Five steps for driving your global growth
Many companies set their sights on international growth. Are you one of them? Have you aligned your translation workflows with your business strategy? And do you already know the Localization Maturity Model?
The Localization Maturity Model, with its five sequential stages, can help you drive market entry into new markets on your road to global expansion.
Key questions driving companies to address their translation maturity are: Where are we right now in terms of our translations? Which translation agency can provide us with the best and most comprehensive support? How can localizations be centralized and partially automated to get them to market faster?
The five stages of the Localization Maturity Model: Where are you now?
The Localization Maturity Model provides answers to precisely these questions. But what does LMM actually mean? Traditionally, this model is divided into five stages. At the lowest level (0) are companies that currently see no need to formally manage and strategically underpin their growth. This is followed by Level 1: namely, the companies that carry out a large part of their translation work spontaneously, in other words: on demand. There is no systematic approach. Texts are localized without prior planning and other multilingual requirements are addressed as and when they arise. Companies at level 2 already have a little experience in the field. They have some general tools and processes, but only for repetitive core tasks, such as press releases that are distributed internationally.
This is followed by stage 3: This is made up of companies that are at a maturity level where localization tasks are identified and managed at the enterprise level. There are clearly defined processes in place for each site, some of which have already been automated, and translation partners are in place. Organizations at Level 4 can rely on well-established processes to manage and execute localization tasks with clearly defined tools, structured processes, and performance metrics. There is a centralized approach that functions across different channels and languages. The pinnacle of the Localization Maturity Model is Level 5: Here, translations and localizations have long been more than just a useful tool. Global vision and alignment is the basis for all processes and decisions. All your products and services are ready for translation from the very beginning, and everything comes from a single source. In addition, translations now also act as a revenue generator. This is supplemented by further analyses that support future growth.
So much for the theoretical considerations. But you may now be asking yourself: “What does all that mean for my growth strategy?” Don’t worry. We at ACT Translations have compiled four tips below to help you move to the next level in the Localization Maturity Model and become more efficient:
Five steps for driving your global growth
1. Data analyses are essential
Collect and evaluate any data available to you that highlights the success of your global content thus far, your reach, and any areas for improvement. This puts your localization project on a solid footing. Where there is a need for data-driven improvement and optimization, you can use this information to justify why you should be investing more in localization.
2. Assess your translation culture
Find out how and where decisions about the adoption of new translation workflows and technologies are made in your organization. If you want to improve your translation processes and make them more efficient, these processes should be well aligned with your strategy and corporate culture. Well considered change management is very important in this context.
3. Appoint a localization manager
If you want a well-oiled global content program for your organization, you need to consolidate all localization requirements under one roof. A dedicated localization manager can coordinate the needs of internal and external marketing, product, content, and development teams and develop an enterprise-wide strategy to take your brand global.
4. Look out for automation opportunities
Even in the most modern companies, there are still many manual tasks that are constantly repeated and eat up valuable resources. These are ideal for automation projects. For example, email notifications are easy to automate using translation management technology, and this can significantly reduce the workload of your employees. User manuals, weather or financial reports as well as sports results or technical documentation can also be translated well automatically, while human translators can take care of linguistic subtleties, such as marketing slogans or country-specific content.
ACT Translations supports clients with localization departments and projects who are looking to evaluate their internal processes.
Feel free to contact us to discuss your individual requirements.
