Professional translation services are today a key element of the international business environment. Due to developments in technology and globalisation, companies and organisations from practically all corporate sectors can easily approach markets around the world with relative ease.

However, certain aspects of the business internationalisation process still require an in-depth plan and professional implementation. One such aspect is translating your business documents and materials into the market’s or consumers’ native language.

As a business owner, you might ask,‘Why should I spend money translating my company’s documents if most people speak English anyway?’

This is indeed a very popular view amongst businesses.

Although thevast majority of people in countries like Sweden or the Netherlands are, in fact, able to speak English, other European and global audiences in countries such as France, Italy, Poland, Germany, China, or Brazil still strongly prefer to read the information directly in their native language.

In fact, a recent survey revealed that more than 85% of consumers said they would be more likely to purchase a product or a service if therelevant information about it was availableto them directly in their mother tongue.

As you can see, language translations are, without a shadow of a doubt, a key element needed for your brand to reach its full international potential.

Statistics show that some business industries benefit more from translation services than others. Let’s examine them more closely!

Legal

The legal sector has been benefiting from language translation services for several years. Some of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing law firms either employ in-house translators and interpreters or partner with translation companies who can assist them directly.

Whether translating legal documents such as court orders, witness statements, or official certificates or interpreting face-to-face meetings, court cases, or consultations, legal professionals use language translations daily, and this will continue to expand.

Marketing

Any company approaching international markets and global consumers knows how important carefully prepared and strategically executed marketing campaigns are for your business to grow.

Recent studies reveal that most consumers worldwide strongly prefer to be approached directly in their native language, whether they speak English or not. Companies and marketing agencies tend to translate materials such as campaigns, websites, brochures, leaflets, or digital content to be more approachable to international audiences and to increase customer retention.

As a result, professional translation services are a key element of business internationalisation today.

Medical

As you can imagine, thorough accuracy within the medical sector is absolutely essential.

Consequently, professional translation and interpreting services completed by language experts with a deep understanding of medical terminology are one of the key elements within this sector.

Patients who require a full understanding of their diagnosis, treatment, or procedures and do not speak English as their first language oftentimes request a professional translator to convert the documents directly into their native language.

Conversely, hospitals, labs, and medical professionals also request translation services for research purposes or to better understand patients’ medical histories from other countries.

E-Commerce

Today, e-commerce is one of the world’s largest business sectors, and it is still expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

With globalisation and the growth of the Internet, companies and businesses can now easily approach international customers.

With this in mind, business owners and organisations understand that allowing their target audience to explore their services and products in the market’s native language is essential to growing online revenue.

This is exactly where working with expert translators and language agencies comes into play.

Whether it’s your company’s website, online communications, social media, or creative digital content, translation agencies can ensure that your materials are accurately translated into the market’s preferred language. This allows your potential audience to connect with your brand in a language they understand and feel comfortable using.

How important is the translator’s expertise?

To better understand why the translator’s expertise and experience are so important when converting business documents into different languages, we contacted translation expertsfrom Translation Services 24 in London, one of the UK’s leading translation agencies. We asked them to explain the differences in translation processes needed for specific business sectors and the reasons why the translator’s experience plays such a key part during the process.

TS24’s expert told us: “As you can probably imagine, translating legal documents greatly differs in its nature to translating, for example, e-commerce, gaming or marketing materials.The unique skills required to translate official or legal documents vary from those needed when preparing marketing campaigns for an international launch or localising content for a region-specific audience. With this in mind, it’s critical to work with translators and interpreters with appropriate expertise and experience in converting documents, content and materials similar to yours, as well as an in-depth understanding of the target audience, as this guarantees the highest language accuracy andgeneral socio-cultural suitability.”

Should my business work with professional translators?

Professional translators must be a key element of your business internationalisation plan if you’re considering entering global markets and international consumers.

Although this might seem daunting at first, there are, in fact, several different approaches to acquiring translations for your business.

Factors such as your budget, time limits, type of content to translate, and target audience can all directly influence how you should go about the translation process and what the best solution for you might be.

One of the most popular solutions for language translation and interpreting within the business sector is outsourcing the service to an expert agency. Expert translation and interpretation agencies such as TS24, LionBridge, or LanguageLine can professionally translate practically all languages and document types, making them the perfect provider for most businesses and organisations.

Alternatively, working directly with professional translators is also aviable option. Nonetheless, although this approach can sometimes be slightly cheaper, it can be very time-consuming as it requires your company to manage a large pool of translators/interpreters, depending on the number of languages needed. Finding a professional translator specialised in your particular business sector can also sometimes be difficult.

Interestingly, a trend that grew in popularity over is using AI translation tools to convert documents. Although using these tools on their own isn’t recommended, some companies combine AI and work directly with translation agencies, who then verify the work and apply any required changes to ensure the highest possible accuracy and reliability.