Language is ALIVE!

Language is not just about alphabets, characters and written scripts. It’s more about the style, tone and habits that people adopt to communicate and interact with one another. The words, phrases, slang and cultural overtones people use to share thoughts are meant to convey ideas and feelings of approval, resentment or indifference. They matter to both the speaker (transmitter) and the listener (receiver).

Whether it’s in a written, verbal or nonverbal form of communication — indeed, language is alive. It has been transcending since the evolution of humankind and will continue to do so as long as there’s a need or purpose for humans to communicate.

Nothing Happens Without Reciprocation

As one of the most significant activities, language is used to convey news and exchange of information. Objectively, the conveyer of those communicative dialogue engages with the other party in the hope that the ideas, knowledge or suggestive recommendations are favorable or acceptable.

The cycle is complete only when both the transmitter and the receiver successfully understand each other and can thus able to interact confidently. If a person shouts in the woods that literally no one hears, that person might as well save his or her voice because it doesn’t count as valid communication.

The Messenger’s Message

In content marketing, clarity and the proper use of language are obviously important to successfully engage and stimulate readers or listeners. The goal, after all, is to evoke a target market’s intuitive attention or to prompt a call-to-action so that communication has successfully occurred.

To that end, corporations hire best-of-class copywriting and design teams to create sophisticated marketing strategies to promote their brands or products. They launch loyalty campaigns across a range of communication platforms, from websites and print to various multimedia frameworks. It’s no surprise that enterprises spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get their branding voice and marketing-speak up to the mark before sending them out to the masses.

To excel in worldwide markets, businesses must embrace a whole new perspective on how to retain the throne in content marketing initiatives. To accept that not everybody understands your first language with the same sensibility as you. That the cheapest translation just will not be the best or the safest when it comes to conveying your thoughts and ideas. That a one-size crown does not fit all.

Meaningful Messages Lost in Translation

Unfortunately, when it comes to embarking on global marketing initiatives, many business leaders and marketing influencers still choose to rely on inadequate communicators. When the fluidity of language is so dynamic, and the field so loud and rambunctious, you need to invest in a trusted Language Service Provider (LSP) to help develop quality content for your multiple language versions so that your voice isn’t lost in the woods.

After using enormous amounts of research and content creation to mount a marketing campaign, some still insist on using ineffective translators or machines such as Google Translate or other Neural Translation Systems. The quality of the translation is not only so bad as to tarnish the brand and marketing efforts, but the business suffers from lost opportunity.

Bringing the Language Back to Life

What a machine or an inexperience translator can’t do is fill in the oomph and the emotions that breathe life into a marketing message. While the English version may be closer to ideal, the localized language version has fallen flat. Without the finesse and gumption in transcreation skills, a multitude of distorted messages, unintended meanings, errors and even nonsensical phrases get repeated. At worse, the translated messages insult target readers.

If you care about your international markets and want to professionally greet and address all your consumers in a language that each can easily and effectively understands, you need much more than a translator for your creative marketing content.

It Pays to Be Prudent

While the cost may be higher to work with a reliable transcreation agency instead of the individual translator or machine translation service provider, the returns for that one-time investment are worth every penny. You’ll reach more tangible eye-balls, incrementally secure more business transactions and generate ongoing customer loyalty.

Your language has be alive and relevant. To actually speak to your prospects with respect and relevance in words, phrases and concepts that they are familiar with and can comprehend. They’ll want nothing less than to respond and complete the circle of what they were made to understand.

The Content is King and Its Subjects

In essence, just as how you had spent extensive efforts to develop engaging campaigns in the language of your local market, the same should be applied to campaigns targeting overseas customers. To be effective (and alive in communication), it has to be in their native or everyday language.

In global business development, for content marketing to be king, language, being the most important ingredient that drives responsiveness to marketing efforts, has to be effectively deployed. And it only works when it’s reciprocated by your target audience. Marketing messages must achieve clear understanding from their respective target audiences. In other words, when it comes to global content marketing, it is not just about the content king but also about its targeted subjects — that is to qualify for the exalted age-old adage.

And the King Speaks

To excel in worldwide markets, businesses must embrace a whole new perspective on how to retain the throne in content marketing initiatives. To accept that not everybody understands your first language with the same sensibility as you. That the cheapest translation just will not be the best or the safest when it comes to conveying your thoughts and ideas. That a one-size crown does not fit all.

On the contrary, many enterprises are doing exceptionally well with their global content marketing campaigns. Noticeably, those in the hotel and tourism industry that wisely invest in a reliable transcreation LSP with industry-specific specialization and a dependable project management infrastructure. And when that’s the case, indeed language is very much alive… and kicking.

Original post of this article can be found here.

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About IPPWORLD

As a LSP (language service provider), IPPWORLD helps hospitality, travel and lifestyle brands and businesses go global with transcreation expertise. Transcreation — creative translation — provided by IPPWORLD delivers end-to-end management of localized, contextualized content for your website, as well as brand and marketing campaigns. Transcreation into multiple global languages drives conversions, grows revenue and builds brand loyalty. 

Pop round to www.ippworld.com, or connect with Joanne on Linkedin for an insider’s take on how IPPWORLD has helped its Clients increased their global branding awareness, customer loyalty and that all-important ROI.