Numbers and graphs create a particular illusion of objectivity when it comes to international markets. Dashboards of click-through rates, conversion rates, and engagement statistics are what product teams base their global expansion plans around. This analytic lens can help you make informed decisions based on a near-complete understanding of your existing and potential user bases. Experienced product managers, however, know that data is only part of the equation for delivering truly successful global experiences.
Consider the case of this well-established European software company that tried and failed to break into Asian markets. The product team analyzed every user interaction pattern, but it still didn’t click with the user base. Why? Cultural context, of course. No dashboard metric could have shown the product team what was bothering the users from the get-go. Interface elements, graphic design, and content were perfectly optimized for a Frankfurt user base. In Seoul, however, the product felt out of place, not for usability issues, but for cultural associations that slipped right under the radar of analytics dashboards.
This anecdote is the reason why partnering with a localization agency is a good idea. A well-picked partner will take the gap between the analytical and the cultural and deliver a single cohesive experience that will benefit from both approaches. Cultural expertise and technical know-how of a capable localization agency are the secrets to taking an otherwise excellent product and turning it into an experience that feels at home in every market.
Analytics alone fall short in at least four major areas:
- Emotional impact. Behavior can be quantified, but the effect of the content on users’ feelings is another thing entirely. Tone, humor, register, and formality all differ in each market.
- Visual connotations. Colors, symbols, images, and the like have specific connotations in each market. These can’t be deduced from behavioral patterns.
- Idiomatic context. Machine translation is excellent for conveying the general gist. It can’t, however, identify idiomatic expressions, cultural references, or any of the myriad tiny details that go beyond what analytics can evaluate.
- Cultural decision-making. Users take different paths within your product based on cultural norms and assumptions rather than universal logic.
Obsessing over metrics results in generic, algorithm-friendly user experiences that lack any semblance of humanity. Product managers who combine data points with cultural insights can create an experience that will feel local instead of translated.
The solution is not to ignore analytics but to actively seek to expand on their scope. Product teams on the cutting edge have already started weaving cultural intelligence and awareness into their analytics strategy. This often takes the form of enlisting cultural expertise to supplement number-crunching. Partnering with a localization agency that can address both aspects at once is the most efficient way to do it.
Actual great experiences are those that know and understand their users. This is true of products and services, which can only become genuinely global by speaking the language of users’ actions AND cultural expectations. This is the balanced approach to localization that results in products that not only function in other markets but also truly feel like they belong in those markets.
The Blind Spot in Metrics-First Marketing: Cultural Relevance
Decision-making in marketing is often driven by data analytics, but a culture-centric mindset is critical in the quest for actual impact. Marketers usually default to the belief that the data is the gospel and overlook the criticality of culture. Blind adherence to pure metrics creates gargantuan blind spots that can negatively impact even the most diligent and data-driven campaigns.
Evidence is mounting from research studies that speak to a long-held understanding among localization and cultural expertise practitioners—localization that includes cultural relevance often results in improved performance. Ads that represented cultural groups positively or presented cultural insights that felt meaningful and resonated with the audience saw improved performance in purchase intent, brand loyalty, and brand relevance metrics. The impact of culturally inclusive creative is made evident by this one figure: cultural ads that leveraged culturally relevant creative have seen a 300% lift in purchase intent over ads without cultural acumen.
Audiences can only relate to messages that align with their actual cultural experiences. One research study showed that content that best aligned with the brand’s POV had a threefold higher purchase intent and 1.98X search intent lift. Brands that engaged on relevant, timely, and culturally aligned messages within a week of a cultural event experienced 23% higher purchase intent from new customers.
“It all comes down to this: Consumers connected more deeply with content and advertising that are truer to their culture,” says another industry expert. Most standard marketing metrics do not measure these critical cultural elements and, therefore, they are left to become gaps in the marketing decision-making funnel.
It gets even worse when the data sets are siloed from an inclusion point of view, examining various business activities or actions taken while ignoring their cultural implications. Narrow or myopic measurements end up “being an oversimplification of what drives results based on partial data,” as reported in a research study. This is where the cultural knowledge and contextual proficiency of localization agencies and similar expert service partners are invaluable to marketers to bridge the gaps left by data alone.
Audiences react to marketing and advertising communication based on their own cultural values and belief systems. The significance and relevance of specific colors, humor, and even pictorial representations will significantly vary based on the cultural underpinnings of an audience. For example, neutral colors in one culture may have a negative connotation in another. The day-to-day language of metrics misses these delicate yet critical nuances.
Data aside, this concept can be very real for business outcomes. This was reported in the CIIM (Cultural Insights and Impact Measure), where, when testing for cultural relevance, it was found to result in a two-fold increase in brand perception and a three-fold increase in creative performance. Further, one study in brand-specific cultural alignment witnessed a 17% lift in event association, which can be a vital consideration for marketers during cultural moments.
Marketers with their eyes open and an intent to improve audience impact are likely not to eschew metrics but rather augment data and performance data to account for those very factors with a cultural intelligence lens. This is done in part through culturally intelligent partnerships that understand both technical requirements as well as cultural nuances..
Blending Analytics with Empathy: Smarter Localization Starts Here
To win at localization, it is not enough to translate words. You have to feel the connection between the user and the content. A new blueprint that marries analytical objectivity with first-person empathy can create next-generation localization.
Businesses can have a more complete picture of their customers through data-driven empathy that illuminates human truths that may not be fully captured in systems. By bringing data to life, organizations can humanize the information within the DNA of their businesses and transform the customer experience. Product managers who aspire to bring precision and personalization to localization now have a winning formula.
The best part: when you get the mix right, the results speak for themselves. Research shows that localized experiences can lead to a substantial lift in conversion rates. Another study demonstrates that a one-second improvement in site load time, on average, can boost conversions by 17%. The proof is in the numbers, but not just any numbers, customer behavior stats: all but one in 10 of these customers will not purchase on websites that are not in their native tongue.
Data-driven empathy can be a guiding principle for localization. You can start by:
- Embedding cultural intelligence at the outset – Partnering with localization specialists during the product development phase can nip challenges in the bud as you scale up to global markets.
- Observing ground truth behavior – Understanding how visitors interact with different language versions can offer valuable insights into what resonates and what does not.
- Automating wisely – Leveraging the strength of AI in natural language translation while ensuring human checks and balances to detect nuanced meanings that the algorithm may miss.
- Establishing a single source of customer truth – Integrated data sources can be a powerful tool to gain a deeper understanding of the customer across markets.
Winning localization strategies require getting the right mix of hard metrics and high-touch insights. Localization agencies that have deep expertise in local markets will help businesses integrate empathetic insights into their approach.
The more customers trust organizations with their data, the better experiences can be built. Localization, as a requirement for global expansion, is only going to grow in importance. Every incremental improvement along this journey will lead to better customer experiences that will create more and richer data to iterate and optimize on.
The takeaway: You can go back to the drawing board. As a simple truth to guide localization strategies, remember that languages spoken in childhood form deeper emotional connections. Keep this in mind as product managers create personalized customer relationships in the global marketplace.
From Clicks to Connection: How Culture Shapes Content Performance
“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine.” — Peter Sondergaard, Chairman Of The Board at DecideAct, former Senior Vice President at Gartner.
Culturally aligned content not only makes your content more shareable, but it also has a tangible business impact. Brands leveraging culturally aligned content based on their unique point of view experience 3x higher purchase intent and 2x higher search intent over more traditional strategies.
Timing is a crucial element in cultural resonance. 76% of consumers believe brands should be making moves to address cultural moments within a week. However, the impact was most substantial when sharing content within 48 hours, which is what 56% of consumers believe brands should be doing. Those who responded within a week of a cultural event saw a 23% increase in new customer purchase intent.
A few factors to consider that can help your content find a strong cultural connection. A variety of factors influence audiences’ consumption and engagement with digital content, such as:
- Individualism v. Collectivism: Collectivist cultures (eg, Pakistan) are more motivated by family-centric messages, while individualistic cultures have higher engagement when focused on personal achievement.
- Power Distance: High power distance cultures gravitate towards more visual hierarchy.
- Uncertainty Avoidance: High uncertainty avoidance cultures tend to demand more granular product specification and “reasons to believe.”
- Long-term v. Short-term Orientation: Your audience’s orientation will influence whether you should focus on immediate value or long-term benefits.
Increasingly, brands are measuring cultural relevance on their own. Allison+Partners developed BGIQ, which produces a 1-100 score to evaluate where brands stand on five different cultural indicators, including “Plugged into Pop Culture” and “Living with Purpose”. Their Cultural Relevance Score™ scores brands on both ad performance and cultural alignment, helping optimize purchase intent.
Partnering with an experienced localization agency is one of the best ways to demystify cultural differences. An agency with the right technical acumen and cultural awareness can transform data into meaningful connections. In fact, brands that scored highest on cultural resonance have grown 25% faster than their peers. The top 3 culturally resonant brands have doubled the growth of their competition.
Conclusion: Modern Localization Balances What You Measure with What Matters
Data tells part of the story, but culture completes it. In the first article on localization strategy in the modern era, we illustrated the equation. Winning global products and services combine insights from quantitative analysis with the qualitative framework of empathetic localization strategy. Product managers who rely only on numbers miss powerful emotional signals that drive user engagement in local markets.
Analytics backs this up. Locally relevant content boosts purchase intent 3x, increases search intent 2x, and makes a material difference in brand perception. Globally competitive companies with higher cultural appeal outgrow their industry by 25%. These numbers explain why the most progressive product teams are now bringing a localization strategist onto the analytics dashboard.
Partnering with a data-driven localization agency is an excellent path for product teams to get this recipe. Their technical focus and cultural understanding turn standard translation projects into localization experiences with local appeal. Product managers who partner with qualified localization agencies gain the cultural lens they need to help guide products toward belonging in local markets and beyond functional global shipping.
Analytical empathy is the framework for the localization strategy of the future. This new, yet ancient, equation unifies analytical rigor with accurate cultural understanding. Product managers can now base decisions on not only user actions but also the motivations behind them. At the same time, users get a product that feels native to the market, not a translation of one, resulting in a more authentic connection with a global audience.
The future of localization is undeniable. Meaningful global experiences can only come from meeting users’ behavioral actions, cultural expectations, and emotional needs. Product managers who become experts at balancing this equation are the ones who build global experiences that not only create measurable business impact but also authentic global connections. Localization strategies will increasingly need to honor both the data and the culture, transforming global ambitions into local success stories.
