虑的技术投资。机器翻译和整合也可能增加初期投资,但长期来看可以节省资金。 策略。并非所有本地化策略都是相同的。使用机器翻译将影响你如何分配资源,并对底价产生巨大影响。虽然你能节省所需的人工翻译量,但你需要分配资源给机翻后期编辑和培训,以长期节省资源。 不同的市场成本。市场不同,本地化支出也不同。比起使用率低的语言,需求量大的语言花费更少。 在确定本地化成本时,要与所有相关方进行沟通,以对情况有一个清晰的了解。你可不想最后花费比底价多的惊人的成本。 确定你的收入潜力 本地化会在哪些市场产生最大的影响?你的潜在受众有多少?你应该估计一下在本地化策略中引入一种新语言所产生的预期收益。实际绩效取决于你的投资。你可以选择对选定的内容或产品进行本地化,也可以选择对整个购买经历进行本地化。 设定基准 如果你试图说服你的涉众采用本地化策略,而他们希望看到相关数据,你可以通过计算标准投资回报率来估计本地化对收入流的影响。 虽然这不是一个确切的数字,而且计算公式也没有考虑到本地化的复杂性,但是这一估算将有助于为本地化如何增加公司收入创建一个档案。 你还应该通过关键绩效指标来说明本地化的重要性。某一特定语言支持请求的明显减少或是本地化网页转化的增加势必会突出本地化策略的价值。如果你每季度评估关键绩效指标,你就会看到你的投资回报率在增长。 掌握可靠的数据,并能够证明本地化将对你的业务产生积极影响,是让涉众参与并一直参与的关键。 如何获得长期回报 记住,本地化是一项长期投资。在利用翻译管理系统和其他翻译技术时,你会看到翻译成本随时间推移在明显地降低。你翻译的内容越多,你花在每项工作上的钱就越少。 诸如翻译记忆库之类的功能会存储翻译字符串,在翻译类似内容时,这些字符串将被自动重复使用。减少了上市时间和人力。德国电商Tennis-Point减少了超过90%的人工翻译,更不用说,由于其他自动化功能,本地化周期加快了30%。机器翻译也能带来长期的收益。机翻引擎成熟后,你会看到更高质量的翻译输出,这必定会减少所需的后期编辑量。 对于企业来说,要想从本地化中获益,需要耐心,投入,以及整个组织都支持的连贯策略。你可能会马上看到本地化的一些益处,但在你节省了人力资源,降低了成本的同时,本地化也会随着时间的推移不断茁壮成长,让全球市场欣喜不已。

以上中文文本为机器翻译,存在不同程度偏差和错误,请理解并参考英文原文阅读。

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