Why Professional Translation is Vital for Global Business Success

Professional translation is vital for any company wanting to expand globally. 

Language is an essential part of human connection. Without reaching your target audience, you might as well be communicating with a wall. We’ve already seen how machine translation has tricked small and big companies alike, leading to some embarrassment and, at worst, causing grievous offence. 

This is where professional translators become one of your company’s most significant assets. Professional translators facilitate business communication by delivering accurately translated information to connect you with your chosen target market(s). These services have become a core part of day-to-day life for many international businesses. 

For a global business to succeed, it needs to reach its clients. Otherwise, you’re reducing your chances of prosperity. These customers and clients purchase from your business and help it grow and become profitable. This would not be possible without professional translation services as they help you engage and attract your customer base. 

Language is a central part of business. Without solid communication skills, companies would not be able to market their products or services, nor would they be able to reach their ideal target market. 

Whilst this is common knowledge, many businesses forgo investing in translating their communication when expanding overseas, which is a grave error in judgement. Many companies fail when expanding overseas specifically because they took this for granted.

Each market is unique, not just geographically and structurally but also linguistically and culturally. Even in countries that appear superficially similar (like Australia and New Zealand, the United States and Canada, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia), there can be stark differences in social cues, the way that people communicate with each other, what kind of media they consume and how they prefer to buy.

As such, you need a tailored communication strategy for each new country you plan to sell to. This is where professional translation services are paramount. 

What Is Professional Translation, And Why Is It Important?

The primary function of professional translation is to facilitate business communication by delivering accurately translated information to connect you with your chosen target market(s). 

But more importantly, professional translators have the required skill set to holistically localise your communication so that it’s adapted to your audience. 

This means that professional translators can adapt your message from one language to another while maintaining its intent, style, tone and context. This is crucial when looking to do business across different markets, as a simple mistake can quickly cost your business.

When Is It Recommended To Rely On Professional Translation?

Whilst translating your legal documents may be the most obvious place to start when expanding, you would be remiss to stop there.

With two of the most important stakeholders for a business being employees and customers, you should also consider having a professional translator for your internal communications and marketing. 

Internal Communications 

When expanding overseas, one of your first ports of call should be your internal communication with your team on the ground. Your employees make your brand and are intrinsic to your company’s success. They need to be able to understand and empathise with your organisation’s values and ethos. 

As they will be your local ambassadors liaising directly with your new audience, ensuring there is no internal miscommunication is paramount. From emails, memos, training materials and legal documents, countless communication points require your attention and can benefit from professional translation.

Many companies have adopted branding or style guides to ensure consistency worldwide and help them project a clear and consistent message across all channels. When expanding globally, professional translators can help you translate these guides to guarantee that tone is consistent across all languages and markets.

Marketing 

The success of a business is dependent on several factors, especially marketing. The role of marketing is to educate the audience on your product or service and to demonstrate that your offering is what they need. 

However, you can’t achieve that without first understanding your audience and, on the other side, the audience understanding you, which is where professional translation shines. The translation goes far beyond a simple word swap. A translator must first understand the culture and values of the targeted demography to convey the correct message, and the Marketing team’s role is to share it with them. 

When it comes to your slogans and marketing materials, you need a professional translator specialised in transcreation to convey the message creatively and appropriately into the target language. This is the reason why the marketing team should provide the linguist with a brief detailing for instance who their target audience is, what essential keywords must be used and the tone they wish to communicate to their market. 

This will allow the translator to bring forth, in their native language, a message that’s not only in line with the company’s target audience but also a message that is understandable and relatable to the market. Your product deserves the best chance of entering a market; without correctly translating your marketing materials through a professional, you could see your company experiencing a false start. 

What Are The Benefits Of Investing in Professional Business Translation?

1. Enhance your brand’s image.

As businesses expand into new global markets, they begin to run into cultural differences without knowing. These differences cause severe barriers when it comes to strengthening business relationships. 

Public perception has a massive impact on sales and revenue and, consequently, your business’s long-term success. To be competitive in the global market, companies must meet their audience at their level and speak to them in their native language. 

The novelty of being a foreign brand can work in your favour, but you still have to be able to impress and communicate with your new audience. As such, should your business target audiences overseas or international clients in their home market, we recommend taking extra precautions with your marketing and advertising strategies. 

There are many vital factors where a professional language translator can help build your brand image. Brands must develop an image that consumers can connect and communicate with, and language is vital. 

Building your brand image requires you to pursue several channels such as ad campaigns, press releases and engaging customers on social media. A professional translator can help your company build a language strategy to engage your audience across all channels. 

2. Safeguard your business’ reputation.

As mentioned earlier, proper translation requires localisation to take context into account. This is because when a word is used in a misleading or incorrect way, it can harm and threaten the company’s reputation, which can result in legal issues. 

To avoid these consequences, it’s best to let professional language translators do their job rather than letting a random employee or a machine translation engine do it.

While a lot of communicating requires reading the lines, it also needs you to read between them. Nuance and subtleties in your original messaging should be communicated, no matter their language. The translator understands that, and with their knowledge of your target audience’s culture, they can translate your words and phrases, not verbatim, but rather in a way that resonates with that market. 

If you want to keep your client’s and your company’s reputation secure and intact, always use a professional translator to avoid risking your business. 

This is also extremely important when expanding internationally; due to the complexity of the different cultures and dialects, getting the correct translation is crucial. 

Effective communication is essential when it comes to expanding your business globally. Businesses that intend to expand globally should invest in professional translation to ensure business success. Whether you’re B2B or B2C, you will need to understand the culture and languages of your intended target market. 

A professional translator will save you the worry and issues associated with both formal and informal documents. They will help build a stronger brand image and boost your company’s reputation.