The MarCom Strategist: A Free B2B Marketing E-Newsletter

February, 2009
Published by Dianna Huff
Volume 10, Number 02

Welcome!

I recently met a wonderful marketer, Gaëlle Callnin, of Virtual Words Translations. (She’s also a fellow BMA member.) While talking to her, I realized I knew nothing about cost-effectively translating documents or Websites. Gaëlle willingly shared her knowledge – the result of which is the article below.

While you’re reading the article, I’m going to shovel more snow. For those of you in New England, what a winter!

Regards,
Dianna's signature
Dianna Huff

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Five Tips for Saving Money on Translations

By Dianna Huff

With today’s multi-national organizations and global business environment, companies now routinely include multi-language version Websites and marketing collateral. Yet, as a marcom professional, you may be tempted to scrimp on translations due to tight budgets.

To help her fellow marketers, Gaëlle Callnin, Marketing Director for Denver, Colorado-based Virtual Words Translations, gives her advice for saving money – without sacrificing quality.

1. Translate only what is necessary.
According to Gaëlle, not everything has to be translated. For example, you may have a large number of documents for a contract negotiation, but only a few are necessary for the final contract to be translated, and some can be translated at the "gisting" service level, which is quicker and less expensive.

On the other hand, when you look at your web traffic statistics to see the ROI with regard to translated pages, remember that these numbers may not always be an accurate representation.

For example, US Hispanic readers will prefer to read product information in Spanish but culturally will often prefer to switch to English for the actual purchase because they don't always trust that the Spanish provides the most accurate information or greatest discounts. Hence, you may not need to translate the shopping cart pages.

2. Cut useless words.
Because translations are based on a per-word rate, it pays to write in a concise style. A good copywriter or editor can help you eliminate superfluous words.

3. Send only “final” documents.
According to Gaëlle, you are not saving time by submitting a document that’s “almost” done. As you know, documents go through multiple (and sometimes painful) revisions before they’re finally approved. If you expect your translator to keep up with these revisions, you’ll end up way over budget.

4. Ask your provider about memory tool discounts.
Technical material, such as user manuals, often has repetitive material or text. A good translation company will use tools to flag repetitive text and add it to a database – allowing it to easily be used again.

As the customer, you receive many benefits, including consistency in translation, and cost savings. Gaëlle says that when her company flags copy and finds a 100% match, they will use it and give the client a discount. Depending on the level of the match, they also provide tiered discounts.

5. Allow for plenty of time.
When planning a translation project, a good rule of thumb is to estimate one day per 2,000 to 2,500 words. You’ll also have to include time for prep work, such as translating industry or scientific jargon.

In addition to translating traditional print materials, Virtual Words Translations specializes in translating online video, Websites, and flash animations.

You can learn additional tips from Gaëlle by reading the entire article on my MarCom Writer blog (be sure to add your own two cents to the commentary!).

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