Why reach beyond English?

Everybody sort of knows about translation: books by international authors, certificates and diplomas for immigration purposes, even those cheap electronic gadget user manuals that sound like they were written by aliens from outer space… But what about business?

If your company is based in an English-speaking country, it feels natural to use English in business and to target English-speaking markets. As for creatives, so much of their work is tied with culture and words, that they feel more at ease operating in their mother tongue.

And yet, there is a world out there. So, gaining more visibility, and more customers, is worth the effort to reach beyond English.

Visibility abroad and new client profiles

While still using English in day-to-day business relations, all kinds and sizes of businesses can use translation to reach a bigger audience. Let’s look at a few examples:

An independent travel writer can pitch their articles for publication in more travel and in-flight magazines if they can also include the destination countries they write about.

Video game devs will get more players by having their games localized into key market languages. Or if sticking to English for the in-game content, there’s multilingual community management.

In film and video, foreign subtitles and dubbing open up new audience bases.

For artists, photographers, musicians, production companies, applying for an international award or exhibiting at a festival abroad will be a real visibility booster.

And agencies that are translation-capable are able to compete on a bigger stage: a lot of international groups and global charities need to work with PR, web and marketing agencies that can handle copy in multiple languages.

How best to approach your translation project

Once you’re clear on why you want to use translation, comes the how? question.

Choosing the best fit between a translation agency and freelance translators will depend on your project’s specifics: do you need a lot of different languages or only one/a couple? Is consistency in quality and tone of voice important? Do you need additional services like DTP and graphic design? High volumes translated with a short turnaround time? Or shorter, recurring pieces of copy where a long-term relationship will help?

Whatever the form your translation team takes, keep in mind these three essential tips.

1. Prepare a translation brief: translation is writing, so even before starting, you need to decide on target audience and tone of voice. But to pick the right translator and to save time on edits, you also need to be clear on the region of the world you’re targeting (is it European French? Or Canadian French? Or international French that will work on both sides of the Atlantic?) and what sector your text will deal with (same as writers, translators will produce their best work in their specialist fields).
2. Be smart about the budget: think about how much you want to invest in translation and for what return. If that budget is limited, remember it’s better to translate less, but to translate it well. Prioritise the really strategic content. And while “budget” does mean money, it’s also about time and human resources: set aside some time and plan who will deal with queries and edits, plus any other process the translated work needs to go through, like graphic design.
3. Most of all, talk to people: before commissioning the work, to ensure the team you’re considering working with is the best fit. During the translation process and after delivery too: translators asking questions, you querying and clarifying translation choices, all that is good for quality. Because translators know their native language (the one they’re translating into) best. And you know your project and your business best.

Need translation help?

For help adapting your public-facing content for a French audience, or defining the scope and workflow of your translation project, get in touch for a chat (in English or in French): https://bristolcreativeindustries.com/members/sandra-mouton-french-translator/

About Sandra Mouton – French translator

I translate creative, marketing and technical texts into French: web, print, digital marketing, in-app and in-game content