Why bother with translation?

Welcome to our blog post.

For this post I want to share a response to a question I was recently asked whilst attending a friend’s wedding and explaining what I do for a living. After answering the obligatory questions about how long I’ve been doing this and who I do it for and why, etc., they asked “why do companies bother with translation, surely English is pretty much universal?”

Although to some this question (and the answer) may seem pretty obvious it is one that I have been asked before. Although my reply was pretty short – “Typically it helps gain a greater engagement with a potential target market and customers are more likely to respond to a message if it’s in their own language rather than English” (what a fun wedding guest I can be) – it is one that I feel could have done with some further clarification (the starters had just arrived and the “what do you do” question was now being posed to my partner) and a better explanation.

Contrary to what you may think LSPs are not often posed this question in the context of making a sale. More often it is asked by those who are making general enquiries about our services or those who have not had to or do not need to sell or promote products and services outside their domestic market (such as my fellow wedding guest mentioned above).  I have found that by the time companies are at a stage when they wish to engage with translation service providers they already know why they need to get their material translated (or are working on behalf of an organisation that does).

Research has proven that there is a direct correlation between sales volume and content presented in the reader's own language. This is demonstrated best on the web where customers are 6 times more likely to buy if the content is shown in their mother tongue. In a study conducted by Common Sense Advisory it found that over 85% of people who regularly made purchases from the web stated that having pre-purchase information presented in their own language was a critical factor when making a purchasing decision.

Further research that has looked at the mother tongue of the internet population and estimated gross domestic product (GDP) indicates that there are 10 languages on the web that, if your content is translated into these, you are covering 80% of the global purchasing power – 65% of which is not English.   

In some ways a lot of the research undertaken to help determine the answer to the question (why bother to translate) looks at sales and marketing figures from a transactional perspective. It sees customers and sales as numbers. What I feel it does not examine is the more qualitative aspect of responses to translation and purchase, aspects that can help companies build brands and foster customer loyalty. To research this, of course, would be a massive undertaking and because of the cultural difference would not necessarily directly answer the question.

With that in mind and from more of a branding perspective, I would like to share some of my top reasons why organisations should translate and localise their content for each market they are hoping to get into. I would be very interested in hearing from anyone with an addition to this list.

Reason#1: Engagement. As mentioned in my rather dry response to the question asked at my friend’s wedding I feel engagement is the key. Having content presented to you in your own language helps you engage on a much higher level than if the content was foreign to you.

Reason#2: Trust. If you want to garner trust in prospective clients you need to be able to communicate to them. If they can’t understand what is being communicated to them it is highly unlikely that a relationship built on trust will follow. Trust (or the perception of trust) changes greatly depending on geographical location. Simply literally translating your content will not be enough to guarantee a feeling of trust in your perspective customer (it could even have the reverse effect if done poorly). 

Reason #3: Consistency and perception of the brand. Are you the kind of brand/product or service that is a “global citizen” communicating throughout the world? If the answer is yes (or you would like to be) then localising your content will enhance this perception.

Reason#4: Show willingness to invest. Ask yourself why a potential market should be willing to invest in your brand, product or services if you’re not willing to invest in theirs? 

Reason#5: Costs to reach new markets decreased. Being able to distribute your message via the web means you have the idea platform to reach and interact with new markets, something that previously would only be possible if you were a massive multinational with a physical base in a specific location. Now, even a modest sized business can research, market and build relationships with customers across the globe.

...Translation helps happy businesspeople do business around the world.