Free translation tools lull people into a false sense of security and undermine the value of the highly skilled and valuable work of the human translator. Free tools have a place, but it’s important to know when to use them and when only a professional translator will do!
The Internet is full of offers like this:
‘Get your free widget to translate your website into 20 languages’
Before you give in to this tempting offer, read on…
Is an instant translator – albeit a very good one – capable of understanding the subtleties of language in the way the human mind does?
Put yourself in your potential customers’ shoes. Imagine logging on to a website with a view to buying a product or service.
If you wanted to look at a luxury watch with a view to buying it for example, how would you feel if you read something like this:
“Only the man pressed himself restless,” Who is this motto from Goethe’s “Faust”, sees even the smallest of life breaks the incentive to do great things. So exhausted the most indefatigable of all tenors of over 3,500 acclaimed performances again and again force for the extraordinary. Ongoing passion. One of the greatest virtues of man”.
This is an extract from a website of a foreign luxury watch brand that’s been run through Google translate, just to give an example.
In reality, the luxury watch brand has a beautifully-written English site, which has been localised professionally and therefore gives potential buyers the feeling that they are investing in a quality brand. Effectively, the language used on the localised site sells the lifestyle as well as the product in all of its target markets.
When something comes with a high price tag, surely not tackling localisation in the right way would damage the product’s reputation and clients would lose trust in the brand? Of course, the above text can always be edited, but rewriting it would prove a challenge and it wouldn’t be free. There would still be an associated cost. It may in fact cost more than investing in a good quality translation from a professional translation company in the first place.
The same goes for everyday products. It’s not just luxury brands that need good translations. Just because a product doesn’t have a high price tag, the buyer won’t expect to buy from a website where the translations are poor. Whether high-end or low-cost, consumers have expectations and a poor translation just won’t do the job effectively.
One problem is that if we are faced with a language we don’t understand, we aren’t able to edit it and may believe that as the text looks French or Chinese, for example, it must be OK
It really is a false economy to believe there are short-cuts when it comes to marketing your brand in another language. After all, how much time was spent creating your brand and writing good copy to entice your customers to buy from you in the first place?
To conclude, without an understanding of the importance of the role of translation when selling to customers overseas, you may end up with poor results and even damage to your brand.
Good translation is the key to overseas sales, successful exporting and excellent brand building.
Take a few minutes to run your text through an instant translator and see the results for yourself.
Then get some advice on the best way to market your products and services so that promotion of your brand to your overseas customers is effective. Don’t leave them feeling cold, unmotivated and disappointed.
Bad language just doesn’t sell!
For companies wishing to test new markets, ALM Translations now offers fixed price microsite packages in various languages and would be delighted to discuss your requirements. Contact ALM Translations today to find out more.