You know your product or service is good. You know there’s consumer demand overseas. But there’s one obvious hurdle… the language barrier. You need high-quality business translation services to help you go global.
This article will give you the low-down on the different types of business translation services you can use in different parts of your business, as well as help you avoid common mistakes.
Let’s run through…
- What business translation encompasses
- How and where you can use different translation services in your business
- Common translation challenges & solutions for businesses
- The implications of using machine translation
First things first… what is business translation?
Business translation is the process of translating any texts related to business. This might include marketing content, internal communications, legal documents and technical manuals.
How you can use translation services for your business
There’s a lot that comes under the umbrella of business translation. It can be a good idea to prioritise what information needs translating first, rather than attempting to translate everything all at once.
Here are some more specific business translation services to show you the different areas in which it can be used:
Marketing Translation
Brand translation – Translating brand names and slogans.
Learn from Mercedes’ mistake: when they first launched in China, they translated their name to ‘bensi’, which actually means ‘rush to die’.
Working with local translators will help ensure that your brand translates well into the target market.
Marketing translation – Translating social media, ads, marketing campaigns & SEO content. It’s really important to localise this content, rather than translate it literally. The target culture as well as the target language needs to be considered.
Wondering how to translate SEO content?
Website & app translation – Creating language-specific websites and app content for the new market.
Technical translation
Product information – Any information that comes with your product. This includes product packaging, information, safety manuals and documents such as return slips.
General translation
Customer support – Don’t forget your new customers will need a way to access support. This could be a translated FAQ page or automated email responses.
Internal communications – As your company expands abroad, you will need to translate internal documents such as company policies and training handbooks.
Legal translation
Documents like terms of service, contracts, and compliance files.
Financial translation
Documentation such as financial reports, invoicing and banking statements.
Because business translation involves a wide range of services, translators specialise in specific sectors to ensure that they have the subject matter knowledge to translate accurately.
Common business translation issues & how to solve them
Now you know the different areas of business translation, let’s go over some common mistakes brands make and how you can avoid them.
Not using professionals
This is probably the number one problem when companies try to expand globally: they task somebody in the team with language skills to translate everything. In addition to their usual tasks. It’s like asking the junior account executive to write the annual fiscal report – they might be able to produce something, but they don’t have the expertise to produce something worth using.
Using non-native speakers or non-professionals will result in translations that are stilted at best and inaccurate at worst. Remember, translations will be the first impression that an overseas consumer has of your brand, so it pays to do it properly.
Avoid this problem by:
– Hiring professional translation partners who translate into their native tongue & have specific sector expertise.
Trying to stretch the budget to include everything
Paying for high-quality business translation services can feel costly, and so it’s tempting to go for lower-budget options. However, like most things, you will get what you pay for, and low cost translation services are usually carried out by people short on time and training.
Avoid this problem by:
– Prioritising what gets translated first. Rather than trying to translate everything at once, translate your home & service/product pages on your website before your blog, and your product packaging before your social media. Once international sales start trickling in, you can increase money spent on localisation and translation services.
Putting blind faith in AI or machine translation
If you’ve ever tried to buy something from a foreign website, you know just how annoying automatic website translations can be. They only half make sense, and pretty quickly, you’re much less tempted to part with your cash. Don’t let that be your website!
Machine or AI translations ignore cultural context, which is what takes a literal word-for-word translation from zero to hero. They can also be full of errors and inaccuracies, which can be damaging to your brand’s reputation.
Avoid this by:
– Working with a native, professional, human translator who can ensure your translations are culturally sensitive and impactful.
Wondering where I come into all of this? Find out how I help brands reach the British market.
Consequences of using AI or machine translation
AI and machine translation exists, and it can be a cost-effective way of producing texts in a different language. But before you upload everything to an online translator, make sure you have fully understand its pros and cons. Here are some things you might not have thought about:
It can be damaging to search engine rankings
For content to rank on search, it needs to be easy to read, genuinely helpful, and authoritative. AI or machine translations are often inaccurate, with lengthy, jumbled sentences – neither of which does wonders for SEO.
It misses the mark on localisation
Remember that Mercedes example? This kind of translation problem occurs when content hasn’t been properly localised. Other examples of localisation that would likely be missed by machine translation include:
- Translating the French ‘cuisine parallèle’ to ‘galley kitchen’, rather than ‘parallel kitchen’, because ‘galley kitchen’ is more commonly used (and therefore searched) in the UK
- Doritos changing its US ‘Cool Ranch’ flavour to ‘Cool Original’ in the UK because ranch sauce isn’t as commonly eaten in Britain
Machine translation fails to understand the cultural context of the language it’s being translated into, opting instead for a word-for-word swap. This can mean that a translation that might be linguistically correct completely misses the mark, or even causes offence.
Brand, website and marketing translation should be done by a qualified marketing translator who knows the target culture and can translate accordingly.
Errors can have serious consequences
The result of machine translation inaccuracies can also have serious implications for your business. Although less cultural context is necessary for something like an instruction manual, it needs to be 100% accurate. Translations will need to be checked by a human to try to eliminate any errors in the translation (although make sure you understand the full implications of using a human-in-the-loop translation process).
Potential security issues
It’s worth considering what you upload to AI or machine translation tools and checking what data each tool does or doesn’t store to ensure it aligns with your company’s privacy policies.
AI and machine translation are here to stay, but the risks do need to be considered. Make sure to pair machine translation with human insight where you can, and focus on documents that can be more literally translated, using plain language, or lower-risk content like internal emails.
If you want to know more about AI translation, check out this article.
How to get the most out of your business translation services
Now you’ve seen how business translation can be used, and the common problems that you can avoid, it’s time to think about how you can find the right kind of help.
Here are three tips on how to get the most out of business translation services:
Find someone specialised
Your translation partner will only translate into one language, their native tongue. They should be professional, with either a qualification or years of experience, and specialised in a specific style of translation – such as marketing, legal, or technical. Take a look at their portfolios, websites and testimonials (whether they’re agencies or freelancers) to see how their experience relates to what you want them to do for you.
Give translators context
Give your translation partner as much information as you can about your company and the content they’re specifically working with. Just like writers, translators need style guides, technical glossaries and an understanding of long- and short-term content goals.
Make translation part of the process
Translation works best when translators have been involved throughout the process. Involving your brand and marketing translators (who are also your cultural consultants) from the beginning will ensure that everything you translate is relevant to the target market, and writing texts in plain language will make them easier to be translated – saving both time and money.
Business translation is an inevitable part of global expansion and the quality of your translated content will have an impact on your reputation overseas.
By taking your time, investing in high-quality services and avoiding over-reliance on machine translation, you can be sure to set off on the right foot.
Interested in working together to help you establish your brand in Britain? If you’re a French- or Spanish-speaking brand, I’d love to hear more about your project.