“The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.”

This famous quote is commonly attributed to George Bernard Shaw as well as others, and it underscores the challenges of communicating effectively across geographical and cultural boundaries.

Many companies we have represented over our 30-year history have marketed their products and services internationally. At times, localizing content to specific countries or regions has been part of our marketing strategy. When is it beneficial to localize content and what should you consider before taking on this task?

B2B clients usually categorize their content into two silos: the first, being technical/engineering content and the second, marketing content for channel resellers, VARs or end-users.

In our experience, American-based clients’ technical documentation is often kept in English. Most technical professionals around the world are proficient in English. Native speakers of different languages often “default” to English when communicating with each other professionally.

Marketing content however, is more promotional and may require localization to effectively reach the intended audiences with the correct messages. Localization is more than translation; it takes into account aesthetics, imagery and cultural morays as well.

Everyone, at one time or another, has read the poorly translated installation instructions on a new piece of equipment they’ve purchased. Usually somewhat frustrating, and certainly leaves a less-than favorable impression of the company. Poorly designed and implemented promotional  pieces, websites and e-communications consumed prior to purchase can derail a sale and have lasting negative effects on a company’s image and reputation. In a recent B2B marketing study, almost 80% of the respondents highly valued content that was produced in the right language and tone.

Some of our clients have asked if electronic translation algorithms are adequate. Our answer, Google Translator is getting better all the time and may eventually be the standard for translations but for now, it’s certainly best to hire language professionals.

Here are 5 important things to consider when localizing content:

Be vigilant – Understand the culture(s) you’re localizing for, but continue to reinforce your brand story and brand identity as much as possible. Provide your Style Guide to your translation service provider.

Experience – Does your translation company have experience writing for the specific industry and target audiences?

Local assets – Are there local translators and/or proofreaders in the countries you’re marketing?

Database of approved terms – Does your translation company keep a database of approved words and terms? This will reduce costs and errors as you progress with more projects.

Adaptable design – Understanding the design of your piece may change significantly given the length of the translations. Be flexible for the best user experience.

There’s no doubt, the positives of localization outweigh the negatives. In the same marketing study, more than 80% of respondents strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that getting language and localization right helped their campaign and content go further and boosted results.

Citation: The content marketer’s guide to universal content domination. (2017, May 15). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en/partner-downloads/content-marketers-guide-universal-content-domination