Build your enterprise localization strategy in 6 actionable steps

Enterprise localization adapts your company’s products, services, content, and communication for different languages and markets around the world. 

Basic translation only changes words. Enterprise localization transforms the entire customer experience. The end goal is that every interaction feels natural, whether your customer is in the UK, the Arctic Circle, or anywhere in between.

Enterprise localization includes initiatives like:

Take FARFETCH, for example. This luxury fashion platform doesn’t just translate product descriptions. It adapts messaging, campaigns, UX elements, and customer service content. 

The result? An authentic shopping experience for customers in 190 countries across 15 languages. 

This approach aligns perfectly with consumer preferences. CSA research shows that 76% of online shoppers prefer to buy products with information in their native language.

Together, these technologies support enterprises in scaling localization efficiently and consistently, bringing global products to market faster.

XTM Cloud, the TMS platform in XTM, combines essential technologies in one integrated hub. It’s a complete localization ecosystem, meaning you don’t need to juggle separate tools for your projects.

Getting a clear picture of your current localization workflows helps you understand what’s working and where there are gaps. Without this knowledge, it’s tough to scale effectively or improve your output across different markets. 

So, start by mapping your entire localization process. Track each step from content creation to market delivery. 

Document each step, including who’s involved and what tools they use. Note how content moves between systems. And keep an eye out for manual handoffs you could automate.

Next, gather key metrics about your current performance, such as:

Interview project managers and stakeholders from different departments. Ask about their pain points with the current process. 

For instance, marketing might struggle with campaign timelines, and your product teams could face challenges with user interface (UI) localization.

Finally, assess your technology stack. Does your current TMS offer the functionality you need to scale? 

Check whether your CMS integrates with your localization tools. If not, you’re likely losing valuable time on file transfers and format conversions.

Next, get crystal clear about what success looks like and how you’ll measure it. Clear goals direct your strategy and align your localization investments with broader business objectives.

Start by bringing together key stakeholders for a workshop. Collaborate with content leads, marketing managers, product owners, and localization team members.  

The goal is to identify what localization should achieve for your business. Ask questions like:

Defining clear localization goals and KPIs keeps your team aligned. All while driving measurable impact across your global strategy.

Selecting the right localization tools impacts how efficiently your company delivers global content. Start by evaluating TMS options that match your content volume and language needs.

Look for systems that connect with your current content platforms. A high-quality TMS like XTM Cloud will integrate with your CMS, PIM, and marketing automation tools. These connections eliminate manual file transfers and reduce errors.

Consider these factors when choosing localization services or translation tools:

Ask localization software providers for case studies from companies like yours. You’ll see how their tools perform in real-world situations and understand which localization solutions can handle your content types and volumes.

Creating a workflow that grows with your company saves time and resources as you enter new markets. Begin by mapping your current content creation process from writing to publishing.

Tailor your workflow to suit different content types and their timelines. For example, website updates need faster turnaround than marketing materials or legal documents. 

Set clear handoff points between teams. Define who prepares content for translation, who reviews translations, and who publishes the final versions. Clearly assigned roles will avoid delays and miscommunication.

Use these strategies to build flexibility into your workflow:

Test your workflow with a small project before full implementation. A trial run helps spot problems before they affect your entire operation.

Strong governance ensures your localization efforts stay consistent across target markets. Start by defining who makes decisions about content, terminology, and regional adaptations.

Assign clear roles to everyone involved in the localization process. Ensure everything is documented somewhere easy to find, like your company’s Confluence page (a shared workspace where teams can store and access documentation).

Quality checks should happen at multiple stages. For example, source content needs reviewing before translation begins. Then, translated content will need someone to verify it for accuracy and cultural fit.

Here are a few ways to keep localization quality on track:

Regular meetings between central teams and regional offices help maintain quality standards. These check-ins provide opportunities to address problems before they affect customer experience.

And don’t forget, quality expectations might differ across regions. What works in one market might need a tweak in another.

Don’t just guess whether your localization efforts are paying off. Measure their ROI. Tracking your localization results helps justify your investments and find areas for improvement.

Watch both your process metrics and market performance. Translation speed and cost per word tell you if your operations are efficient. Meanwhile, regional engagement rates and sales conversions show you the business impact of your localization investment.

Compare performance across regions to spot successful approaches worth extending to other markets. It can also help you find where to improve. 

Content not performing as well as you’d hoped in Germany? Time to rethink your strategy there or bring in additional cultural expertise.

Use these measurement approaches to track localization success:

Don’t keep these insights to yourself. Regular reporting shows your team and executives the tangible value of your localization program. 

Tools like XTM Cloud’s Business Intelligence Dashboards make tracking these metrics effortless. 

With visual reports on project KPIs, team productivity, translation memory leverage, and cost analysis, you get all the data you need to optimize performance and demonstrate ROI to leadership.

The challenge: Different grammar rules, cultural references, and regional preferences make direct translations ineffective. What sounds natural in one language may feel awkward in another.

The solution: Create a quality control plan for human translators and machine translation workflows. Translation memory tools help maintain consistency by storing previously translated segments for future reuse.

Don’t underestimate the power of native-speaking reviewers who understand your brand. These market experts will catch nuances that even the best AI might miss.

Set your team up for success with clear translation guidelines and comprehensive glossaries for multilingual content. Regular reviews with in-country experts keep your terminology fresh and consistent.

The challenge: Enterprise content typically lives scattered across multiple platforms, making centralized translation difficult. Many companies still move files manually between systems, which wastes time and leads to errors when content moves across.

The solution: A better approach uses API connections between your TMS and other content platforms:

Take XTM Connect for HubSpot. Your marketing team can send landing pages, emails, and website content for translation with just a few clicks. No need to ever leave their familiar CRM environment.