Consider the languages you use in your business. How you might approach using new language in a way that boosts your brand.
Global expansion can be challenging when it comes to language. Speaking the right languages is necessary to ensure you show understanding of cultural differences, create trust and nurture meaningful interactions.
As a business owner you may have assumed that your target customers across the globe speak your language. Well enough to receive your marketing well. You may have also made an assumption about which languages are spoken by your target audience, which can render your marketing campaigns useless if you are wrong.
How do you ensure you use the right languages in your projects? Should you be investing more in translation, professional foreign voiceovers and cultural awareness?
The Importance of Language Diversity in Business
Language diversity in business is incredibly important if your business is hoping to communicate internationally. That could be with new prospective employees, new recruits in other countries, foreign stakeholders and potential markets you are hoping to crack. There is a far reaching need for a depth of language understanding in any new area you are moving into as a business.
The Question Is, Which Language Should You Be Using in Your Company?
On a general level, there are some languages that are overall more useful for businesses to embrace. English, for example, is used in 94 different countries and over half of websites online use English as default. Chinese, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Arabic, French, Japanese, Russian and Hindi are also incredibly popular global languages able to reach huge audiences.
However, choosing the most popular languages in the world, is not a guaranteed road to success. In order to truly use the right languages in your business, you have to be specific. It may be that you employ mainly English-speaking people in one country, but in your manufacturing sector in another country, the staff are predominantly Spanish speaking. Health and safety videos for the company may then need to be English with Spanish subtitles or a Spanish voiceover.
It may be that you are marketing to a very specific part of Asia. In which case you need to not only apply the main language, but consider local dialects and language too.
If the language you are using is for business meetings and collaborations, you also need to take note of language nuances in those countries. For example; Japanese includes some very specific nuances related to social hierarchy and politeness. Using the wrong language in business meetings could not only be misunderstood by potential clients. But it could offend and damage your brand.
Seeking Professional Input Is Important
Basic online translation is simply not good enough for professional language application. Whether you create a voiceover or subtitles for a new marketing video. Add an international section to your website. Hire new talent from overseas it is so important to have help from the experts.
By utilizing the skills and expertise of professionals who can ensure you apply the correct, localized language to your globalization projects, you give yourself the best chance of avoiding brand damage. You also greatly enhance your business opportunities worldwide.