The Benefits of Utilizing the Same Translation Agency for Each Translation
When your company decides to target an international or multilingual audience, translating key documents, websites, and marketing materials is often one of the first things you’ll consider in order to best reach your new market.
This is typically an ongoing effort for the duration of your engagement with audiences who speak a language other than English.
When creating messaging in English, you know that consistency matters.
The tone and terminology you use throughout a marketing campaign should remain the same over the span of the campaign.
You probably wouldn’t wish to change a slogan halfway through or begin to use terms, taglines or phrases that are off-brand.
The same holds true for your translated materials so that your non-English-speaking customers get the same sense and feeling about your brand from translated content.
Word choice and consistency is important, no matter the language.
To achieve this type of consistency in your English writing, you may have a small team of writers who utilize style guides to make sure your messaging is always on brand.
So how can you guarantee the same level of consistency for your translated content?
To keep your translated content consistent and on-brand for your company, find a translation agency you love working with, and utilize this agency for all of your translation needs.
What are the benefits of partnering with a translation agency?
While it may sound appealing to utilize bilingual employees, or to try to find a translation team yourself to cut costs, it’s often not practical for a company to take on this responsibility and process.
Handling a translation project yourself from start to finish is a lot of work, especially if you need something translated into multiple languages.
Not only is it extremely time consuming, but you could put the quality of the project at risk by trying to handle the process yourself.
Here are just a few of the benefits of partnering with a translation agency to handle your translation needs.
– For most projects, a translation agency is a one-stop-shop.
The only thing you need to worry about is requesting the translation, being available to answer questions and receiving the final product.
The translation agency will handle everything in between, taking the stress of managing a project off of your plate.
– The quality and accuracy of the translation are guaranteed when you partner with a translation agency.
Projects undergo a rigorous quality assurance process to ensure this, giving you peace of mind that your translations are accurate and ready to distribute.
– When you allow a translation agency to handle a project on your behalf, it frees up your time so you can get back to the work you do best.
Instead of focusing on the linguistic side of things, you and your employees can get back to work, doing the things that move your business forward in other ways.
Should you utilize the same translation agency for all of your translation projects?
The short answer is… yes!
Working with the same translation agency for multiple projects is definitely recommended whenever possible.
However, if you don’t feel good about the partnership, don’t settle for the first agency you land on.
Find an agency that feels like a true partner, one you enjoy working with, and whenever possible, stick with them!
The people you partner with will come to know your projects inside and out, which will make the process of translating your files more seamless the more you work together.
What are the benefits of using the same translation agency for all of your translation work?
As mentioned, the more you work and partner with a translation agency, the more seamless the translation process will become. There are several reasons for this.
An agency works with many different translators, editors and proofreaders, all of whom specialize in translating different types of content.
The project managers you’ll partner with at a translation agency will be able to find the best fit for your material quickly, so you can feel confident that your translations are being handled by a team who knows what they’re doing and will do your content justice.
By continuing to partner with the same translation agency, you have the added benefit of the same rotation of linguists who will handle the translations of all similar projects.
Just as you’d prefer the writing style to remain consistent and on-brand for your English content, having the same group of linguists translating your materials will mean that you get that same level of consistency and writing style in your translated content as well.
As you partner with an agency, you’ll likely work together to field questions from the linguists handling your projects to make sure that they fully understand the intended message of the original text and can translate it appropriately.
The agency will keep a record of the questions and answers that arise, noting preferred terms and phrases so that your content remains uniform and consistent across the board, even if the original translator is unavailable for a future project.
Also, finding an agency you trust and enjoy working with will help ensure there are no surprise charges outside of your budget, as pricing should remain relatively consistent for each project you present for translation.
What else can a translation agency handle for you?
Depending on the agency you partner with, you may find that they are able to assist with a wide variety of things.
During translation, the content will also be localized so that the text will not only be translated, but also adapted to a specific locale (which takes into account dialects, culture and more), as appropriate for your project.
Also, by partnering with an agency, you’ll know you have someone who can assist with your translation needs for various types of materials.
If you begin your translation journey by requesting product manuals, for example, you may eventually need to translate marketing materials as your begins to advertise those products to your foreign audience.
Your translation agency can quickly and easily find a team that’s a good fit for your marketing materials, and they will already have preferred terminology and preferences compiled from the previous work they’ve done for you.
This will also help maintain uniformity between texts, even if the style is quite different.
If the need arises, you can call upon them for assistance with other project types or steps of the translation process.
Many agencies will offer services such as Desktop Publishing, voice-over and script translation, as well as subtitling and other audiovisual options.
If you have other types of projects or requests, you can always ask your provider if they offer a solution! Even if they don’t provide the solution in-house, a partner may be able to recommend another solution or company they trust to help you.
Even the smallest translation projects can be quite time consuming and difficult to manage. Finding a translation agency you enjoy working with to handle the linguistic side of your workload can make a huge difference in making sure your translation projects are handled correctly, are consistent across your various content types, and are always high-quality, so you can focus on other ways to continue driving your business forward.