It is often said that today the world has become a global village, but what does this mean? Globalization has connected people across the world and with technology like computers and phones, it is easy to get in touch with family living in other parts of the world. Further, globalization has also opened doors for international trade and commerce.
Furthermore, globalization has influenced the app market as today’s developers are more focused on designing their app to meet the demands of a global audience. According to a report from GSMA Intelligence, there are more than 4.8 billion existing unique mobile users worldwide and the number increases staggeringly each year. Owing to the fact that these users are distributed across different parts of the world, it is obvious that they might not be speaking the same language.
Moreover, these differences in languages, culture, tastes and more determines whether the app can successfully target the desired market or not. So, designing the app keeping all the target audience across the globe in mind enables reaching more customers and make the app successful.
Why Language and Cultural Elements Matter for Successful App Marketing?
Not all mobile users are concentrated in a particular geographical location – they are generally spread worldwide. So, to target this wide range of users in different regions, communities and cultures, adding features pertaining to the local culture makes an app more appealing to those people.
Language has the potential to persuade people and push them to take action. And, in app marketing, integration of native language into an app helps marketers to effectively communicate with and convince users about their services or products.
Proper incorporation of cultural elements like language, symbols, icons, time or currency format in an app can significantly improve its ranking in the app market. Many apps are released on Google Play Store or Apple App Store, and if none were localized, many would probably not survive.
Not only does incorporation of local language help get better responses from app users, but it also builds confidence with them. Top apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram are available with multilingual capabilities. They are among the most widely used applications in the world.
Designers creating apps only in the English language may be surprised to learn that around 72% of users are non-native English speakers. During 2017, apps downloaded worldwide reached a record of 25 billion.
How To Reap Benefits From App Localization?
Localizing an app provides multiple benefits; from having access to a larger user base to high user engagement. Not only does this ensure desired actions from users, but also helps marketers develop “this-is-for-all image” in the minds of users. Moreover, below are key benefits that users may obtain through app localization:
- Extended Customer Base
It is vital for any business to have easy access to constantly growing market as it helps capturing a larger consumer base. And, to properly target a new emerging international market, building apps that are localized and translated for the local people is important.
Localized apps have the potential to attract and capture new customers by removing cultural barriers, they subtly fit in with the local cultural ethos. It’s great to localize listing elements, such as texts, description, app name, etc. Further, incorporation of resources that are available in native languages is best to enhance user-specific experience.
- Improve User Satisfaction and Increase User Engagement
A localized (not only with the product page, but also with translated content, notifications, etc.) can gain more user engagement to the app. While it is true that English is among the main languages of the world, most people prefer engaging with an app in their native language.
- Quick Entry to New Markets
App localization and store listings localization (product page in app stores, etc.) and a strong app store optimization (ASO) strategy facilitates entry into new markets. Not only does it allow fast entrance to new markets, but it also offers the advantage to check whether the market requires this type of app or not.
- Diversified Customer Base
One of the top benefits of localizing apps is, of course, reaching out to the global audience. After incorporating elements specific to different cultures in the app, access diverse customers across the world. Target audiences in the local market, and reach international customers. This will help get more customers and ROI.
- Make The App Viral
If a user is happy with the app, it may be recommended to others; thereby, increasing the likelihood to go viral. And, this is more likely for a localized app because different types of users will be able to use it without any language or cultural barrier.
Conclusion
App localization is the key to successful app marketing and with increasing competition as well as ever-increasing customers, it can be a great way of capturing a larger customer base. Tailoring a new app to the cultural needs, user preferences etc. allows app marketers to get more customer engagement and have easy entry to newer markets.
Language can act as a persuasive element for user interaction with the app and hence, it can help improve user engagement. When developing apps that include social networking platforms like Facebook, localize them by incorporating multilingual features.
For localization of Facebook, the company offers several APIs and resources for building apps integrated with multilingual capabilities. Further, to get assistance or help, contact Facebook customer service for instant support.
