the global content question: making the case for content that crosses borders

The Global Content Question: Making the Case for Content that Crosses Borders Nataly Kelly VP, Market Development Smartling #speaksmartling @smartling @natalykelly

Let’s start with some facts. • 27 million pieces of content are shared every day. (AOL and Nielsen) • Content creation is ranked as the single most effective SEO technique. (Marketing Sherpa 2013)

But why is that?

CONTENT IS SO CRITICAL because people care about their own problems more than they care about your products. “Content Marketing Enlightenment” Velocity

In the digital age, creating content for just one market in just one language is no longer enough. Your company is global the moment you have an online presence.

When people think about global and multilingual content, they think about

complexity.

“Will I have enough time to deal with this?” “Who will do the translation for me?

“Will it be too expensive?” “How can I ensure quality?”

In other words…

“What if it isn’t worth it?”

Before you can decide to take your content into a new market or language, you need to be able to show that it’s worth it. For your company. For your customers. And for you, personally.

Does it make financial sense for your company to translate into other languages?

Yes.

There’s a clear business case for creating global content.

Especially when it comes to digital.

•  72.1% of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their own language.

•  72.4% of consumers said they would be more likely to

buy a product with information in their own language.

•  56.2% of consumers said that the ability to obtain information in their own language is more important than price.

According to a survey of 2,430 web consumers by Common Sense Advisory.

That’s right.

More than half of consumers are willing to pay more if you are willing to give them information in their own

languages.

That’s B2C. What about B2B?

“Having printed marketing and other collateral material in my language makes my organization more likely to purchase a software product.” More than 80% of B2B software buyers agreed. “Localization Matters,” Common Sense Advisory

Not only that, but businesses want a localized user interface (85%). That’s more important to them than marketing material. “Localization Matters,” Common Sense Advisory

Which languages matter most?

Here are the 20 most important languages on the web.

But…

The languages that matter most for your business depends on other things, too. Which languages your customers speak. Which languages your competitors speak. Where the most market opportunity resides.

B2B marketers? Your customer’s buying process is more complex. The stakes are higher. Language matters. A lot.

For B2B, translation serves as

a sales accelerant.

Selling in the U.S. only? You face a language challenge too.

•  Multilingualism in America is growing. The percent of U.S. residents speaking a language other than English at home went from 17.9 percent in 2000 to 19.7 percent in 2007, while continuing upward to 20.8 percent in 2011.

•  You can’t become fluent in a foreign language overnight. Nearly half (42 percent) of U.S. residents 5 and older who speak a language other than English do not speak English very well.

•  Spanish is by far the most important language in the U.S. after English. Of the 60.6 million

people who spoke a language other than English at home in 2011, almost two-thirds (37.6 million) spoke Spanish.

•  Spanish speakers are learning to speak English faster than before. The percent who spoke Spanish at home but spoke English "less than very well" declined from 5.7 percent to 5.6 percent over the period.

•  The multilingual segment is growing faster than the English-speaking segment. Between

1980 and 2010, the number of people speaking a language other than English climbed 158 percent, compared with 38 percent for the overall population 5 and older.

•  Seven languages will enable you to reach 47 million additional consumers in the United States.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/language_map.html

Reach them early. Before they even learn English. You’ll have fewer competitors. And with a message that resonates. (In their language, obviously).

It’s not just about providing content in another language.

Let’s take a look at an example.

There are three main ways to measure translation ROI

1.  Increased amount of traffic 2.  Decreased costs 3.  Increased revenue The last one is the one that many people overlook. The focus is usually on #2.

Yes, translation technology can significantly reduce the cost of creating global content.

That sounds scary. Is it machine translation? No. Human translation. Professional human translation providers enter the translations directly in the software.

Do you already buy translation? Great! You should never pay to translate an identical sentence twice. But here’s a secret…

You can reduce your translation services cost by anywhere from 40% to 80% by simply asking this question: “Do you use translation memory?”

Some translation providers will tell you they are doing this without you asking. If they are, you should get a discount. If they aren’t, they should be. Translation memory also improves quality and speeds up the process.

So, you have some choices to make.

•  Do you owe it to your company to determine whether the business investment in global content will be worthwhile?

•  Do you want to use resources more wisely while saving costs on existing translation spending?

•  Do you think you’ll benefit more as an “early adopter” or as a late one?

Calculate your global content ROI.

•  To receive a free copy of our Global Content ROI worksheet, email us: hi@smartling.com

•  Or, if you need advice on other

matters related to translation, contact us.

CONTACT US:

+1 866.70.SMART

WWW.SMARTLING.COM

HI@SMARTLING.COM

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