How much does translation really matter for small businesses?

Translation and localization matter greatly for small businesses, especially if you serve communities in a linguistically diverse city like Cape Town. To stay abreast or ahead of the competition, translation services in Cape town play a critical role. They come in really handy to help small businesses reach as many customers as possible locally. 

Brief on translation services and how it works?

Translation services involve the rendering of one language into one or more other languages to communicate with local audiences, learners, reach a domestic market, or for general purposes. Translation is important when language is a barrier. Today, lots of organizations, government agencies, hospitals, academic institutions, and businesses use document translation services of their legal or medical documents to eliminate the language gap between the target audience and the original conveyer of the message. 

In terms of marketing, both small and large businesses use professional and certified translators/translation companies to penetrate domestic markets and to scale internationally. This has been the case for several years. Without a doubt, it will continue to be so, even as more opportunities like SEO and social media marketing emerge to help businesses reach more clients. 

Translation services for small businesses 

Every small business should have translation as a statutory part of its marketing processes. Even if it is an international brand trying to expand into other domestic markets, using translation companies makes your foray into the target market a lot easier. So in estimating how much translation services matter to small businesses, care must be taken not to overlook the importance of essential services like localization. 

Localization essentially means optimizing your content or marketing campaign for a particular demographic or people situated within a specific geographic setting. This is the heart of translation. It is how small businesses with less marketing budget can penetrate and win more customers effectively; it is one of the strongest marketing strategies that helps them stand toe-to-toe with major competitors on the market. 

In this piece, we will be looking closely at some parameters that reveal how vital, translation services are to the growth of small businesses. 

Translation services help small businesses improve their customer base

The need to increase market share is one of the major reasons why small and local companies rely heavily on translation services. If executed right, translation and localization will open up new markets for these businesses, allowing them to reach more clients and retain existing clients. A lot of small businesses do not have the resources to market on large platforms like billboards, media, and the likes. 

However, with localized content on your site and social media handles, you can attract lots of audiences in the language that they understand best. In some cases, many of these people already know what they are looking for, so it is like communicating with a ready audience/market. 

There is the benefit of localization

The best thing about localization and translation services is better market reception. A great product or service with poor market reception will likely flop in sales. Small businesses are able to speak in the vocabulary and terminologies of local markets, thereby earning them increased customer loyalty. In this case, market reception is the first step to building a loyal customer base. Guest what? Localizing your marketing campaigns allows you to improve the reception of your services and products in local markets. 

Another good thing about localization is that it helps businesses avoid the blunders of insensitivity and lack of understanding of local cultures and language nuances. When you work with professional translation services, this becomes so much easier than you can imagine. Elaborating on the importance of localization, as mentioned in the first point, brands can equally optimize their website and social media campaigns for a specific demographic.  

In essence, they take advantage of both traditional marketing approaches as well as digital marketing while staying sensitive to culture and other not-so-obvious nuances of the target language. 

Higher customer satisfaction

Translation plays a crucial role in improving customer experience. When customers cannot communicate in the original language of the company, it becomes a matter of priority to create an experience that makes the customer feel heard, acknowledged, and cared for. For this purpose, translation and localization cannot be overlooked. 

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) and sales documents, such as newsletters, emails, texts, videos, and infographics, should be translated and transcribed into languages that the audience understands and reads easily. Without a doubt, this strategy helps small and medium-sized businesses to connect emotionally with customers. As Nelson Mandela rightly puts it, when you speak to a man in the language he understands, it goes to his head, but when you speak to him in his language, it goes to his heart. 

There! That summarizes it all. People gravitate towards persons and places that allow them to communicate freely without friction. This, therefore, means that investing in translation services endears customers to your brand — and this is true regardless of the size of your business. 

Enhanced brand visibility and competitive edge

As we’ve mentioned earlier, translation services allow both big brands and small business owners to reach more customers, ultimately improving their brand visibility. Added to this is the opportunity to stay competitive in the market. Research establishes that businesses that have better translated materials or messages are most likely to earn more of the market share, especially in regions where the majority of the population speak languages different from popular international languages. 

Working with professional translation services ensures that you reach customers exactly where they are in their buying journey. This is a great way to set your business apart from the competition with improved brand visibility. More local clients can connect with your business, thereby earning the business a competitive edge in the community and country at large. Since small businesses are largely at a disadvantage in markets dominated by big brands and multinationals, translation services make it easier for them to penetrate the market more and compete better. 

Preservation of brand message and reputation

Professional translators help you preserve your brand message and tone. It is okay to try and localize your message for the target audience, but another important thing to consider is your brand voice. With a poorly done translation or localization, the brand tone could be lost in the process. To ensure that your brand tone and core message are not lost in the process of translation and localization, it would be best to work with professional translators. 

It takes experienced translators to balance the need for localization on the one hand and then efficient translation on the other hand without compromising on any of the two. The dangers associated with poor translations — to begin with — are misrepresentation and then an all-too-obvious show of insensitivity to the culture of the target audience. What follows naturally after this, is damage or dent in the reputation of the business. This could cause customers, both new and existing, to lose confidence in the brand. 

There have been cases where improper or inappropriate translations have done terrible damages to a brand’s reputation. To fix such errors will often require more expenses, which is originally not part of your budget for marketing. This is even beside the fact that it might take a long time to repair such reputational damages. Why not save yourself the hassle by hiring well-trained and experienced translators to assist you with your translation needs.

Also read: Top 10 preferred work from home Jobs in 2021 

Are you looking for translation services in Cape Town?

If you have been looking to hire a reliable translation service in Cape Town, we have good news for you; you don’t have to look any further. At AfroLingo, we help you bridge the gap of a language barrier in the most effective ways. 

We are not just certified but have extensive experience in interacting with clients across a wide variety of niches. Our track record shows a successful delivery of translation services in Xhosa, Zulu, Urdu, Twi, and several other languages in Johannesburg and other cities. 

In other words, you can rely on our vast experience and rich industry insight in Johannesburg to translate your messages to different languages in the country. We pay extra attention to details, and our expert linguists know just how to get your message across without compromising on quality or losing your brand voice. Contact us today for further information on how we can help you win more local clients.