If you are a businessperson and you have not yet heard about multilingual content marketing, prepare to start hearing a lot more about it in the coming months. The reason for this is the same reason why good content marketing has always been important – it helps businesses reach more prospects and more customers.
You might think creating content in multiple languages is unnecessary because web pages can just be translated in your browser. But while machine-translation software can be a useful tool, it is often inaccurate, inconsistent, and unable to detect many of the context clues, nuances and idioms that enhance languages and enrich their cultural differences, which should certainly be expressed in good content. So be prepared – the next big wave of marketing attention is likely to include a healthy dose of multilingual content marketing. Here’s how you can get a head start.
Keep your content simple
When writing content that is going to be translated, you need to keep it simple and easy to understand, so that the cultural elements of each of the selected languages are not lost in translation, so to speak. Machine translation errors are so common, in fact, the internet has been having a laugh about some of the most egregious mistakes they have made for quite some time, like these ones. The lesson here: use translators for basic words or common phrases, but not much else.
Get to know your translation tools
There are many translation tools on the market today, and you will probably find a good use for them eventually, so it is best to get a head start on learning them. It might be worth your while to contact professionals in your industry you know who may already be using software and new technology for content translation that you are curious about, so that you can learn the pros and cons of some of these tools in advance.
Find a native-speaking editor
Even if this is difficult to do, taking on a copy editor who is fluent in the language or languages you want to translate your content into is a very necessary step in the multilingual content process. No matter how good your translation software is, and no matter how modern your technology is overall, there is simply no replacement for a native-speaking copy editor. This person will understand the nuance of language, the euphemisms commonly used, and even the slang expressions common to the language being written. In turn, this will help you avoid making your non-English speaking readers feel isolated and instead connect your content with a larger audience more effectively.
Re-assess your audience profile
Your existing target audience profile may become at least partially obsolete when you begin writing multilingual content. Facts and characteristics that are true of English-speaking customers may have little or no relevance in your market for Spanish-speaking customers or Japanese customers. Most likely, you will be obliged to formulate individual customer profiles for each different cultural group you are targeting.
Consider additional appropriate channels
During your profile assessments, you should have discovered which channels are most appropriate for reaching each individual cultural group of your overall target audience. Tailor your content marketing for each group to the channel where they are most accessible, understanding that you may need to become active in additional channels to accomplish that goal.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, leading woman led B2B brand, message positioning and digital marketing agency who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customers’ buying decisions, without being the lowest-price solution – giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the brand and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. Our process is proven, and we have the stats to share. To learn more about Millennium Agency, call 877.873.7445 or visit www.mill.agency.
