Whether you own websites and online stores or develop programs and mobile applications, always pay attention to the obvious things and the minor details when working in the American market.

1. Confirm your financial capacity

Factor the additional marketing and logistics costs into your financial plan. If you don’t have enough capital, you can try to get extra financing. Remember about the following:

• Initial investment—Import and export, distribution, taxes; expansion overhead related to additional space, technology, staff, new equipment, and your online presence.

• Personnel—It is recommended that you hire an attorney, banker, accountant, and localizing agent who specialize in cross-border transactions and can determine what your business needs to consider when expanding in the US.

• Additional costs—Marketing abroad may differ from marketing in your country, also transportation and storage, and trips for senior executives.

• Money—Once you’ve done your initial planning, learned how to get a business loan from a bank or lender, or pitched your expansion ideas to investors; anything you can get financially will be precious.

• Potential revenue from sales—See how receptive consumers are to your product or service. A clear picture of your potential ROI can help determine how quickly you recoup your expansion costs over time.

2. Consider investing in American workers

Having an American employee or multiple employees working in your new location is invaluable to your business. You will gain inside knowledge of how to operate in the US market and become a reliable and accessible point of contact for your new client base. The US has a stable workforce with specialized experience in various industries, so you can be sure that your business is in good hands. Hiring here will make expanding into the US a smooth and successful transition.

3. Evaluate geographical factors

Expanding to the US takes some time, regardless of what country you currently do business in. The US is a physically vast country, with multiple time zones and geographic factors to consider when starting your own business. Everything from airport accessibility to infrastructure, what may seem like minor details, will affect your expansion. The state you choose will help grow your business, so weighing the pros and cons of each potential location beforehand is essential.

4. Understand another culture and localize

Foreign companies coming to the US must be able to navigate cultural differences. You have a significant advantage if you come from a culture similar to the American one. However, even if you’re confident in your startup strategy, it’s still a good idea to ask professionals for help.

Which Languages Does the USA Speak?
Localization Strategy to Get More Clients and Profit

A Census Bureau report published in 2015 found at least 350 languages in the United States spoken in homes across the country. The most spoken languages in the US are:

• English—255,000,000 native speakers.

• Spanish—43,200,000 native speakers. You should note that Spanish is one of the fastest-growing languages in the country—it increased by 235% between 1980 and 2021, according to Pew Research Center. In terms of vocabulary, Spanish words and phrases have made their way into American English, perhaps most visibly in numerous American cities and states (San Francisco, Nevada, El Paso, etc.).

• Chinese (together with Cantonese, Mandarin, and others)—2,900,000 native speakers. New York City anchors the largest community of ethnic Chinese out of Asia, and its metropolitan area counts 12 Chinatowns. Historically, San Francisco is home to the oldest American Chinatown. Most Chinese speakers in the United States reside in California, followed by New York, with Texas a distant third.

• Tagalog—1,610,000 native speakers. It’s commonly spoken in the Philippines, and its standardized variant—Filipino—is one of the official languages. About 43% of Filipinos in America live in California, Hawaii, and the New York City metropolitan area.

• Vietnamese—1,400,000 native speakers. Most Vietnamese settled in California (39%), with the second-most speakers in Texas (13%).

• French and French Creole (counting Cajun)—1,281,300 native speakers. Creole French is an engrossing subset of American heritage, with origins dating back to the 17th century. That’s when Louisiana Creole protruded, which is still used in southern Louisiana (largely New Orleans). Today, more Americans use ordinary French than Louisiana Creole. And French impact can be seen in many American English terms and expressions.

The rules for creating content for all niches are different. It is not enough to put it in Google Translate and translate the desired post/article. You should always consider nuances such as vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and pronunciation.

Pay attention to the creation of content in Western markets. The consequences may not be the rosiest:

• Forum moderators and Q&A sites will immediately suspect your posts of venality

• Suitable guest post donors will refuse/ignore you or overprice since the articles need to be further proofed

• You can get a negative reputation among the target audience, etc.

Furthermore, remember that the United States is a federal republic. Each state is a separate culture and language feature. Keep this in mind when promoting your local business. This list barely scratches the surface of the vast ocean of languages spoken by Native Americans. Nevertheless, those languages and the people who speak them have impacted the land linguistically, culturally, and geographically—and the “beautiful mosaic” of the United States proceeds to extend. That is why knowing and applying the localization strategy correctly is essential.

A localization strategy is a unique market approach a company takes to address purchasing habits, customer behaviors, and overall cultural differences in each country.

Creating country-by-country localization strategies ensures that customers abroad benefit from the same quality experience they would expect from a local business.

So, what is planning a biz’s localization strategy?

• Web marketing. In the certain market, for example, consumers prefer mobile browsing to desktop browsing, which could impact your web development strategy. Qualitative text interpretation and local SEO audits help seal the potential gap amid customers and businesses in local markets. Consistency in domain structures also helps maintain a solid global brand.

• Purchasing preferences. Your purchasing experience should be localized for each country, with appropriate local currencies and unique payment options, including multiple currency payment options.

• Cultural norms. It is essential to meet cultural expectations, like correctly addressing your customers.

How You Benefit

By implementing localization strategy solutions, your business will be better able to meet customers where they are. Using localization solutions enables enterprises to effectively broaden their potential customer base and avoid the pitfalls of cross-cultural overseas marketing. Modern solutions offer high-quality translation, local SEO review, and localized engagement to customers worldwide. Instead of cobbling together alternatives for each of these challenges, comprehensive localization software handles everything for you, so you can focus on developing exceptional products.

Kenaz takes care of all your marketing and localization needs—professional translation, SEO and cultural adaptation. As a result, you can avoid the drain of money and resources involved in building and maintaining many in-country sites.