Articles

Going global is a common business trend these days and every company taking it seriously considers translation and localization as the best way to do that. This is the easy part – the decision to translate. The hard part begins when it comes to deciding who should handle the translation process for you.

You have some options, of course, such as using Google Translate o any other online tool. You can also experiment by using your sales and marketing staff or engineers who speak the language you need. Would this be the best decision? Let’s see:

1. Your Message

In order for your company message to be consistent across all the languages, channels and types of content, it is important to use a translation provider that adheres to your general style guides and requirements regarding your company voice. You don’t want to lose out in any local market just because the people you delegate the translation to are unfamiliar with these guidelines.

Linguistic knowledge is also an important factor here. After all, even if translators use the guidelines, but at the same time they are not aware of unique aspects of the languages, they open doors to unlimited and cardinal errors. This will most definitely impact your company’s message. And it would not be a positive impact.

2. Your Terminology

If you decide to delegate the translation of your marketing content to your existing staff, you risk terminology confusion. When a professional marketing translation agency takes over your translation project, they designate a dedicated project manager that oversees the precision in the terminology used and adherence to the style guide regarding the terminology.

This individual also makes sure that the terminology style guide is followed at every stage of the project, from the start to the review stage. If you don’t provide such guide, a project manager makes sure you communicate at all stages to ensure no inconsistency sneaks in. You chose the best sales and marketing staff for their jobs, why not choose the best people for the marketing translation job? 

3. Your Customers' Experience

A simple fact: your business is all about your customers. Their experience is what determines if your company does a good job. And as the studies show, most customers prefer having the product and marketing information in their language, in a correct, up-to-date with the changes in their language form.

In order to provide your clients with the perfect experience, it's crucial for you to ensure their expectations are met by giving them content properly localized with respect to all the regulations and nuances of the local culture you address. This is done by professional language translation services. All you need to do is choose well and then enjoy watching your translated marketing content sell your products.

4. Your Reputation

With all this said, one thing is clear. You put your company on the line every time you choose amateur translation over the professional one. Your content has to be spotless from start to finish, consistent, comprehensive and compliant with the local markets’ regulations and culture.

If your translators – whoever they are – fail to deliver the translations at the best possible quality, based on their knowledge and expertise, you risk your company’s reputation being permanently damaged. Are you ready to take that risk?

Do you want to experiment, or do you want to succeed?