Global expansion is often the dream of most talented business owners – it brings the possibility of diversification, new markets, increased revenue, foreign investment opportunities, access to new talent, and further prestige for your firm.
However, with overseas growth comes the need to familiarise yourself and your staff with new business regulations and procedures, bridge language barriers and adapt to cultural differences.
It is highly probable that you will need to localise your website, translate marketing materials and business information, and communicate with foreign customers and suppliers.
The need for professional translation and localisation support will quickly become paramount to realising your dream.
The following translation tips will help you prepare for global expansion, ensuring your business has the best shot at success.
- Create Copy with your New Market in Mind
Cultural differences can be huge, even between countries that are geographically close.
Ensuring you create new copy (or localise existing copy) centred on your new market is vital to your success.
Be especially aware of colloquialisms, humour, idioms and so on, which can vary significantly from one region, culture, or country, to another.
Maintaining your brand can seem difficult when the need to translate and localise for foreign markets takes precedent. However, a professional translation team can work through these issues with you ensuring that your brand voice isn’t ‘lost in translation’.
- Translation Takes Time
Especially when it is a professional, quality translation.
Be aware that you’ll need to give your translation provider plenty of time to perform your required translations – rush jobs are never going to be as accurate as one that has been thoroughly localised, evaluated, discussed and checked.
You should aim to meet with your translation provider as early as possible, and ensure you give them as much information as you can as this makes their task easier and more comprehensive.
Re-creating a text from its source language, that still maintains the vital elements and message of the original, is a complex and involved procedure – don’t rush it!
- Avoid Machine Translations
By this we mean Machine Translations which are performed solely by a computer, for instance, Google Translate or Microsoft Translator.
Professional translation providers all use technology to assist with their translations, but these are designed to be used alongside human translators.
Technology for translators usually consists of the following:
- Translation Memory
- Spell checks
- Grammar software
- Terminology memory/databases
- Dictionaries
- Project management systems
As you can see, none of these actually translate documents word for word but instead, assist the translator to quality check, edit, proofread, speed up translation, and automatically translate frequently used phrases and terminology.
If you want your translated documents or website to be top quality, while retaining your brand voice, you’ll need a human translator.
- Translation Price
Many translators charge per-word for their translations. However, you should also be sure to check what is included in this price.
For example, extra charges might be added for the following:
- Editing
- Proof reading
- Project management
- Rush projects
- Formatting
Be sure to check in advance what is included in the translation price, then you can budget accordingly.
- Low Cost Translation – Low Quality?
As with many services and products you buy, you often get what you pay for. The same is true in the translation industry.
Be wary of a translator, or translation company, that offer you a too-good-to-be-true-price…as it probably is!
Low quality translations can damage your brand, cause legal issues when not abiding by legislation, or lose you contractors and suppliers.
Check with your translation provider if they offer any guarantee with their work, or ask to see examples of previous translations and work for other clients.
- Translation Expertise
Expertise counts for a lot in the translation industry. You are more likely to receive a quality translation from a company that has a long list of happy clients (who have used them time and time again), than a young company with limited experience.
It is also worth considering which languages you require before selecting a translation provider to work with, as some translation companies will have huge experience in dealing with certain language pairs, but limited knowledge of others. For instance, at Creative Word, we have years of experience dealing with many different language pairs but our speciality area is the Arabic language.
Similarly, look for translation providers who specialise in your industry or sector, especially if you need legal, medical or technical translations, as these often require a high degree of knowledge for precision and accuracy.
- Translation Samples
Asking for a sample from a translator is always a good idea, but be wary, these rarely reflect the depth involved in longer translation projects.
Once you have found a translation provider to work with they will create glossaries, styles guides, check resources, complete company research, study background materials, and so on, so that their translation is as complete, precise and appropriate as possible.
A sample translation won’t have this complexity, but will give you a rough guide as to the ability of the translator, or translation team, within your required industry or language pairs.
- Translation Briefs
If your translation team don’t know what you require from your translation, how can they offer what you want?
Translation briefs are vital for ensuring that everyone understands the precise requirements for the translation; its objectives, time scales, budgets, constraints, target audience, and so on, should all be considered in conjunction with your project manager or translator before the project commences. Be clear in advance what you require from your translation.
By approaching your translation request in this way there is little room for error or confusion.
- Translation Project Manager and Company Contacts
Professional translation firms usually offer a project manager service for larger translation projects. This project manager will oversee your translation, keep you updated with regard to progress, and may need to contact you if any issues, queries, or questions arise.
It is vital that you assign a specific contact within your own company who can liaise with the project manager, so that any issues can be quickly resolved, and there will be no delay with the project.
The person you choose should have enough knowledge of the project, and authority, to clearly explain issues and give accurate assistance to the project manager. They should also be easily contactable either via email or phone.
- Translation, Localisation and Culture
When it comes to adapting language in order to fit with a new culture, translation is usually just the tip of the iceberg.
Translation will change the language from the original (source) to the new (target) and will ensure that the original message is conveyed accurately.
However, localisation will not only transfer the message, it will also take account of cultural differences and adapt the translation to fit the context. For instance, it you are moving into an Arabic market from an English base, you should consider differences such as, religion, gender bias, societal structures, humour, phraseology, and style as these will greatly affect the impact your translation has on your target market.
Translation and localisation are complex processes, which take time and effort to get right, while still ensuring your brand voice is maintained and appealing to your target market.
A professional translation provider will be happy to discuss, and develop, any of the above points with you to guarantee you get the best value for money translation.
If you need any further help please contact Creative Word.
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