Overcoming Communication Barriers to Unlock Global Growth

October 28, 2024

Translation & Transcreation

The interconnected global economy requires businesses to communicate effectively across languages and cultures, becoming a make-or-break imperative for business success. However, 42% of brands rely on fragmented translation efforts; language barriers hinder organisations from expanding into new international markets, enhancing customer experiences, and streamlining multinational operations.

Centralised global translation services are emerging as a transformative solution, catalysts for revenue growth, brand amplification, and strategic competitive advantage.

The Challenges of Fragmented Translation

Reliance on inadequate translation tools or a patchwork of vendors results in a disjointed experience for global customers and partners. Common pain points include:

Inconsistent brand messaging undermines trust in the brand. It is caused by a lack of language expertise, cultural context, and centralised review processes, which lead to translations that vary widely in tone, style, and accuracy.

Delayed time-to-market occurs when uncoordinated workflows across multiple vendors slow the translation of global content and product launches. This causes brands to lag behind competitors.

Higher costs: Redundant and rushed translations drive up costs when assets need to be reworked for quality and consistency. Repetition increases spending.

For example, one technology giant relying on multiple language service providers (LSPs) grappled with severe inconsistencies across its localised content. This damaged their brand experience, and costs soared over $50 million annually across redundant translations before the company shifted strategies.

Centralising Global Translation Operations

Leading brands realise that fragmented translation systems cannot meet global growth demands. Instead, a centralised solution delivered through a single, highly specialised LSP unlocks substantial advantages.

These include:

• Global relevance: Skilled in-country linguists ensure messaging resonates with local cultures.
• Delivery speed: Consolidated project management cuts production timelines by over 20%.
• Cost efficiency: Translation memory technology decreases repetitive translation by over 40%.

Centralised solutions leverage cloud-based technology stacks to enable easy integration with existing brand tools – from CRMs to marketing platforms. Content flows seamlessly between systems without reliance on manual efforts. The result is reduced delays and disruptions.

Driving Growth Through Multilingual Experiences

The proper translation partner empowers brands to engage international audiences and promote user experiences that feel locally relevant.

Consider these success stories:

Boosting tourism revenue: When Visit California began localising its travel content and campaigns into multiple languages, web traffic from priority international markets increased significantly over just two years. This demonstrates content localisation’s ability to resonate with foreign language users.

Accelerating global e-commerce: Sephora worked with a centralised LSP to rapidly localise and launch English website content across multiple markets. This streamlined localisation process contributed to a notable increase in international conversions.

Expanding virtual events worldwide: Software giant Adobe used advanced technologies to make its annual conference accessible across language barriers, contributing to a significant increase in global attendance.

These examples showcase how strategic translation engages customers, partners, and fans from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds, turbocharging overseas growth.

Streamlining Global Operations

Centralised translation is crucial in optimising internal operations and workflows across regions. Multinational organisations manage thousands of requests annually across dozens of languages. Uncoordinated efforts lead to delayed projects, strained budgets, and repetitive work.

Consolidating these complex tasks allows teams to:

• Reduce turnaround times by over 25% through translation memory and artificial intelligence.
• Cut costs by 40% or more by eliminating redundant asset localisation.
• Scale production seamlessly thanks to multi-layered quality assurance processes.

This efficiency enables a more impactful allocation of resources. It allows brands to redirect energy towards core business goals rather than complex translation logistics.

Gaining a Strategic Edge

In the modern economy, the ability to communicate, penetrate new regions, and foster relationships across language barriers has evolved from a tactical requirement into a core competitive advantage.

However, inconsistent translations can sabotage market expansion and retention initiatives as products and customer expectations become increasingly localised. This makes centralised solutions indispensable, declaring an organisation’s commitment to effectively engaging global audiences.

Adopting emerging translation technology – from AI to neural machine learning – provides brands with a continually evolving platform to match international growth ambitions. As language needs scale, centralised capabilities can also scale.

Break the Barrier

Breaking language barriers presents monumental opportunities for enterprises to accelerate overseas impact. To navigate complexities, leading global brands turn to specialised partners that provide the reach, relationships, technology, and workflows essential for unlocking multilingual growth strategies.

By consolidating translation operations externally rather than relying on internally fragmented efforts, organisations can deliver localised brand experiences worldwide that resonate culture-by-culture while driving efficiency.

The time for ad-hoc translation methods has passed. Strategic centralised solutions represent the number one vehicle for executing global expansion and engaging international audiences. They serve as catalysts for revenue growth and operational excellence.