Localization vs translation: Linguistic process deep dive

Adapting content for global markets requires more than simple translation from one language to another. Successful international brands understand the importance of localization—adapting content to resonate with different cultures, preferences, and expectations.

Although direct translation is useful, it’s typically insufficient for high-quality user experiences, particularly with emotionally driven content like marketing materials. Instead, localization ensures that content messaging and design align with audience expectations. It’s a critical part of any international market entry strategy.

This guide will explain what translation and localization are. We’ll compare localization vs. translation, explain when to use each approach, and show how businesses can leverage them to drive sales and ensure effective global communication.

What is translation?

Translation is the process of converting text or spoken words from one language into another while maintaining the original meaning. It makes information accessible to speakers of different languages without altering the content’s structure.

Translation can be performed by humans or AI translation technology, like Machine Translation (MT).

Human translation: Professional linguists understand context, nuance, and cultural differences. They carefully consider tone, grammar, and meaning to ensure translated text makes sense to target audiences.
AI translation technology: AI-powered tools like Neural Machine Translation (NMT) and Large Language Models (LLMs) deliver high-quality translations in a fraction of the time compared to traditional methods. These models can process massive volumes of text almost instantly, and with advancements in fine-tuning and the rise of Small Language Models (SLMs), translations are becoming more accurate, context-aware, and naturally fluent than ever before.

With Smartling’s LanguageAI™ platform, you can send content for translation through both human and AI-powered translation workflows. With a variety of translation solutions suitable for a range of content types, Smartling can support your business in delivering high quality multilingual content efficiently and at scale.

A word-for-word approach to translation is often used in contexts where accuracy and structure are paramount. This includes documents with strict technical specifications, such as:

Technical manuals
Financial reports
Medical and pharmaceutical reports
Product descriptions and e-commerce listings

Translation is also valuable for large volumes of content, such as support tickets, customer reviews, and FAQ articles. In addition, it’s a more economical approach for short-lived or time-sensitive content, such as blog updates.

However, because translation alone doesn’t consider cultural nuances or idiomatic expressions, the translated text can sometimes feel stilted or unnatural. It may fail to resonate with audiences in the target market and almost certainly won’t be suited for search engine optimization (SEO) and discoverability, even if the original text was. That’s why localization is essential: it adapts content for both cultural relevance and performance.

What is localization?

Localization goes beyond translation, adapting content for a specific target audience. It accounts for social and cultural differences to ensure translated text feels natural and relevant. Global businesses use localization in marketing content to build customer trust and bolster SEO.

Content is tailored for new audiences in several ways:

Linguistic adaptation: This process adjusts idioms, humor, and slang to suit local audiences. For instance, a marketing slogan that works in English might need reworking to sound equally clever in the target language and avoid unintended meanings.
Visual and design changes: Brands may modify images, colors, and layouts to align with cultural preferences. In China, for instance, red is closely associated with joy and prosperity, whereas it may evoke feelings of danger or intensity in other cultures.
Unit adjustments: Currency, measurements, and date formats vary across regions. Matching local standards clarifies content for target audiences and encourages conversions.

Localized translations may take different forms, depending on the type of content and how closely the text must match the source material.

Some brands also employ transcreation techniques to localize their content. Unlike translation, transcreation is a highly creative process that reimagines content for a new market. Transcreation requires considering the content’s purpose and tone and creating something entirely new that captures the spirit of the source text. This approach can be very effective for more emotional content, like marketing campaigns.

No matter what form it takes, localization is a powerful sales driver that builds customer trust, enhances website discoverability, and removes friction in the buyer journey. Smartling’s localization services enable businesses to efficiently create high-quality localized content on-brand translations with a satisfaction guarantee—at a fraction of the cost and turnaround time of traditional translation methods.

Localization vs. translation: Differences and use cases

Translation and localization are related but distinct processes. Global businesses often need a mix of approaches to maximize success in target markets.

A direct translation preserves the source content’s structure and literal meaning, but it can fail to convey the intended meaning, humor, or emotional impact in a different cultural context. Localization adapts the entire experience and ensures everything—from website layouts and marketing slogans to customer support interactions—feels like it was created for the target audience.

The following examples highlight practical differences between translation and localization, highlighting the strengths of each strategy:

Translating user-generated content

A multinational electronics manufacturer plans to expand into Germany and Japan. Customer service chatbots, customer reviews, and FAQs must be converted into the local languages to ensure assistance and connection with customers in these regions.

Best approach: Translation

User-generated content updates frequently and irregularly, making nuanced localization unrealistic.
Localization using a professional translator or machine translation with post-editing requires more money and time, whereas machine translation is the more practical and economical option.
A brand-specific terminology database maintains consistency across communications.

Because the volume of content is high and the risks associated with misinterpretation are relatively low, the company chooses a machine translation service. This approach reduces overhead and enables instant conversion of time-sensitive user-generated content.

Adapting a marketing campaign for a new region

A U.S. fitness apparel brand plans to launch its products in Brazil. Their original English slogan, “Crush Your Limits,” is translated directly into Portuguese. However, market research reveals that the phrase feels too aggressive for Brazilian consumers, who prefer motivational and community-focused messaging.

Best approach: Localization

Marketing content must reflect cultural nuances to resonate with local audiences.
Visual elements, including colors, images, and symbols, may need to be modified to align with local preferences and associations.
Transcreation (i.e., creative content adaptation) can preserve brand messaging when a literal translation sounds awkward.

The brand decides to localize its marketing campaign with the phrase “Supere Seus Desafios” (“Overcome Your Challenges”) and adjust the visuals to include more group workouts, reflecting a social attitude toward fitness. This approach improves customer engagement and enhances the company’s reputation in the region, leading to higher sales and stronger loyalty among Brazilian consumers.

Expanding an e-commerce store globally

A fast-growing online furniture retailer wants to enter the South Korean market. The company initially plans to translate its website and product descriptions into Korean but soon realizes this won’t be sufficient to make the brand appear culturally familiar and comfortable to a South Korean audience.

Best approach: Combination of website translation and localization

Product descriptions can be translated to keep up with high volumes and regular updates.
Currency, payment options, and shipping details must be localized to each market.
Promotions and seasonal campaigns should be adapted to fit regional holidays and shopping behaviors.

The retailer chooses to translate product descriptions more or less directly. However, they adapt product dimensions to the metric system, integrate popular Korean payment methods like KakaoPay, and tailor promotions to align with Korea’s major shopping events, such as Chuseok. This enhances customer trust and engagement in the target market.

How Smartling simplifies translation and localization

Translation and localization are similar and related processes, but they nonetheless serve distinct purposes in global communication. Businesses with an eye toward international expansion should leverage both approaches to create effective multilingual content that resonates with diverse audiences.

Smartling’s specialized translation services and advanced translation management system help businesses streamline translation and localization processes while managing global content at scale. Our tools and expert linguists provide outstanding quality at a fraction of the cost of traditional translation agencies.

🎯 Ready to localize your content more effectively?

Download our free Localization Style Guide Template to align your team on voice, tone, terminology, and formatting—before the translation work even begins.