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Whether you’re currently the head of a company that does business on a global scale or simply a driven entrepreneur with dreams of getting there someday, there’s no denying the value of communication. When it comes to communicating with clients from different cultures and regions, translations are an absolute must. However, it’s important more to a effective translation than may be obvious at first.
The translation process is not about simply taking content in one language, moving the words into another language, and calling it a day. Modern business translation is about clear commu-nication. It’s about truly knowing your audience and having a full understanding of how to
form a lasting connection with them. Here we’ll address what every global company should bear in mind when approaching the process.
1. QUALITY MATTERS
When it comes to translation, “quality” goes beyond conjugating your verbs correctly or other grammatical criteria. It’s not just what you’re saying that’s important. It’s also how you’re saying it – the form, as well as the substance.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER
Think about the last truly bad piece of informative writing you read. The chances are excellent that you remember it as “bad” for reasons other than, or in addition to, difficulty understanding the information that was being communicated. The text itself may have flowed badly, or contained turns of phrase that just didn’t fit. Overall, it probably didn’t seem as if the creator behind the content really cared about the
impression they were making.
If you’re relying on cut-rate, mediocre translations to communicate with your global audience, you run the risk of having the same effect on your clients. Understand that your translations are doing more for you than selling your products or your services. They’re helping you to make that ever-important first impression at the same time, and it is true what they say about first impressions, after all – you never get a second
chance. So make yours count!
NAILING BOTH TONE AND MEANING
For translations that will help you make the impression you want, native speakers are the resources you need. They’ll be familiar with your market’s local idiom, and will have a lifetime of experience communicating with the very audience you’re trying to reach. This ensures that all of your translations will have the correct “local flavor,” something no dictionary or grammar book can teach.
Localized translations help your target audience connect with your material on a warm, personal level. Advertising and marketing copy will be much more effective, thanks to your translators’ native approach. And high-quality translations that are as accurate as they are friendly and approachable will score major points with your customers. They’ll feel prioritized and catered to. They’ll know that you’re really inter-
ested in connecting with them – and anyone in business knows the value of that.
At the end of the day, translated material should be treated with the same care and attention to detail you’d devote to content in your native language. It should be informative, relevant, easy to read, and engaging. This is one of the best ways to make sure you’re treating your international customers with the care and attention that they deserve. An excellent translation shows them how serious you are about earning their business and satisfying their needs.
2. CURATE YOUR CONTENT
To show your international clients that you’re attentive to their wants and needs, it’s important to consider whether all of your content is relevant to your full international client base. In most cases, a full-scale “content dump” will not be the most productive course of action. Let’s take a closer look at why.
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY
For a global business, it is safe to assume that each of your international markets will have different needs for your products and services. Are all of your products available across the board, to every global client you serve? If this is the case, then it’s definitely worth your while to have all of your material translated into every language.
On the other hand, if your catalog is tailored to each discrete market, make sure to only translate content related to options available to the audience in each language. Otherwise, you’re merely teasing people by giving them information on products they can’t purchase, and services that aren’t relevant to their location or demographic. This can come across as disorganized, highly confusing, and unprofessional. You run the risk of leaving clients wondering what else you haven’t bothered to think about. You’re priming them to expect disappointment, not satisfaction.
AVOID WASTING MONEY
Proper curation isn’t just beneficial to your client base, but for your company, as well. Not only does it give clients a much better impression of your company and products, but it will save you money and preserve the integrity of your bottom line. Why have all of your content translated into each of your target languages, when only some of it is relevant to each of your markets?
Consider tailoring content for each language from the outset, drafting each piece of market-specific content in English first, with attention paid to each individual set of commercial and cultural expectations. This kind of advance attention will not only keep translation services cost-effective, but it will streamline the job, to boot.
Ultimately, going the extra mile to make sure your content is properly curated and targeted can only help you. You’ll save time and money, and you’ll show your client base that you’re organized, astute, and attentive when it comes to their individual needs.
3. DIFFERENT TRANSLATION OPTIONS FOR DIFFERENT CONTENT
It’s important to realize that translation isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of service. You have many different options at your disposal. An option that suffices for one group of content pieces may be wrong in every way for another set. In addition, if you’re a small business, a start-up looking to establish your first international foothold, or any other entity operating on a limited budget, knowing your options can lead to the savings you need to keep your head above water.
AVOID SHORTCUTS
The temptation to go with cheap translation shortcuts can be strong, especially when you’re working with a very tight budget or timeline. In these cases, online translation engines are liable to look very good to you. They are also, in the great majority of cases, a perfect example of what not to do. Yes, they’re cheap (if not completely free), and they’re ultra-fast. However, most are incapable of delivering the level of
quality your clients deserve.
Only consider such solutions if you’re working with a language that is widely spoken and has a wellestablished online presence, such as Spanish or French. Online translation engines often “learn” from available online content, so the more content is available, the greater the odds that the resulting translations won’t be disastrous. Also, content translated by online engines should always be reserved for internal use only.
Never take such translations and put them in front of a client. Your internal team can overlook small errors and awkward phrasing. Expecting your clients to do the same is unprofessional.
TRUST THE PROFESSIONALS
When drafting client-facing material of any kind – especially material that will be translated into languages and dialects that are not widely known or spoken in the world – don’t cut corners. This goes further than avoiding free or inexpensive automatic translation engines. A staff member or friend who happens to speak the language isn’t a proper substitute for a professional translator.
Take no risks, and hire a professional translation agency with a stellar reputation and a record of proven success in your industry. Such an agency will assign your project to a vetted professional translation team. The members of this team will be native speakers of the language in question, and experts with full knowledge of any relevant industry-specific concepts.
When and where appropriate, it may also be a good idea to have certain content pieces created in your target language, as this can make your content more relatable and authentic to your audience than a translation. Any and all foreign language content should be put through an established quality assurance process to guarantee accurate, error-free, readable text.
4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Company managers may forget about the importance of proper project management when planning a translation project. They mistakenly assume that there won’t be much to it, only to find out too late that they should have planned ahead for the process.
Ask yourself right off the bat if you have the time and resources to be your own manager, from start to finish, when it comes to your project. If not, then it’s in your best interest to leave the project management side of things up to the professionals.
UNDERSTANDING PROJECT SCALE
It’s easy to underestimate the time, effort, and commitment a given project will take,even if you have project management experience in other areas. The process involves a great deal more than simply checking in with your team every so often, to make sure things are progressing as planned!
Translation projects – especially those that are larger in scale – can quickly amount to a lot of work above and beyond the translating alone. For instance, if your project involves the translation of a website, and that website works with a CMS, it may take many hours of manual work to copy and paste completed translations into that CMS. If this project involves translation into multiple languages, then you could be looking at an investment in time of several days, or even weeks.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t oversee your own translation projects. However, it’s important to evaluate each one on a case-by-case basis and make sure that you really do have the time and energy to invest.
PROFESSIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT
On the management side of things, a professional project manager can take care of everything for you. They can oversee the rest of the team, put together time tables, handle communications, and see to it that proper time and manpower is dedicated to each phase of the project. A professional project manager can be a godsend when it comes to providing expert process advice.
Another point to remember: a professional translation project manager will have access to tools, resources, and methods that you may be unaware of – translation has its tools of the trade, just as any industry does, and the tools are always improving. Your projects will be completed with skill and finesse, and with the inclusion of cutting-edge technology, equipment, and software in the process, they’ll be completed with speed.
The right translation company will be capable of covering all the bases of your global translation projects, up to and including the nuts and bolts of project management. Leave things to the experts, and you and your team will be free to steer your company and build your brand.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT COMPANY FOR THE JOB
You wouldn’t consider entrusting any other aspect of your global company to an inexperienced, unseasoned team. Why would you cut corners with your translations? Remember, your translated material will be your connection with important clients, customers,and readers in nations all over the world. The quality of those translations will have a profound effect on your bottom line and company reputation, upon the initial impres-
sion and over time as your foreign language presence grows. It’s vital to entrust that task to the right professional translation company from day one.
TrueLanguage offers premium business translations in more than 120 languages to companies of all types and sizes. Every translation is fully localized and executed by only the best linguists in the business. Add our robust collection of diverse technological solutions and our responsive project management team to the mix, and you have a true recipe for success. Let us help you take your company to the next level and beyond, starting today!
