Translating and doing your laundry have more in common than you might think. The right temperature for translating… and for your washing: 30°C, 60°C or 90°C? Cottons, synthetics, delicates, wool…: doing your washing is a question of temperature. Translation is a bit like that too! By hand, in the washing machine or dry cleaning… as with garments, each translation deserves a specific approach.
Translation is everywhere and essential for your business success: website, online shop, technical manual, sales brochure, agreements etc. And yet, here are a few reasons why you should no longer think about ‘translation’ but adopt a real ‘translation strategy’!
Do you wash all your dirty washing at 90°C?
Probably not. And you know very well why! But… what has that to do with translation? As far back as you can remember, you saw your parents taking care of the family’s clothes depending on the type of garment… and quite naturally you do the same today. This selective approach before washing an item by hand, putting it into the washing machine or taking it to the dry cleaners is just as justified before ordering a translation! Indeed, there are as many translation solutions as there are types of content, and the one-size-fits-all approach inevitably carries risks. Let us take the example of a website. It contains a section focused on your core business, a page describing your company, mandatory legal information, news items… Turn the problem around and consider it pragmatically by giving priority to your aims and return on investment.
How and why?
Identify that part of your website content with high added value and the bits that almost no-one will ever read. Easy! You can easily find out more about the behaviour of visitors to your website, for instance with Google Analytics, to identify the pages with the least and most traffic. That is a good starting point.
Take account of risk management in your line business. Give a considered answer to this simple question, for each text: “What risks am I running if the translation of this content is a bit inexact (or worse, incorrect)?”. (Six Continents can offer its expertise in the area, with an easy-to-use tool for calculating risks)
Consider an approach by country: for example, which part of the website is most relevant in Italy? Then do the same for Germany, and so on. Which are the most mature markets in your industry, and which countries will give the fastest return on investment?
For your online shop, select high added-value products and choose a premium translation for these top-sellers.
Don’t worry: you can find answers quickly and easily. There is no long-drawn-out process! Just as with a new garment, we can teach you to ‘read the label’ before deciding what to do. With time, you will develop a classification system and the process will become almost automatic. Have all your staff learn new habits so that they think ‘benefit, aims, risk and ROI’. Avoid charging in head-first with a process that is lengthy or costly and therefore inappropriate, or, on the contrary, taking risks with ‘delicate’ content.
Define and roll out your company’s ‘translation strategy’ now. Learn to sort your content and select the most suitable and cost-effective solution! As you do with your washing, without even giving it a thought.
Which program, for which content?
There are several translation ‘programs’, at least five. Did you know that? As a business, you are aware that you can use human professional translation (which you pay for), or online machine translation (cost free). In other words, a fast cold wash and dry cleaning.
Which program, for which content?
Why not take a look at all the programs in between those two extremes, and their benefits? You will optimise translation costs, significantly limit the business risks associated with a bad translation and enhance your credibility in your industry.
Buying beautiful and expensive clothes and then running the risk of damaging them with every wash by using an unsuitable program is a waste of time and money. That is why ‘asking for a translation’ has become completely obsolete. Nowadays it makes much more sense to apply a proper customised translation strategy, by using a program that is suited to each type of content.
The period of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic offers the perfect opportunity to give the issue more thought and inform each employee of the new approach. Our role is to support you – businesses, institutions and large corporations. We have over twenty years’ experience, and have weathered many a challenge resulting from the changes in a variety of lines of business, including our own. We have decided to join forces to create and offer you translation solutions fit for the future. The post-COVID world will revolutionise the working of business. We can help you define, prepare and implement your translation strategy. For translations that become more responsible, sustainable and considered investments, which deliver measurable return.
Let’s talk!
#efficiency #practicality #results
Let us discuss your international projects and translation requirements.
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