As the owner of a global business, you’re always looking for ways to increase your ROI and expand your reach. A lot of the time, this means adjusting your operations. But what if I told you expanding your language offerings could have an even more drastic impact on your success in overseas markets? 

Would you be interested in learning more if you knew digital marketing expert Neil Patel increased his traffic by 47% through website translation? Here are few statistics that drive home the importance of professional translation and a brief discussion of what a GOOD translation means for international marketing.

You Can’t Afford Not to Hire a Translator

We’ve all heard the translation horror stories. Pepsi marketing itself as a necromancer in Taiwan. Perdue chicken’s Spanish translations are implying that its founder was a little TOO passionate about his produce. What you’ll notice, however—even though they got stung—is that these companies persevered in their translation attempts. None of them left the market or gave up on globalization because of that. Below are some figures that explain why translation is worth it even after a snafu:

• Only 13% of the world’s population speak English
• According to data collected by the Common Sense Advisory, 40% of consumers won’t make a purchase in another language
• 73% of people surveyed prefer to read reviews in their native language
• For 56% of people, having information available in their native tongue is a more significant purchase indicator than price
• 72% of consumers spend most of their time on the web in their native language

As the above figures show, making a real connection with your audience means hiring a professional translator.

While international marketing has its risks, the potential benefits outweigh the problems. If you put in the work upfront, you’ll avoid making similar mistakes in market adaptation.  

Related: What is the role of translators in the localization process?

What Does a Good Translation Look Like?

To make sure your reputation in your new market stays unsoured, you need to understand what makes a translation good.  While accuracy is essential, it’s not THE most important thing.

A good international marketing effort resonates emotionally with a target group. It captures the spirit of the original advertisement or promotional campaign and contextualizes it for your new target market. In a translation, you aim to convey the original message in unaltered form. This means going as close to verbatim as possible. Marketing translation is much more nuanced than this, however. It requires tweaking and a deep understanding of your target market’s culture.

In truth, it’s very rarely a “good translation” that you’re looking for when it comes to marketing material. What you need is transcreation—an adaptation of content that maintains the tone, intent, and style of your source material without relying on a verbatim translation.

What Can You Do to Ensure Your Translation Is High Quality?

So, now you know what a good “translation” is. But what can you as a business owner do to ensure your international marketing efforts are successful? I suggest following the below tips:

• Hire a Professional Translator: The importance of translation to international marketing cannot be overstated. That’s why I suggest you hire a certified language professional who possesses both marketing experience and in-depth knowledge of your industry. Sure, your intern might know Swedish, but is the money you’ll save on a professional’s rates worth staking your company’s reputation over? No, it’s not. Because marketing is a highly contextual field, you also will want to verify that your chosen provider is adept at transcreation and adaption.
• Track Your Results: If you don’t know there’s a problem with your international marketing efforts, you can’t make adjustments later. Connect your marketing to a well-defined goal to allow you to evaluate its effectiveness.
• Don’t Dumb It Down: When looking to expand internationally, many marketers write things with translation in mind. This often means stripping out idioms and colorful words in favor of bland, boring text. While this seems like a good idea on the surface, the goal of “easily translatable English” leads to forgettable content. So, keep your firm’s personality front and center. Just make sure you hire someone with the marketing chops to do the adaptation justice.
• Test  Your Translation Before Going Public: It’s a lot easier to fix a mistake in a prototype than it is once your product hits the market. Use things like focus groups to test the reception of your international marketing materials and copy. If your budget allows, hire a second agency or freelance translator to evaluate the original piece.
• Provide a Good Brief: The more information you give your translator, the easier it will be to fi your text to your target market. Compose a document that outlines your firm’s brand voice, logo, history, product specifications, and marketing goals. This will allow your translator to craft content that better reflects your company’s culture.

The Best Move for Swedish Translations? Hiring a Transcreator Who Understands International Marketing

Your company’s approach to international marketing will vary depending on its size and business goals. Whether or not a specific method is the right one will be determined by the specifics of the situation. But, professional translation services are a must-have for ANY company looking to do well on the global stage. Just make sure to hire a marketing specialist with knowledge of your target market, not someone who merely speaks your target language. If your company needs content that motivates people in the Swedish market, reach out to me for a no-obligation quote.

Check also:

• 11 Examples of What Can Go Wrong in Translation of Marketing Materials
• Is It Worth Hiring a Professional Swedish Translator for Your Marketing Materials?
• Understanding My Professional English to Swedish Translator Certifications