Your business is up and running and things are going great. Now it is time to begin the process of internationalization, taking your business to new, untapped global markets. Everything looks great! And then you get hit by COVID-19 and the resultant global economic downturn.

How do you ensure that not only will your business survive, but ensure that it can maximize its gain during this (or the next) disastrous global crisis?

There is a lot that can be done, and it will take a great deal of work, but the results and returns are well worth the effort invested in ensuring your international business is both literally and figuratively virus-proof.

Rather than panic, the business owner whose company is properly positioned both domestically and internationally can thrive, even amidst these historic economic anomalies.

A major part of any international campaign revolves around language. This is just as true in the global fight against COVID-19 as it is in any global marketing campaign. Medical translators from around the world are working hand-in-hand with academic, scientific and medical institutions. Their role is indispensable. They are providing medical translation services day and night to ensure that all research and information about COVID-19 is translated quickly and accurately and made ready for immediate global distribution. The best part is, they can provide the same service for you and your business, even during a global pandemic.

Now’s the time to bring your business online

According to many sources, not only is the “Internet Economy” one of the largest, in various studies, the overall growth of the internet economy, most notably in terms of ecommerce, has outpaced other economic growth by a wide margin. According to Statista,“In 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to $3.53 trillion”. Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide. The chances are pretty good that if you are ready to take your business international, you have already established an online presence.

This is not always the case though, as some companies will always be springing up with innovative concepts, and moving directly onto the international stage. In such cases, there may be a good deal more work involved, but it is still possible to rapidly move online and establish a business designed to capture a large portion of the potential markets.

Ready to explore ecommerce? Learn how to set up and optimize each step of your e-commerce process to meet the ever-changing demands of customers

Live interpretations and even translation agency offices have suffered just as much as most brick and mortar businesses during the current global pandemic. Those that have been thriving have an established presence online. Most of them have already taken their online presence international, but for those companies who have not yet established an online presence, this may not be immediately possible.

Some businesses may be incapable of moving completely online, and as such, may suffer some during these times of global economic turmoil. That does not mean that they cannot move portions of their business online.

For those companies that do have an established online presence, there is a host of benefits and different ways to ensure that the company is on solid ground. The key to a successful international campaign is going to be in how well you can utilize your current marketing strategies and materials, and where you must tweak them and adjust them to reach a larger global audience.

Repurpose traditional marketing strategies

Once you know there is a demand in a new market, then it is the job of the marketing and advertising materials to create the desire to fulfill that demand with your products and/or services. You likely already have a website, some videos, maybe some podcasts and other marketing materials online, but now all of those have to be made anew so that they are ready for the new market, right? Wrong.

Your website can be converted into numerous languages using a number of different tools and methods. However, translating is not enough. Take some time while translating to look at all of the little personal cues that are in the website content, and replace them with cues that will be equally effective in the target language.

Certain analogies, and even some words, will not translate well into other languages, and these points should be taken into consideration as well. Replacing the details in order to meet the expectations of a new audience, speaking to them on their own terms, is known as “localization”, and it is all about creating the ultimate customer experience on a very personal level.

If you have a video marketing campaign already going, so much the better. While it may sound like a great idea to begin an entirely new video marketing campaign in your efforts to internationalize, it is not only unnecessary, but may prove to be more detrimental than actively working to adjust your existing video selections.

Posting all brand new materials in any online advertising campaign that ages is probably not a great idea, especially if there is already some finely aged and tuned marketing material already posted. Brand new videos with only a few hundred views will not be viewed from the same perspective as older videos with thousands or more views. Fortunately, there is a very simple solution that will help you to internationalize the videos without much effort at all. There are numerous benefits to using video translation services to create closed captioning for all of your videos.

On Facebook, 85% of videos are viewed without sound, so the first and most direct benefit is the ability for your potential customers to watch your videos without sound while still gaining all of the relevant information.

The SRT files for closed captioning are also indexed by the search engines, both on YouTube and on the individual search engines. The number of keywords will increase, the ranking on the search engine results page will increase, and so will the number of times your video makes the YouTube recommended list. It is also remarkably easy to include closed captioning in additional languages for all of your video campaigns online.

Now, your videos will also rank for the relevant keywords in any foreign languages that you are targeting in your internationalization efforts, replete with well-aged videos and the increased consumer confidence that comes along with it. These same principles can also apply to podcasting through the use of transcription and translation services.

Maximize your international marketing campaign with split testing

Once all of the preceding steps have been taken, there are two final steps that should be an ongoing part of your internationalization in terms of marketing and advertising. As mentioned, localization is all about creating the ultimate customer experience. It may be ensuring a smooth transition for the user as they begin their journey on their home computer, and continue it on their cell phone on the go. The continuity of connection is key to successfully engaging your customers in that regard.

Have you ever seen a grandchild out with their grandparent? The child, seeing something amazing, may shout out a current expression that the grandparents are absolutely clueless about.

Even in the same geographic regions, with the same accents and the same tendencies, each generation will have its own common phrases and expressions, idioms and vernacular.

What is the target demographic for your international campaign? Find and target that market, but continue using the process of split testing in order to ensure that all of your localization efforts are as effective as possible.

Split testing is all about setting up dual advertising campaigns and running them for a set length of time. After the time has expired, the results will be tallied up and the best campaign kept, while the poorer performing campaign is discarded and replaced by the better performing one. Ensure none of your discarded campaigns are lost, as some campaigns may still perform well, even if not as well as the winner. There may also be key factors that will help to indicate which portions of the marketing and localization campaigns are effective and which portions are not. Combining the more effective portions into one can also produce very positive results.

The safest investment of all at present, seems to be reinvesting in your company. The potential of the Internet Economy is endless and international. So why not put your resources to use online, and bring your business to a whole world of customers?

International business could not be possible without translators and interpreters. In all its forms and sizes, good business runs on effective communication. Translators and interpreters are the key to bridging cultural and linguistic gaps, as well as making international business and trade possible since ancient times.

Professional translation services and interpretation services can ultimately help you uncover hidden potentials in foreign markets. By working with them, you can also inundate yourself with the knowledge they can offer you as a means of self-improvement as a businessperson.

What makes a professional business translator and interpreter

Having bilingual or multilingual abilities alone won’t automatically make you a language professional. You need to possess advanced language skills obtained by years of extensive study and even cultural immersion in the country of your chosen language.

Both translators and interpreters need to decide early on during their studies what language pair specialization they want to pursue, such as English to Spanish, English to Chinese, etc. Clients should often look for language professionals with a specialization, as a language professional with one or two language pairs is bound to be more dependable than a ‘jack-of-all-trades but master at none’.

While being either a language professional is hard enough, more can be said for professional business translators and interpreters. Aside from advanced language skills, they need to have the right background knowledge in financial and legal terminology since business documents and proceedings are often peppered with it. They can also choose to specialize in certain industries, such as banking, automotive, gaming, retail, tech, gaming, etc.

Now what obviously marks the difference between a translator and interpreter is their work environment and skillset application. They’re often labelled interchangeably but there are very different from each other. Translators mainly work on documents while interpreters perform live language translation.

Additionally, translators have on-site resources to aid their translation work. Interpreters can only rely on their knowledge and experience as their resource. With this in mind, not all translators can become interpreters. They need to develop cross-cultural communication skills and have the ability to handle immense pressure and remain cool in situations where even a single mistranslation can prove disastrous.

Where to get the right professional translation and interpretation services?

Some major international businesses regularly rely on their in-house business translators and interpreters. But that’s not an asset that many small to medium enterprises can employ full-time on standby.

Instead, freelancers are often used, who handle specialized and project-based translation and interpretation jobs when businesses lack in-house options. Even big-name brands rely on freelance language professionals from time to time.

When it comes to hiring a freelance translator or interpreter, your best route to contact them is from a professional translation agency. Despite their name, they provide both professional translation services and professional interpretation services. You can tap language professionals from major freelancing sites such as Upwork and Fiverr, but the trick is ensuring consistent and reliable outputs from your freelancer.

Professional translation agencies already have a pool of translators and interpreters working anywhere around the world. When it comes to projects with urgent deadlines, a professional translation agency can get a team for you to get the job done. Another advantage is that if one of them calls in sick or has an emergency, the agency can immediately tap into the next person to continue the job.

The international business arena is dynamic, and a lot of unforeseen things can pop up at the last minute. With that in mind, it would be better to rely on an agency that has global networks and a sufficient pool of highly qualified language professionals. Since business communication is very sensitive work, never rely on a free online language translator such as Google Translate. Even a single typo or mistranslation can jeopardize your documents.

How professional translators and interpreters are crucial in international business

International business lives and breathes on seamless communication. As said in the beginning, this is as relevant in the past for thousands of years as it is today. Here’s a list of a few critical areas where you’ll be needing professional translators and interpreters.

1. Local legislature and financial documents

Whether as a private individual or as a public official, you need to know the lay of the land first. Translating legal documents and financial documents requires different expertise, and you’ll often need at least two translators. As for interpreters, perhaps you’ll need two as well, depending on the situation at hand.

2. Multilingual contracts

This is an unavoidable part in international business. The majority of your multilingual business contracts will be handled by your professional translator. But during on-site meetings, you can’t depend on your translator to settle any clarifications. For that, your professional interpreter’s background knowledge in financial and legal terminology in both language pairs will prove indispensable to you.

3. Securing foreign investments and funding

When startups and businesses look to secure more financing options, they usually go abroad. Whether from foreign banks or foreign private investors, your translator will get all your documents. Your interpreter will then take care of on-site matters.

4. Negotiating with foreign partners and suppliers

Depending on your business, you might have to get in touch with foreign partners and suppliers. Your translator will take care of technical and financial documents, while your interpreter will handle on-site negotiations and even informal communication.

5. Connecting with foreign partners

Negotiating and connecting are two very different things. While negotiations are a formal aspect of any business, connections are more concerned with the informal and personal side of business.

Many international business cultures greatly value how you conduct yourself in their environment in terms of foreign business customs and etiquette. Naturally, your interpreter will have all of these taken care of. But it also pays off to know even the basics of their customs and etiquette.

Top business languages other than English

1. Chinese (Mandarin)

Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world with over 900 million speakers. It’s also a highly lucrative business language. A huge number of Chinese businesses are looking for opportunities abroad and you can capitalize on that trend. Global businesses are also reaching out to the vast market opportunities that mainland China commands.

2. Japanese

Japanese industries are major players in the global economy in all industries. Thus, having dealings with a Japanese business could be one of your options as their sophisticated homegrown industries are hard to ignore. You will need to have a professional Japanese translator on hand to specifically handle a different version of Japanese called keigo. This is a formal Japanese speech used in business, the government, and even in retail that even native Japanese people have trouble with.

3. Korean

Another major Asian economic player is South Korea. Just like Japan, Korean industries are also a major player in the world market. Korean brands are key players, particularly in the automotive, technology, and electronics industry. As with Japan, you must ensure that your professional Korean interpreter is adept with business Korean.

4. German

German is often characterized as a quintessentially business-oriented language. You can perhaps see the connection since Germany has the highest GDP in Europe. Depending on your business goals, reaching out to German businesses might be your first step if you want to establish your business contacts in mainland Europe.

5. Spanish

Compared to other European languages, Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It is spoken in the European continent and much of the Americas, both north and south. Keep in mind that each Spanish country is linguistically, culturally, and socially unique from each other.

The Hispanosphere is vast, and each country is bound to have its own way of doing things. So, when hiring a professional Spanish translator and interpreter, make sure that their Spanish proficiency and knowledge match with your target country.

These countries and their languages were chosen because of their economic development and strength of their industries. You can also take your chances in emerging economies such as the ASEAN region, select African countries, and select Latin American countries as well.

What you can learn from language professionals

The key to growing as a business is to keep learning as you go along in your career. Whether as a CEO or a business representative, having an open mind is what will set you apart from your competition. You can learn a great deal from the translators and interpreters with whom you associate.

Sure, they’re only with you when you need them under specific times. But that doesn’t mean you ought not to learn anything from them. Learning languages is more than just aiming for linguistic proficiency. It’s also learning about cultures and their way of life.

You become more culturally aware of the diverse ways of doing things around the world. You can use this perspective to inevitably help you as time goes along. The globalized economy we live in today is becoming more competitive with each passing day. All in all, an international perspective is what will ultimately unlock more market opportunities for you.