In a global economy that has become increasingly digitalized and exists more and more on the Internet, most businesses expect to sell products not just in their own communities, but also around the world. In order to compete effectively, it is vital to speak to consumers in their own language. This is called localization, which customizes data for a particular country or cultural region.
The explosion of location-based services put everyone directly into contact with location information on a daily basis, around the world. Localization allows organizations of all sizes to improve communications with customers while ensuring the consistency and relevancy of their brand in a global business environment. This way, information is accepted and understood within the framework of a customer’s own language and culture.
According to the U.S. State Department, 56.2% of consumers care more about finding information in their own language than they do about the price of a product. They go on to report that U.S. firms alone lose $50 billion in potential sales each year because of problems with translation and localization.
At Maponics, we understand that localization can make or break a company’s earning potential in the global marketplace. As a data provider for search engines, social media, mobile marketing, and other applications, we pay close attention to which language format will represent place-names. Language is a major consideration of our standard product format. Our customers rely on us to provide the most pertinent and useful data we can about locations, including the various ways end users refer to them. As our International customer base grows, we continue to build greater efficiencies, growing our knowledge base along with our expanded coverage and reach.