4 Critical Signs You Need a Localization Company for Your App

In the world of digital commerce, where reach is crucial to growth, expanding your app's audience beyond your early adopters is no longer an option – it's a must. The decision to scale at the right moment and in the right way can make and break your strategy. An essential first step on the road to expansion is localization, a nuanced process carefully designed to adapt your product for specific markets and consumers according to their demands and specificities, language, customs, and cultural nuances. Recognizing the moment to invest in a localization company might spell the difference between global success and standstill. Today, the complexities of global market penetration, where cultural sensitivity and local sensitivities are crucial to success, backing your strategy with a robust localization effort is more important than ever. These are the primary signs that tell you it's time to partner with a localization company. Stagnating or declining downloads, an increase in inquiries and reviews coming in languages other than your app's primary language, high bounce rates from international visitors, noticing competitors are localizing – these are all unmistakable signs. It should be crystal clear when to take action and try something new. It can also be basically the same day. By searching for and recognizing these key signs and signals, you make informed decisions around the right time to engage with a localization company and launch a version of your app in new markets. Sign 1: Stagnant or Declining Downloads One apparent signal that your app might need a localization company could be an unremitting or even downward trend in downloads – which could reflect a market in which there is little or no room for severe expansion or where language and cultural barriers are not adequately considered. Overall, mobile app adoption, which had remained relatively constant for several years, took a hit in 2021 – and in specific sectors, notably gaming, it declined: App Store game downloads pulled back significantly (-6.9%) while Google Play downloads rose slightly (0.6 percent). Identifying the Issue The core problem stems from a linguistic mismatch between the languages available on the app and what users in unaddressed markets are most likely to speak. While apps like BeReal have received high initial downloads, their inability to establish a viable business model and a localization strategy means few stick around. How Localization Can Help Localization can fill this gap by adapting the app to the linguistic and cultural expectations of new target markets. For example, it could translate the app into the local language and adapt the cultural references, local currency, and dates to local expectations. Case Studies of Apps Benefiting from Localization We can measure the extent to which localizing the game was crucial to this success by looking at the rapid rise of Plants vs. Zombies up the Chinese best-seller iTunes charts after the game was localized into Chinese. It quickly shot to the top of the domestic best-seller chart (figure 4), with downloads and user engagement soaring. This is more successful for an already successful game and only a hint of what is possible through localization in turning the fortunes of an app around on the global stage. Sign 2: Increased Inquiries and Reviews in Other Languages If your app suddenly catches many questions and reviews in other languages, that’s a clear sign of interest from non-English-speaking markets. For several reasons, this is a crucial signal: Types of Inquiries Users can ask about app features and payment methods and seek support. Responding in multiple languages is complicated when a company needs multilingual support agents in-house, which is often the case. Bilingual agents or translation software can fill this gap. When we do this work, not only does it boost user confidence, but it also helps convert users into loyal customers. Impact on User Experience Users are much more engaged if they can read the support in their native language. Trust and engagement increase by 120 percent for apps that bring the native language into play; 72 percent of app users do not speak English as a first language. Responding Effectively It's also possible to go one step beyond by producing FAQs, tutorials, or other documents to deal with the most common topics upfront in different languages. Then, the inquiries your team receives will be more challenging, and if a customer does reach out, they will be better satisfied because you have proactively addressed the issue. Finally, watch the right key performance indicators (KPIs) for your support strategy. Many of the questions you answer will be the same across your user base, and you might find it's mainly about one particular product area. Acknowledging that and proactively improving your support in that area can be strategically important. Sign 3: High Bounce Rates from International Visitors Significant bounce rates from international visitors indicate that language barriers or cultural mismatches may limit your app's usability. This can send some users quickly out the door, draining your engagement and potentially stalling your app's success. Understanding Bounce Rates Measures such as bounce rates (defined as the percentage of sessions a user left without interacting further—in the case of apps, not moving beyond the first screen) can reveal that content doesn't resonate with an international audience. They can, therefore, be a useful indicator of potential problems with the language or culturally specific content. Localization Strategies Translation alone is never good enough for effective localization. Your app's content must also adapt to local target markets' cultural and linguistic expectations, tweaking images, formats, and even functionalities according to localized uses and preferences. Measuring the Impact of Localized Content Localized content can drastically reduce bounce rates as the app becomes more accessible and engaging for a global audience. The key numbers to look at are engagement and conversion rates, which typically see quite a substantial increase after a successful localization. Localization benefits not only user experience but also overall market performance. Sign 4: Competitors Have Started Localizing Competitive Advantage The most important competitive advantage you can bring to your app by localizing it is simply catering to your users' geographical preferences. This is especially true since competitors optimize their apps to target different regions, boosting their market penetration and user base. Analyzing Competitors' Strategies Learning what a rival app conveys through its localization implementation, whether by localizing language or culturally customizing content, will provide practical knowledge of target markets and competitive advantages. App Radar provides an overview of a company's localization strategy across multiple countries, which can help highlight competitor strategies. Staying Ahead Keep up to stay ahead—regularly assess your localization by benchmarking against the competition and listening to users to ensure that your app stays relevant and attractive to existing and new users in different markets worldwide. Conclusion Analyzing the informational signs that point towards the requirement of a localization company reveals that mastering localization and its strategies is crucial in the world of apps that aim to reach an international level. Focusing on cultural sensitivity, language adaptation, and the preferences of different markets are the keys to reaching international audiences. These localization strategies help a global app catch the eyes of more people, increasing user involvement and satisfaction and giving developers a chance to widely develop how to buy 1mg Viagra their apps and reach far beyond their original markets. We hope we have convinced the reader that the signs highlighted in the 'Lessons' section can be a black swan indicator when addressed proactively and that they can dramatically change an app's trajectory to the global arena. Striking the right tone with user-centric content and support, accounting for cultural differences, fighting localization competitors, analyzing and improving localization strategy – all of this and more falls under the responsibility of localization companies. And, as we’ve seen, the impact on any given judge of your app won’t be just measured in immediate KPIs. It might as well lay the foundations of your lasting presence and influence on the global digital landscape.