Running a successful translation campaign for your business does not require loads of cash. By carefully planning your translation project, you can end up saving a lot of money, because truth be told, not every piece of information requires translation.
In a bid to inform our readers of the intricacies involved in
translation, we would be putting out blog posts that would help businesses make
better-informed decisions.
If you are still on the ledge regarding whether you need to
translate and localize your platform for an international audience, you may
want to check out this
post, as it highlights what your business stands to gain.
In today’s post, the senior project manager at TIL, Valentina
Vignolo-Love, provides insights on how businesses and SME’s can reduce
translation costs.
Why planning your translation budget is crucial
Finding creative and effective ways to reduce running costs has
become really essential, especially during this pandemic when resources are
scarce. Doing so leaves you with more resources that you can channel towards
other productive ventures.
An excellent way to start is by knowing your exact needs.
Valentina Vignolo-Love, who explains this further, says,” When it comes to
translation budgets, there is “no size fits all approach”. Each company has its
own needs, and what works for a big company might not work for a start-up.”
Do not attempt to translate all the information on your
platform. Instead, focus on content that enables your organization fulfill its
short and long term goals
Tips on
reducing the cost of translation
Here
are a few practical tips on how your business can reduce the cost of
translation;
- Always plan ahead
Proper
planning enables better-informed decisions. For instance, by measuring previous
translation campaigns, you can always identify areas to tweak going forward to
improve your desired conversion. Planning with foresight makes it easier to
group future campaigns in order to get bulk discounts from your translation
agency.
- Schedule your translation project early
Early
scheduling basically takes a cue from planning ahead. It may surprise you to
know that many businesses leave their translation project till the minute only
to pay a premium on express delivery. We recommend that you make preliminary
preparations before the financial year commences and for you to engage your LSP
long before the execution date.
- Utilize translation memory
When communicating content with your diverse audience, several
words, sentences, and phrases would be used time and again.
Keeping a record or a sort of dictionary of previously
translated texts helps in saving time and valuable resources during future
translation projects.
- Localize instead of translate
As strange as this may sound, it is a very crucial
recommendation. By localizing similar language pairs, you end up saving the
cost required for the full translation into said language pair. Valentina
Vignolo-Love cites an example of translating content from Italian to two
variants of English (UK and US). A business can reduce costs by first
translating to the U.S variant, before localizing the same content for the U.K
audience.
- Avoid uneditable documents
Providing editable texts during translation campaign enables
language service providers to work faster and more efficiently. On the client
end, they stand to avoid extra costs associated with extracting information
from scanned or hand-written documents.
- Always communicate with your LSP
Proper communication with your language service provider goes a
long towards reducing the cost of translation. By communicating, you can
adequately sell your visions and manage your expectations. The senior project
manager at TIL recommends
that every business should think of their LSP as an integral part of their
company and must not be afraid to reach out to ask for input.
Valentina summarizes everything by saying,” It is essential to set realistic expectations. Approach your language service provider and discuss your expectations, volumes, and language pairs. Plan ahead to avoid the busiest times of the year like Christmas. Finally, keep track and monitor the results but also the feedback of the users and share any feedback in time so the vendors can implement it.”
As the world transitions into a recovery phase from the
pandemic, many businesses may need to make up for lost ground by reaching out
to a diverse audience. What you need is a reliable language service provider
who acknowledges your budget and puts your translation needs first.
English (UK)