Why You Need a Language Professional for Your International Marketing Plan
Having an international marketing plan in only one language could severely limit the reach of your brand. For example, both domestically and abroad, there are nearly half a billion people who speak Spanish. Think of all the customers who could be served by utilizing the services of a language professional for your international marketing plan. There are over 80 major languages that are used in the business world. Keep reading to find out how to reach the billions of customers outside your network. Expanding Your Market If you find yourself shipping products beyond the borders of your home country, it’s a necessity to be able to communicate about your products and offerings. You may want to work with customers you feel you have the most in common with, but you also want to avoid bias. Language bias could alienate your customers. It could also leave them feeling underrepresented in their company. The solution is to prepare a customer service strategy to welcome new and potential customers. In the United States, many companies have realized that their main market is Spanish-speaking. After decades, they’ve begun to focus on that market. As the world continues to globalize, more people from various countries welcome new immigrants. The products that stick out to new consumers will be the ones that speak their language. For instance, being the first dish detergent or car company to welcome new immigrants in their own language could build a lifetime of brand loyalty. Adding Translation to Your Company Consider hiring a professional translator who is a native of the language market you’re targeting. It’s important to have someone who is comfortable with idioms and regional slang. They will help you write clearer text about products and translate your training materials. Technology, legal, and medical companies must hire someone who is well versed in those fields. This can eliminate confusion or problematic wording. A full-time in-house translator might be too expensive for your company. Instead, find part-time translator services as needed. It is to your advantage to outsource this task to professional translation services who specialize in this type of work. A member of your team who has moderate translation skills is not enough. Finding someone who knows a culture intimately is a much more worthwhile investment. A translation company is such a service. Make sure you’re communicating the concepts and not simply literal translation, which can be a turn-off and confuse your intended message. Adding Translation to Your Website Add search engine optimization to take advantage of the foreign language market. Then be sure you’ve added language translation options to your website. You want to ensure that foreign language speakers can understand why your product works for them and how it fits into their life. A website without the possibility to translate can be alienating and drive their business to a competitor. Get your translator in touch with your web design team to ensure that the site looks good for your new international market. An International Marketing Plan Increases Profits If language is your main hurdle to expanding into European, African or Asian markets, you’re lucky. This is a simple problem that you can overcome by working with a language professional. Expand your market by adding translation services to your videos, website, and marketing materials. Contact us to determine how to grow your brand with language services. Auerbach International is a leading global marketing and translation services firm with expertise in the top 80 languages.
10 Steps to Successful Global Expansion
To start global expansion overseas, it’s first important to start at home. You must be willing to dedicate manpower and money for these fundamentals … and to adapt to what works abroad. Read on to learn the 10 key steps we’ve identified as essential to your business success. Evaluate Your Names and Slogans in Other Languages Before you spend huge amounts in global expansion ventures, first determine the basics. Do your company name, product names and taglines have any negative meanings in other languages? Take a look at some of these humorous translations. For example, Coors’ slogan “Turn it loose” was interpreted in Spanish as “Suffer from Diarrhea.” Colgate introduced Cue toothpaste in France, unaware that Cue is a French adult magazine. Ghana’s popular soda Pee Cola wouldn’t sell well in the U.S. or U.K., and neither would Pet Sweat, a Japanese bottled water sold to humans. Even multinationals make mistakes. Evaluating names and slogans before market launch is very cheap insurance. A professional language agency will often inexpensively research approximately seven names and slogans in the top 10 world languages. Catch these gaffes before they catch you. Adapt to Target Countries’ Marketing Methods Purchases overseas may be done in cash as is done in much of Africa or by swiping a cell phone as occurs in Korea. Are you willing and equipped to accept less common payment methods? Do you market at home via e-commerce, social media, direct mail or telephone? Will those methods work in your target countries or must you change them? In much of Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, for example, getting a personal referral or introduction is the main way prospects will talk to you. Will your benefits and appeals work in your target countries? U.S. advertising that promises low prices may have to be rewritten to focus on the family, education or the environment, motivators of many buyers abroad. A professional global-expansion firm can guide you on connections and marketing methods, Have you planned to localize your website? Over 72% of global consumers prefer to use their native language when shopping online, even if they speak English well. Additionally, more than 56% say that obtaining information in their own language is more important than price. Are you working with a professional language localization firm that understands both culture and translation? Willing to Acculturate? You must be willing to adjust your product and marketing messages to local cultures. This can involve selling methods, content, packaging, pricing, names, benefits and appeals, and most other factors. Correct acculturation can help you succeed in your target country and provide other expansion opportunities. If you aren’t adaptable, global expansion isn’t for you. For example, McDonald’s sells lamb burgers in New Zealand and mainly has vegetarian offerings in India. There they also had to establish two kitchens so that cooks don’t mix vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes or utensils together. In the U.S., shampoo is typically sold in pricey, medium-size plastic bottles. However, if you sell shampoo in small packets for one or two hair washes at a time, your market greatly expands to the cash economies of developing countries. Build Your Home-Market Demographics Build a profile of your expected or current customers. Ask the following questions: Who buys your product or service – children, men, women, both? What are their age ranges or education level – urban or rural, consumers or other businesses? If businesses, what titles or levels purchase from you? Is your target audience growing or shrinking over what time period? What income levels can afford your product? (For example, candy requires minimal income while golf clubs require an upper middle or upper income). Be as specific as possible. Then determine whether your product or service will appeal to the same profile abroad or whether other audiences are possible. You might have too much competition at home to target other niches, but those niches might be available overseas. Also, don’t assume that reliable infrastructure (i.e., efficient ports, roads, Internet, electricity, health services, refrigeration) is readily available abroad. If your target countries don’t have these, what is your Plan B? Received Inquiries from Abroad While unsolicited, incoming inquiries may be flukes, they can indicate sources of market interest. Look on the Internet for in-depth reports about these countries and their lifestyles, spending habits, business practices, etc. At trade shows, foreign distributors or agents may ask to represent you abroad. Consider this option as part of a whole global expansion strategy. Plus, be sure to ask a global marketing consultancy how to vet these people before you decide to hire them. Their extensive contacts and reputation may not be as sterling as they present to you. Determine Complementary Products or Services For example, if you’re selling a sports drink, similar primary products are sportswear and sports equipment. Search online for market studies of those products’ international sales and their biggest country markets. These indicate the volume and revenue to be gained. You can also search the Internet for market studies of your product’s or service’s expansion. These studies are often done by independent research firms or sometimes by Master’s or PhD students. Examine Foreign Trade Publications Does your product/service have trade publications in the U.S.? See what their international circulation is, and then research what trade publications exist in other languages and countries. For advertisers, each publication publishes its circulation figures. Those are an indicator of market size and country interest. Do be sure to distinguish between paid and unpaid subscribers. The paid numbers are a stronger indicator. Read Secondary Market Studies, then Cross-Reference Many large databases such as Business Monitor International, Thomson and the Euro Monitor Passport analyze the present and future growth of many industries around the world. See what market studies are on the Internet. These may be domestic or foreign. If foreign, see whether there’s a synopsis in English. If not, a professional language agency can translate these for you. Don’t skimp on this expense. It’s a miniscule part of your overseas research
Are You in the Top Five Industries That Rely on Translation Services?
Seasoned translators are the backbone behind many successful corporations. With language translation, businesses can reach wider audiences and offer their documents in multiple languages. The business world on the web is expanding its range of services to offer new tools that translate their apps and sites into many languages. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google will soon all offer seamless services to anyone who uses them. Some of these companies already use their own translation tech in-house to give customers product documentation in multiple languages. As ecommerce brings in customers from all over the world, the need for translation services is bigger than ever. Here’s a list of the top 5 industries that rely on translation to survive: Online Shopping Online shopping is a booming industry, with 79% of Americans now shopping online for all of their product needs. From their desktop to their phones, consumers want to access various products across America and the globe. In less developed countries, mobile phones aren’t in abundance as they are in America. However, as mobile phones saturate the market, more people can afford them. Soon most online shoppers will be using their phones to make their purchases. When it comes to shopping, online stores must be able to offer their products and display them in a variety of languages for the ultimate revenue boost. Real Estate Traveling is much easier to do these days than it was years ago. People are considering destinations across the globe for vacations and even a second home. Buying homes in different countries is no longer a crazy notion. Purchasing property abroad is an exciting venture, but can be complicated with language barriers. With all the paperwork that goes with the sale of a property, translations services are an absolute must in this industry. Translators for real estate documents can help keep the documents in line with the laws across many borders. Financial Industry With large sums of money comes large responsibilities. International financial institutions must consistently stay up to date on the changing laws in the financial universe. Contracts, reports, and correspondence all require heavy translation. Manufacturing Automotive and aerospace equipment sales are becoming a global enterprise. Manufacturing companies also need various documents translated into many different languages. From trademarks to patents, from manuals to licenses, the manufacturing industry heavily relies on translation to keep their business available in many countries. Exporting manufacturing businesses can’t afford to take risks with misunderstandings and language barriers. Legal As mentioned, most of the industries need legal documents translated to their various contractors, consumers, and partners to conduct business with peace of mind. Legal translations are a default requirement, not only for companies, but also for court cases. Testimonies and witness statements must be professionally translated when two languages are involved. Poorly-chosen translations can actually tip the scale of the law. Make Your Business Great. Just Translate Translations by the experts can help you run a language-savvy, professional, high-class business. Let the pros handle the complicated translation services and global marketing strategies, while you focus on making the service you offer the best it can be. When you’re ready for the best translation services available, contact us for a free quote!
Gaining Your Share of $190 Billion
No matter what the wind from the White House, US exports each month from December 2016 to February 2017 were around $190 billion1. Yes, that’s Billion. World trade is not going to stop. The vast majority of US companies depend on it for products, components, services or income. Some 14 million US jobs exist due to trade with Canada and Mexico2. If you enjoy cell phones, cars, inexpensive clothing and summer fruits in winter, you are benefiting from global commerce. As most companies grow, they receive or initiate sales with other countries. Learning how to do business with them is critical. One of the first steps is to ensure that your brochures, manuals, websites and videos are in your customers’ languages. And that’s because around 72% of the world does not speak English and around 72% of global consumers prefer to use their native language when shopping online.3 Wouldn’t you? And just localizing your website into French, Italian, German, Spanish and Japanese opens your firm to 220 million internet users. How would even 1% of this increase help your bottom line? Note that this number does not include Chinese. While 1.2 billion people speak Chinese as their first language, it is the main content of only 2.2% of world websites.4 Many technical texts can be translated into other languages without major changes. Sometimes, however, messages must be acculturated or rewritten to sound better. Examples: The English term “hedge funds” should be used in Latin America instead of translating it into Spanish. Literal translation from French: XYZ Tissue Therapy offers a wonderful future for your body.Better rewrite: XYZ Tissue Therapy … a wonderful new future for your body. While coche in Spanish is a car, it Guatemala it’s slang for “pig”. Sun Microsystems’ brochure headline “No Limits to Your Success” sounded arrogant in German. We rewrote it as “Gateway to New Horizons through Sun’s Partnership”. A sign in a Shanghai store read, “Please don’t touch yourself. Let us help you.” These examples illustrate two lessons: Acculturations are NOT a step that amateurs or translation software can do. They require professional, experienced, native-speaking and subject-specialized human translators such as those Auerbach International uses in all projects from or into 80 languages. Never use non-professional linguists or translation software for your brochures or websites. If you do, always have their versions reviewed by professional translators such as ours to catch these nuances, expressions and comical mistakes … and to protect your image. For a free quote, please send us your files; specify your target languages; and state your deadline, if any. We will determine the most cost-effective method to implement your project and respond with two delivery and pricing options within 24 to 48 hours. And the end result will help you gain a piece of the $190 billon of monthly US exports. Thank you. Sources: US Commerce Department Council on Foreign Relations Common Sense Advisory MultiLingual Magazine, March 2016
Key Issues in Marketing Globally
Global marketing ands Globalization used to be important to only large, multi-national companies. But with rapid advances in communication technologies, global marketing communications are relevant to many businesses around the world. Whether you are in the beginning stages of expanding or an experienced expat, targeting a global audience is a nuanced and important aspect of Globalization marketing that deserves a dedicated staff to make sure it is done right. The Importance of Translation Services for Global Marketing Globalization has become an extremely controversial topic. While many companies and individuals benefit, some obviously lose out. But let’s focus on some advantages provided by the independent research firm, Common Sense Advisory: Businesses that expanded their translation budgets were 1.5 times more likely than their Fortune 500 peers to report an increase in total revenue. Companies that translated information to communicate with and retain their partners were 2.67 times more likely to experience revenue increases. There was also a 2.6 increase in the probability of generating improved profits. Fortune 500 companies that translated to keep up with or to gain an edge over their competitors were 2.04 times more likely to have an increase in profits and 1.27 times more likely to generate augmented earnings per share. It does not matter whether you are a Fortune 500 company or small enterprise. The same trends apply: Going Global increases companies’ revenue and profits. Globalization contains many elements. Among these are understanding the competitive environment; knowing other countries’ HR, tax, investment and accounting laws; possible product reconfiguration and design; local pricing and funds collection; after-sales servicing; and product shipping and distribution. While all this can seem daunting, it does not have to be if we take the process one step at a time. And among the first and most essential steps, even for Anglophone markets, is to translate or acculturate your content, because (also according to Common Sense Advisory): 72.4% of global consumers prefer to use their native language when shopping online; 55% only buy products from websites that provide information in their own language; and 56.2% said that obtaining information in their own language is even more important than price. Again, whether you are B2C or B2B, customers prefer to buy from companies that address them in their own language. Even if your target market speaks English excellently, the cultural connection of using the audiences’ primary language cannot be overstated. Globalization With Marketing that Makes Sense Before translating any content, it is essential to verify your company name, product names and tagline in key languages to ensure no gaffes. Clairol, for example, introduced its Clairol Mist into Germany without first discovering that “Mist” is German slang for “manure,” not very appealing on ladies’ hair. Entenmann’s and other US bakeries were bought by a Mexican conglomerate, Grupo Bimbo. The parent company is now called Bimbo Bakeries. Both examples present these firms comically instead of professionally. They are great additions to our Bloopers list but not to the firms’ credibility or reputations. This element of global marketing communications is extremely cheap insurance before you invest huge sums in overseas selling and/or manufacturing. (Our firm will evaluate up to eight names in ten languages for $1500, including Chinese, which has its own complications. Please contact us to discuss.). Website Localization After verifying names, an easy way to start the global expansion process is simply to localize your business website. Then you can see where orders originate and plan further expansion accordingly. If localizing even part of your website proves difficult, simply do a one- to two-page summary of the company and products in various languages. If your business is B2C or does online sales, you will also have to ensure that your website is provisioned to accept foreign currency. In either case, you should localize your website meta tags and consider getting your URL translated and presented on the search engines of key language markets. After all, the point is for overseas prospects to find you. [Our firm can assist you inexpensively with these aspects as well]. The Language of Global Marketing When expanding into new markets, there are a lot of variables to consider in your global marketing plan. With a professional language translation service, you can avoid potential cultural faux pas by translating into native languages. In addition to providing the basis for global marketing communications, professional translation services can also help you connect to your global customers and executives working overseas: Your language agency can translate emails into English from your overseas contacts and can translate your responses written in English into your target languages, usually all within 24-48 hours. If an overseas prospect calls or you need to call abroad, you do not need to speak the local language or find an employee who does. [And if you do, how well can you evaluate whether the employee speaks some local dialect, educated speech, or with off-putting slang?] Instead, you can use our 24/7 telephonic interpreting service which connects you instantly – and only when needed — with a third-party interpreter in 240 languages. Please call us at (415) 592-0042 ext.107 to register. Auerbach International can always assist with all these basic steps to get you optimized for global marketing communications. For the more advanced steps, please contact us for a free consultation to explore your needs. The author Philip Auerbach is president of Auerbach International, a 26-year-old firm that translates any content into 80 languages, identifies countries to target and provides strategies to enter those markets. Please see www.auerbach-intl.com.
How Translation Services Effectively Attract Global Audiences
If you are looking to expand your business, translation services can entice a broader audience towards your website. A huge percentage of the world’s population does not speak English so there is a greater opportunity if you can reach out to local-speaking customers. From more technical documents to travel brochures for tourists, translating is the most useful tool to connect numerous people globally just by the power of language. Why stay safe by offering your products locally when you can expand your horizon through the worldwide web. One way to realize the benefits of language services to your business is to use these effective techniques: Use of Colloquial Language to Connect Culturally It is not enough to just distinguish the unique culture of international clients to know your products. You can only effectively create awareness for your business by knowing the conversational language of the locals. A personal touch invites in-depth customer relationships. It will give you an opportunity for better client retention and satisfaction. Locals prefer using their own dialect because this gives them the opportunity to understand what kind of products they are buying and it provides them chances for selection and analysis without being deterred by lack of understanding. Create an Interactive Website A user-friendly website is suitable for connecting with customers, especially to technology-challenged individuals. Provide a feature where people from your target market can easily access the information they are looking for. Customers stay on a website where they can expect dependability and convenience. A live chat option with translation will help clients anytime they need assistance. It is a sustainable tool that will increase customer satisfaction and ultimately earn their loyalty. Choose an Appropriate Translation Strategy There are two translation strategies that you can choose from- multisite strategy and multilingual strategy. The first strategy requires several domains assigned to every country of market. Multilingual strategy, on the other hand, is a single website where you can opt to choose the language catered within a region. The first appears more local as it can be directly accessed and secured from the country of search. While having a multi-language website is cost effective for start-up companies. Both have diverse advantages that specifically cater to your business requirements. A qualified translation service provider can set your business soaring in the online world. You must, however, check the translator’s credentials before hiring them. Your company’s credibility is at stake in creating a good network. Be sure to keep a reliable service for long term partnership.