How can a Finnish mobile gaming company engage players across India?
On the face of things, it’s hard to imagine two more disparate local cultures. However, thanks to a meticulously crafted approach to language localization that takes local dialects, cultural expectations, and a deep knowledge of an already diverse gaming ecosystem into account, one company is seeing huge successes in a truly massive new market.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at how – and why – the right localization approach is driving valuable, deep customer engagement.
As companies stretch across borders, they’re increasingly finding that success hinges on more than just reach. The real challenge is the ability to adapt to local market nuances.
True localization requires more than translating slogans or tweaking packaging; it demands a deep understanding of cultural contexts, consumer behaviors, and regional preferences.
Forward-thinking companies have recognized that localization isn’t just about smoothing operations. It’s a powerful way to win customer’s hearts… and their wallets.
Done well, it’s a tool that can drive engagement, brand loyalty, and ultimately, market share.
This shift in perspective is transforming localization from a back-office function into a core component of customer experience (CX) strategy.
With customers becoming increasingly savvy, there is a greater expectation for companies to focus on providing highly customized, individualized experiences.
Customers understand the tangible difference when localization is an afterthought compared to when it forms part of a coherent, robust, well-thought-out strategy.
Adapting content and marketing to focus on the nuances of different regions and local cultures will enable successful organizations to capitalize on their multinational market presence.
The Importance of Bespoke Customer Experiences
A successful transnational strategy goes beyond one-size-fits-all but instead focuses on differentiating the customer experience at a grassroots level.
It can mean adapting content for different country-level markets, but it can also include a hyper-localized approach to customize marketing to the regional or city level.
This article examines how localization is a core part of CX and explains how companies can transform localization from an operational, tactical necessity to a strategic advantage.
Localization is about meeting demands to provide an authentic tone of voice.
By neglecting to localize content down to the country, regional, or even city level, customers can feel disconnected.
Customers may use a free translation tool to understand content. This gives marketers far less control over content, messaging, and quality standards.
Furthermore, customizing the customer journey for particular audiences by factoring in the local currency, culture, regulatory compliance and legislation is critical for building trust and relationships and creating great, customer-centric experiences.
Research from Forrester highlights that this is no longer a nice-to-have; customers expect tailored experiences.
According to the Forrester Future of Localization Survey, 75% of B2B respondents report it is “important” or “very important” to have sales materials in their language, while 67% want a localized website.
Crucially, ownership for localization must come from the very top of the organization, as it is a critical part of your CX strategy and brand voice.
Companies must employ a unified, consistent, top-down approach. This means that localization tools must be seamlessly integrated into the rest of the technology stack.
Case Study: Strategic Localization of Gaming in India
A case study from Nimdzi highlights that a strategic focus on localization is critical for penetrating different markets, creating engaging user experiences, and fueling strategic growth.
A leading Finnish game developer that operates globally with five games in over 100 countries and over a million players wanted to localize its existing game offering for the Indian market.
The Indian gaming industry is unique due to its rich cultural and language diversity; success in this market requires hyper-localization.
Translation into Hindi is merely the starting point, given that India is home to various languages, cultures, and dialects. Hyper-localization that takes into consideration local culture, festivals, and customers is also paramount for creating engaging customer experiences that resonate with the local audience.
The Finland-based game developer has an existing portfolio in English but aims to foster deeper connections in India to expand its existing user base.
The initial focus was on localization in Hindi, but the range of different languages, cultures, and local dialects introduced additional complexity.
Initially, Nimdzi undertook extensive research, including benchmarking user behavior to analyze engagement.
Comprehensive analysis enabled the game developer to understand the nuances of audience behavior and how it varies across different regions and groups.
The insights enabled the gaming company to develop its content and marketing strategy in response to user demand, a valuable input into core strategic decision-making.
A comprehensive, research-led strategy meant the organization was better equipped to localize and customize its approach for different Hindi markets.
Of the multiple benefits, it is noteworthy that a boost in CX results in a growth in performance on the bottom line.
The campaign resulted in deeper user engagement, better market penetration, and higher revenue streams.
Measuring the Impact of Localization
A basic approach to localization recognizes the fluency, accuracy, and appropriateness of translated content.
However, this does not go far enough in terms of gauging success. Organizations must look at the bigger picture and measure success through customer-centric metrics.
A strategic approach to localization scrutinizes the gains in efficiency, scalability, and overall improvement in customer engagement.
The effectiveness must be results-driven, with the impact measured through metrics such as a boost in customer engagement, a higher conversion rate, and an uplift in customer loyalty and retention.
The KPIs will depend on organizational goals and objectives, but some of the strategic metrics to measure success include:
- Time to market – boosting the speed and efficiency of localization enables companies to remain competitive and agile, minimizing time to market to outpace competitors.
- Customer engagement – organizations will have their own set of brand-specific KPIs, but the level of interaction with the intended audience is a good indicator of success.
- Search engine performance – depending on the target market, localization can enable brands to optimize the visibility of their website and increase SERP ranking across different regions.
- Customer loyalty/satisfaction – in the long term, companies should measure how customer satisfaction varies globally, including loyalty, acquisition, and retention across different regions.
The bottom line is that effective localization is about achieving core business goals and creating content that resonates with your target audience. Organizations must employ a multi-faceted strategic approach by integrating localization into their CX strategy.
Companies focusing on prioritizing localization will reap the benefits of faster time-to-market and greater user engagement and stay ahead of their competitors.
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