It’s natural to work to find ways that your business can weather the pandemic. From offering services over video to putting up shields by cash registers in stores, everyone is looking for ways to keep businesses running while staying safe.
You might not immediately think of a translation agency as being something that can help pandemic-proof a company. However, you can actually increase your customer base by reaching a more global or diverse audience, even in the midst of the pandemic.
How a Translation Agency Can Help Your Business During the Pandemic
Translating content may be one of the last items you think of putting on the to-do list during a pandemic. But working with a translation agency that can deliver multilingual content could actually do much to boost your bottom line during these challenging times. And, right now, many companies need to do all they can to keep the cash coming in.
While the global economy shrank by 4.4% in 2020, it’s expected to grow by 5.2% in 2021. What’s more, one major economy did grow in 2020: China, which achieved 2.3% growth despite the health crisis. And while most countries are in recession, the severity of this varies across the globe.
This data means that it might make sense to sell your goods abroad, in areas that haven’t been impacted as badly by the pandemic as your home country. This is especially true if your business model is ecommerce-based. You don’t have to worry about expanding physical locations. Plus, online shopping and services are booming thanks to social distancing and restrictive lockdowns. The number of online grocery shoppers in the UK, for example, doubled during the pandemic. And 40% of people say they will shop online more now than they did before the pandemic.
Another way a translation agency can help pandemic-proof your business is to reach local consumers who speak other languages. As businesses work to stay relevant and vital during the pandemic, expanding into a foreign-speaking market might allow you to serve more local communities and increase sales domestically, as well as internationally. If you have a product or service that might perform well with local foreign-speaking communities, now might be the time to reach out to engage them. Visit Languex Translation if you require a fast, accurate, and affordable language translation service.
Of course, if you offer a product or service that can be ordered online and delivered safely, that might help to keep your more at-risk customers safer as well.
The Importance of Local Content
With how uncertain the pandemic has made everything, it has never been more important to get everything right the first time when it comes to serving your customers. Now is not the time to miss out on major new incomes streams simply because your product failed to connect with an audience who speaks a different language.
Let’s take it back a step. What do translation services do? They do everything necessary for languages to be understood, so that includes line-by-line translation and targeting specific language regions. They handle all the processes of making sure the product, message or service fits in with the local culture, market and consumer habits. For instance, business can leverage translation by:
- Updating graphics to fit the new language and local demographics
- Making sure messaging is not culturally offensive and easy to understand in the new language
- Updating any messaging or products to fit with local regulations
- Changing small formatting details for a more intuitive user experience, like currency symbols on ecommerce pages
- Updating messaging and content so that it fits with local consumer habits and preferences
By localizing your product to the demands of various regions and its languages, your product has the best possible chance of conforming to local market standards. A great localization process understands the intricacies of each local culture and tailors to fit them. One example is changes made to the homepage of a website. In the West, video marketing has become more common, so a video might play behind text suited to Western ideals. Meanwhile, some markets in the East tend to prefer many images and descriptions of what there is to buy, so the homepage may feature that design.
Finding Support During the Pandemic
Finding all manner of services has felt more complicated at times during the pandemic. Now we have new, worrying questions surrounding what we have to do. What if you absolutely have to meet someone in person or go to a physical location? What will a video call with this person be like?
Thankfully, you can find a top online translation agency without the need to interact with anyone in person. What is the best online translation service? The best companies make it easy for you to connect with them and purchase their services through a simple-to-use website. In many cases, you just upload what you need translated, along with your contact information and a few other details. That’s it.
You can find an online translation agency by searching online or asking around your professional network. Make sure to vet the service appropriately. Always ask what their experience is with the type of translation you need. Services will often allow you to see past work samples or client testimonials. You can also check independent reviews online to satisfy yourself as to the service’s quality.
