Communicating effectively with international consumers means speaking their language. Fortunately, keeping your brand voice consistent in multiple languages doesn’t have to be hard.
Read on to learn why consistency matters—and how today’s top translation vendors can help make the process simple, painless and cost-effective.
Build Trust through Authenticity and Reliability
Whether customers travel the world literally or just online, they know what’s happening elsewhere around the globe. This awareness includes listening to what international brands are doing, saying and offering in different markets.
Customers notice when a company offers vastly different or confusingly varied products or experiences in different countries. They’re expecting an experience as robust and dynamic in every market where you do business. Shortchanging one market over another can leave your customers frustrated and annoyed. Consistency is key.
This consistency extends to digital channels where customers are searching for what you offer, browsing content, and interacting with your teams. If your content isn’t consistently translated or is inferior in some languages, customers will know—and they’ll disconnect, often never to return.
The Dangers of an Inconsistent Brand Voice in Translations
When your brand doesn’t provide a reliable, authentic, consistent online experience across global markets, it tells customers you value some markets more than others. They’ll feel slighted.
Make sure that the voice, personality, and tone of your brand experience reads the same whether it’s in English or Spanish, Italian or French. Every customer wants to feel seen, heard, and valued no matter what language they speak.
Be Both Consistent and Culturally Relevant
So, how do you provide a consistent online brand voice and user experience for international customers? The key is balancing consistency and relevance.
Successful international brands do this all the time. Take search giant Google as an example. No matter where online customers live, the Google search bar and home page are exactly the same. As soon as customers see it, they recognize it, they know how to use it and they know what to expect from the user experience.
But Google also offers culturally-relevant elements that appeal to different markets. Their Google Doodle for Independence Day appears in the U.S. market on July 4. But it doesn’t appear in Costa Rica until September 15, when Costa Ricans celebrate their nation’s independence. The Doodles often reflect local color, personalities, historical references and style preferences.
Even search results are customized to fit local markets. Yet customers know they’ll get the same quality of service by using Google, no matter where they live.
Your translated online content should follow that formula, and give global consumers a full online user experience that is consistent with your brand’s style, localized for each market, and tailored toward the culture and personality of the people you’d like to reach.
Taking Control of Your Content
The right translation approach can ensure your customers get that consistent, robust user experience across all your digital channels. As you select a translation solution for your online content, look for:
Deft, Expert Translators
The best solutions use human translators with expertise in both languages and industry, giving you authentic, accurate translations.
Style Guides
Great vendors create support documents like localized brand style guides to ensure consistent, high quality translations no matter the language or market.
Quality Assurance
Great translation solutions include robust editorial reviews to make certain that your brand’s translated content maintains the right tone and message.
Control Over Your Content
The best website translation solutions offer advanced technologies that allow your team to produce everything you need in your flagship language, then leverage that content for other markets. You control your messaging every step of the way.
Conclusion
Your brand must convey the same messaging, values, tone and feel across all of your global markets. And it must provide an individual, culturally-relevant touch that assures customers you know them, understand their needs, and can give them a great user experience.
It’s a tricky balance, but solutions exist that can help you stay in control of your brand voice, while leveraging the best technology to streamline the process. This can give your company the personalized edge it needs to drive growth in global markets.
Last updated on May 24, 2018
