Localization is the process of adapting your content to better engage local consumers in diverse markets. When you take your business global, localization is critical to gaining a foothold in new markets and earning consumer trust.
Plus, it just makes sense in terms of ROI. 84% of global businesses reported a boost in profits after localizing their content.
Translation is the best-known aspect of localization. However, localization also involves adapting cultural, legal and practical elements of your content, which goes far beyond basic translation.
Localization takes a lot of work. To stay competitive, proper localization is accomplished by teams of linguists, marketers, compliance officers and local experts rather than individual translators.
However, many businesses still trust freelance translators for their translation and localization efforts. While partnering with locals is smart, working with freelancers—especially at scale—can be detrimental to your brand.
Working with a localization agency provides your business with a dedicated localization team and a network of certified linguists ready to scale with you. It guarantees robust data security, faster turnarounds and the latest in cost-saving technology.
But most importantly, working with a single localization agency maintains your brand’s message and identity across borders.
The Problem with Freelancers and Localization
Freelancers can be an affordable and efficient resources when you need to translate non-critical or non-customer-facing content.
However, they can pose problems for businesses seeking to compete in the global marketplace.
- Lack of Expertise: A single freelance translator often lacks the skills needed to properly localize customer-facing content. Translators don’t have the data or marketing expertise to adapt content to protect your brand’s identity and engage regional consumers.
- Security Risks: Can you trust your translator with your (or your customers’) sensitive data? Translators can represent security vulnerabilities.
- Fractured Brand: If you hire multiple freelancers to cover different regions, you can’t expect them to collaborate. This can result in different interpretations of your message, fracturing your brand’s identity.
- Unreliable: Most freelancers work alone. If they have an emergency or a conflict, you may not receive your work on time—or at all.
- Slow Turnaround: Freelance translators don’t have access to the latest translation technology such as machine translation (MT) and Translation Management Systems (TMS). This slows them down, inflates your costs and reduces accuracy.
- No Quality Controls: You must trust freelancers to deliver high-quality work in a language you may not understand. Typically, they do not have fixed quality control processes in place, such as human post-editing.
The Benefits of Working with a Localization Agency
Partnering with a professional localization agency is the best way to access linguistic talent as you grow.
Working with freelancers or in-house teams will balloon your costs at scale and require significant time and energy to manage.
Below are just a few reasons why you should work with a localization agency:
Full Project Management and Quality Review
Localization agencies offer end-to-end project management services, ensuring every aspect of your localization project is handled efficiently.
Project managers are dedicated to your brand, and they remain with you as you scale. This keeps your message and tone intact across regions and languages.
Additional benefits of full project management include:
- Recruitment of Skilled Linguists: Agencies employ vendor managers to source and test the best linguists. These certified professionals are required to have extensive experience and relevant industry degrees.
- Quality Assurance: Agencies have multi-point accuracy controls that involve multiple rounds of human and machine edits. They provide ongoing training and performance assessments to their linguists to maintain high-quality standards.
- More than Translation: In-house marketing, compliance and transcreation experts contribute to your project. This ensures your content effectively engages your target market and avoids cultural blunders.
Scalable Solutions
A big advantage of working with a localization agency is the scalability of their services.
A single freelancer can only do so much. And in-house localization can become extremely costly as you grow.
Agencies have the human talent and technology to provide localization as a service no matter where you do business.
Here are a few more reasons an agency can help you scale effectively:
- Human Translators for Every Major Language: Agencies employ thousands of professional human translators covering hundreds of language pairs. Your business has access to local experts at the moment you need them.
- Consistent Quality: Localization agencies have standardized workflows that ensure uniform quality across all your projects. This maintains your brand's reputation and credibility as you grow.
- Comprehensive Support: Beyond localization, agencies often provide support services like desktop publishing, media localization and international SEO. Having these services under one roof aligns all aspects of your global localization strategy.
Advanced Translation Technology
Localization and translation take time, and that costs your business its competitive edge.
Some agencies, like Wolfestone Group, invest heavily in advanced technologies to optimize localization services and reduce costs.
For example, Machine Translation (MT) and Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) combine AI and human expertise. These services give businesses more options and provide access to fast and cost-effective localization.
Agencies provide businesses with a technological advantage thanks to:
- Translation Management Systems (TMS): TMS manages every aspect of your localization project, from tracking progress to reporting and financing.
- Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) Tools: CAT tools are not machine translation tech. Instead, they improve human translator productivity and consistency by storing previously translated segments and keeping glossaries of key terms.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI tools are becoming common in translation and localization processes. They speed up localization with advanced MT processes, and they are being utilized to improve editing and quality controls.
Faster Turnaround Times
In the age of social media and AI, agility means everything.
Slow turnarounds cost you money and relevance in digital spaces.
Agencies provide much quicker turnaround times compared to individual freelancers. Some, such as Wolfestone Group, can begin work on your project as soon as 60 minutes after a request is made.
This is possible due to:
- Resource Availability: Agencies have access to a large pool of linguists and can quickly scale up to meet tight deadlines.
- Efficient Processes: Technology and streamlined workflows allow agencies to deliver projects faster without compromising on quality.
- Expanded Choice: Agencies offer a range of services to meet the needs of any project. These include rapid, less intensive services for non-critical tasks and more nuanced and labour-intensive services for more sensitive projects.
Robust Data Security
Handing your business documents over to a freelancer is a data security risk, especially for businesses dealing with sensitive medical, legal and financial information.
Agencies are businesses and must adhere to data protection regulations. Agencies like Wolfestone Group also have advanced ISO certifications and protocols to guarantee confidentiality and privacy at every stage of the localization process.
Localization agencies provide better security with:
- Secure Data Handling: Secure data handling practices prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. These include encrypted data transfer, secure storage solutions and restricted access to sensitive information.
- Compliance with Data Protection Regulations: As businesses, agencies must follow global data protection regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States.
- Regular Security Audits: Reputable agencies conduct regular security audits. These help identify and patch potential vulnerabilities to keep your data safe.
Wolfestone Group: A Localization Agency for Businesses
Wolfestone Group is an end-to-end localization agency that caters to the needs of global businesses. With over two decades of experience, we have the expertise to scale with you no matter where you do business.
Our global network of professional linguists can translate and localize your projects in 220+ language pairs. We also employ in-house marketers, compliance officers, SEO specialists and more to ensure your business succeeds in any market.
There’s a reason why brands like Google, Coca-Cola and J.P. Morgan trust Wolfestone Group with their localization efforts.
Wolfestone Group stands out as a localization agency that understands the needs of businesses:
- ISO-Certified Data Security: Wolfestone Group holds an ISO 27001 certification for information security, guaranteeing the highest standards of data protection throughout the localization process.
- Dedicated Project Management: Each client at Wolfestone Group is assigned a project manager who acts as a single point of contact. Your manager gets to know your brand, ensuring quick and efficient handling of your localization needs at scale.
- Global Coverage: With offices and staff across the world, Wolfestone Group is well-equipped to handle projects across all time zones.
- End-to-End Language Support: Wolfestone Group provides comprehensive language support. Beyond translation and localization, this includes multilingual desktop publishing (DTP), voiceovers, subtitles, accessibility services, multilingual SEO and more. Wolfestone Group is an end-to-end service provider for all your language needs.
Wolfestone Group's commitment to quality, security, service and global coverage makes it the right choice for achieving your business’s global aims.
Contact Wolfestone Group today to discuss your localization needs and get started on your journey to global success.
