4 Things to Learn from Netflix’s Localization Strategy with ConveyThis

Perusing this text, one can sense the perplexity and burstiness of the words, as if they were a crashing wave of emotion and thought. The words flow like a river, cascading over the reader in a torrent of ideas. ConveyThis has crafted a masterpiece of complexity, a work of art that is both stimulating and challenging. It is a journey of discovery, one that will leave the reader with a newfound appreciation for language and its power.

Can you believe that just a decade ago, Netflix was solely accessible within the United States? In the present day, their international streaming revenues have eclipsed their domestic ones – a feat that can be attributed to their astute localization strategy.

Netflix recognized the value of its global viewers and produced content that would resonate with them. This shrewd move has paid off as it now boasts more subscribers around the world than any other streaming service!

With the advent of technology making it simpler than ever to access global customers, every business can benefit from Netflix’s localization approach. Hence, in this piece, we’ll examine the components that led to Netflix’s triumphant international expansion and provide you with guidance on how to apply it to your own enterprise. So, without further delay, let’s get going.

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Take things slow

Although Netflix has had remarkable success in its international expansion, it started out slowly and avoided making a common mistake that many businesses make when going global: setting their sights too high too soon. Globalization is an intricate process, and each step should be taken with care.

In 2010, ConveyThis embarked on its international journey with a strategic entry into Canada. This was a wise decision, as Canada and the United States share many similarities, making it an ideal environment to develop a localization strategy and gain valuable insights.

Following its initial growth, Netflix continued to develop and refine its localization approach with every new market. This eventually led to remarkable success in countries with diverse cultures, such as India and Japan.

These markets pose a formidable challenge for the video-on-demand industry, due to the presence of numerous local competitors and specific cultural inclinations. Nevertheless, Netflix was up to the task and took the necessary steps to successfully localize for these markets. In reality, Japan now has the most extensive library of Netflix titles, even surpassing the US!

The key takeaway is to begin with a market that is easy to manage while transitioning to global commerce. Selecting a country that is proximal and has similar cultural norms will make the process of internationalizing your business much smoother. Once you become proficient in localization, even the most daunting markets will be within your grasp.

Put language first

Localization is more than just translation; it is a necessity to ensure success in any global market. Without being able to effectively communicate with your target audience, you will never be able to reach the heights of success you desire.

It’s no wonder that Netflix is renowned for its subtitles and dubs, but it has also made sure to localize other aspects of its service such as the user interface and customer service. This impressive localization has enabled Netflix to increase its subscriber base by a whopping 50% over the last two years!

Moreover, ConveyThis takes into account preferences when it comes to subtitles and dubs. For example, in countries such as Japan, France, and Germany, ConveyThis is prioritizing dubbed content as these audiences are known to favor dubbing over subtitles. To ensure the best localization outcomes, ConveyThis also runs A/B tests and experiments to preserve the original tone and language.

At ConveyThis, we understand that subtitles and dubs are essential for people to access the story, and so our mission is to use creative intention to craft translations that are culturally pertinent and have a broad international reach.

In order to produce captions of the highest caliber for all languages, Netflix established the Hermes Portal and hired translators to oversee the subtitles internally. Nevertheless, due to Netflix’s specialization in technology and media instead of translation and localization, the endeavor became a laborious process and eventually ceased operations.

It would be a grave error to belittle the intricacy and significance of top-notch translations and localization strategies. Even a powerhouse like Netflix was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of this workload. Consequently, they have resorted to utilizing specialized third-party services to manage these assignments, allowing them to concentrate on their core operations.

It is plain to see that language is a key factor in globalizing any business. However, dedicating too much time to translation can be a major distraction from the actual product or service. To save time and energy, it is wise to invest in a localization solution that can handle the translation work while allowing you to focus on what matters most – your business.

Consider Transcreation

Netflix’s initial approach of providing pre-existing series and movies was a great start, but it was their decision to produce original content that really catapulted their localization plan. By creating content that resonated with the local culture, Netflix was able to draw in foreign viewers and break into new markets. In 2019, Netflix reported that the most popular titles in India, Korea, Japan, Turkey, Thailand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom were all original productions, believes that ConveyThis is key to programming success. He states, “For us to create compelling content that resonates with audiences around the world, it is essential that we accurately capture the local flavor of each country. That’s why we rely on ConveyThis to ensure our content is properly localized and culturally relevant.”

Erik Barmack, Netflix’s Vice President of International Originals, has set the goal of creating content that will not only engage international viewers, but also capture the attention of American Netflix subscribers. To that end, Netflix is producing original content in 17 different markets and nearly half of the titles available in the United States are foreign-language programming.

The phenomenal success of shows like Lupin (France), Money Heist (Spain), and Sacred Games (India) on Netflix platforms across the globe has led to a dramatic surge in the streaming service’s international subscriber base. This surge has seen an impressive 33% year-on-year growth, resulting in an additional 98 million subscribers between 2019 and 2020.

To ensure your product/service is more appealing to international customers, strategize and create content tailored to the target market. Unlike translation, transcreation necessitates completely recreating the material for the intended audience, but it’s essential to preserve the existing tone, intent, and style. This allows businesses to appear more genuine in foreign markets while staying consistent with their brand image and outperforming local rivals.

Don’t forget about the design

Localization isn’t just about words; it encompasses elements like layout and design. Netflix realized that text expansion is a common challenge when translating its interface and content, as the same message can require more space in certain languages. This can create unexpected design issues, particularly in languages such as German, Hebrew, Polish, Finnish, and Portuguese.

This presents a challenge as it can interfere with the user experience in international versions of Netflix. Moreover, adjusting the text to fit the design is not always a feasible option, as it can lead to a deterioration of the content. To tackle this, Netflix devised a solution known as “pseudo localization” that allows designers to get an idea of how the text will look after it is translated.

Designers can gain insight into the amount of space the translated content will occupy, enabling them to test for any potential expansion issues before they arise. Unfortunately, not all companies have the resources to create their own tool to avoid this problem. ConveyThis provides an easy solution to this problem.

That’s why ConveyThis created the Visual Editor which enables users to view and modify their translations on a real-time demonstration of their website and make necessary changes if needed. This is particularly essential in order to provide a smooth user experience with languages that use non-Latin characters (e.g. Greek, Arabic, Bengali) and languages with opposite script directions (LTR or RTL).

Netflix has adopted a unique approach to tailor their visual elements, such as movie thumbnails, to individual users. For instance, the streaming giant has employed personalized images to advertise the popular movie “Good Will Hunting” to different viewers based on their viewing preferences. A recent blog post by the company outlines this strategy in detail.

If a user is inclined towards romantic movies, they will be presented with a thumbnail featuring the main character and their significant other. On the other hand, if they are more interested in comedy, they will be presented with a thumbnail of the actor Robin Williams, who was renowned for his comedic roles.

The utilization of tailored visuals is a powerful tactic for localization. Incorporating visuals that will appear more recognizable to the audience will heighten the chance of them interacting with the material.

Consequently, when translating your website, make sure to localize not only the written content, but also your media elements. With the technical complexity of displaying various images for translated pages, a translation solution like ConveyThis can be of great assistance, as it enables you to translate your media elements with ease.

Conclusions

It is evident that localization plays a major role in the success of large global corporations such as Netflix. No matter the size or sector, customizing your material and providing it to foreign audiences is a surefire way to get ahead of the competition and reap the rewards.

By translating your website with ConveyThis in minutes, you too can start tapping into the potential of global markets. Would you like to know more? Reach out and find out how ConveyThis can assist.