If your firm has a multilingual, global customer base then the answer to this question is most definitely “Yes, you should translate your business blog” as this is an essential component in attracting international customers, improving brand trust and recognition, and communicating with your potential or existing customers.
However, there is now a glut of information online, with articles being created just to fulfil SEO and keyword obligations in order to improve rankings on search engines but that hold little or no interest for customers.
Therefore, the task is really more about creating quality, informative content that customers can engage with, learn from and explore, and which is available in different languages!
This may sound like a challenge but by following our simple steps below you can achieve all these things and help grow your international customer base.
1. Create Engaging Content
We have all clicked on a promising link to a blog post only to be disappointed upon finding that it is full of regurgitated information that could be found on any other similar website. It’s so frustrating!
In order to create engaging and relevant content for your international customer base you must do the following:
• Know your customers – find out their interests, what makes them passionate about your products or service, and what information would they like to learn about your business.
• Understand their culture – every country has different cultural norms and expectations so be sure you write content that fits with these. Similarly, avoid automatically sharing content that may be acceptable in one culture yet cause offence in another.
• Write from the heart – if you are truly passionate about your business and brand then share this with the world! Write a blog about how you started in the firm, what is a typical working day, or which product you couldn’t live without. Show customers you share their enthusiasm for products or services that you offer.
2. Use a Professional Language Services Provider
All of us have read one of ‘those’ blogs, the ones that are so badly translated that they make no sense whatsoever and lack any writing finesse or creative content.
Avoid this common trap by only using a professional language services provider (LSP) for business translations, especially if it is for customer facing information such as, blogs, websites, or social media.
Poorly translated content will cost you more in the long run as potential customers will be put off of purchasing from a ‘cheap’ firm that doesn’t invest in quality translations.
3. Use Localisation and Translation
Translation generally offers a word for word adaption of content from one language to another. However, localisation adapts content to fit with cultural norms, colloquial language and other area specific expectations.
Localisation is often described as a more ‘in-depth’ translation.
Localisation adapts the following factors for a truly ‘local’ experience for global customers:
• Language – content is adapted so it fits with colloquial terminology. Humour, commonly used phrases, sentence structure and grammar are all localised for a specific region, area or dialect, thus giving a more natural feel and tone to your brand voice
• Currency – localisation adapts currency to fit with local expectation, giving customers the chance to purchase in the native currency
• Weights and measures – as with currency, weights and measures vary depending upon location so these are adapted for local audiences
• Date and time format – time zones can play havoc with opening hours for customer services and so on. Localisation ensures these are correct for each region or country
• Address, phone number and postcode formats – it is so frustrating, when attempting to purchase a product from another country but your address, phone number or postcode isn’t recognised because it doesn’t fit with the website format for the foreign site. Localisation adapts these for each locale, ensuring customers can quickly and easily fill in their purchasing information without problems
• Colour – this may initially seem insignificant to us in the UK, yet some foreign customers would be offended by the use of certain colours in advertising campaigns or when used inappropriately. Colours have different significance depending upon the culture, so localisation is essential in order to get this right
• Images – as with colour, there are many things which may be acceptable within the UK but would cause offence in another culture or country. For instance, in the UK, showing a scantily clad female is considered the norm when selling shampoo, yet to do this in an Arab country would be considered offensive
Professional translation and localisation services can really help your business achieve success in global markets, and ensure cultural and regulatory accuracy.
Translating blog posts allows your foreign customers access to detailed information about your brand, business, products and services that they might not be able to find elsewhere, and it goes a long way towards showing customers that you are prepared to invest in their satisfaction.
For more information on the translation and localisation services we offer at Creative Word, please click here.
Alternatively, to speak to one of our expert team, please contact us.
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