(BOSTON, MA) – In both good economic times and bad, people responsible for translation and localization struggle to prove the value of what they do. In its latest research report, “Localization Return on Investment,” market research firm Common Sense Advisory details why companies need to take their analysis to a new level to highlight the benefits of adapting products and services to local markets in order to show the business value of localization.
Common Sense Advisory interviewed executives and managers in U.S. and European technology-focused companies in the software, internet, consumer, and medical device industries as a baseline for the research. It found that non-financial key performance indicator (KPI) metrics have overtaken financial ROI metrics in importance at many companies, especially those firms that are heavily invested in the internet.
“While saving money is important to show that budgets are being spent wisely, a cost-only ROI model demonstrates efficiency and productivity,” explains report lead analyst Don DePalma. “To really show the business value of localization, companies need to dig deeper and analyze more to highlight the benefits of adapting products and services to local markets.”
In the past, Common Sense Advisory’s research found that companies stayed in markets that they invested in. Now, in more restricted financial conditions, companies are now using their ROI metrics to make decisions to pull out of markets to invest in other markets – especially emerging markets.
“For example, if a company is looking to enter a new market, increased web traffic might be a better measure of return on investment than how much money they can save,” DePalma explains. “Companies are no longer just looking at how much money they’ll save through localization, but rather how much revenue they’ll miss out on if they fail to adapt their products for the markets they seek to enter.”
The report reviews and analyzes several topics related to quantifying localization ROI. Included within the 50-page report are:
- Findings from interviews about localization strategy
- Best practices and methodologies for determining ROI
- Who makes the ROI case within an organization, and who needs to hear it
- Checklist for establishing the corporate value of localization expenditure
- Tips for centralizing localization expenditures for better measurement
- Training, infrastructure, and tools to improve ROI practices
ROI is a multi-faceted tool to aid localization managers in making the best decisions they can with the information available. While ROI and saving money are often synonymous, using ROI and cost savings alone to prove the value of the localization department can limit results.
“In order to make ROI efficient, a company must make demonstrable localization ROI a priority, adopt the measures that matter to their company, overcome the ROI data deficit disorder, increase the visibility of localization, and review and exterminate costly inefficiencies,” adds DePalma.
“Localization Return on Investment” is the latest in a series of reports focused on maximizing localization and globalization ROI. For more information about Common Sense Advisory’s research, visit http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com.
About Common Sense Advisory
Common Sense Advisory, Inc. is an independent research and analysis firm specializing in the on- and offline operations driving business globalization, internationalization, localization, translation, and interpretation. Its research, consulting, and training help organizations improve the quality of their global business operations. For more information, visit: www.commonsenseadvisory.com or www.twitter.com/CSA_Research.