How to Use Translation Services for Business

When your business learns to speak the world’s language, it finally learns how to grow.

The Missed Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight… How to Use

Translation Services to Grow Your Business

Imagine this…

You’ve spent months—or years—perfecting your brand. Crafted your message, built your product, tested your service, and even launched marketing campaigns to thunderous applause. You’ve got happy customers. You have got great reviews and you’ve done everything right… almost.

But your website is only in English. Your packaging is only in English. Your ads? Only English.

Meanwhile, a growing number of competitors have quietly translated their content into Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and Mandarin—and they’re expanding into markets you haven’t even thought about yet. They’re making deals you aren’t privy to. They are on Amazon storefronts in different countries. They’re onboarding clients with different currencies, cultures, and codes of conduct. And you’re still stuck speaking to one segment of the global audience while the rest scroll past, disengaged.

The truth? You’re not being outperformed. You’re being misunderstood.

The Real Problem: English is Not Enough Anymore

For decades, English was considered the global business language. But times have changed. Today, over 75% of internet users don’t speak English as their first language. And even if they can read it, that doesn’t mean they’ll buy in emotionally or financially.

Take this staggering figure: A study by CSA Research found that 76% of consumers prefer to buy products with information in their own language. Over 40% say they will never buy from websites in other languages.

Now imagine what that means for your Google Ads ROI. Your email open rates. Your lead conversion.

If you’re not offering your services in more than one language, you’re leaving money, credibility, and clients behind—on the table, at the border, and in someone else’s shopping cart.

But there’s more to this problem than missed sales.

There’s also reputation. In a world that’s becoming more inclusive, diverse, and borderless, failing to localise your brand makes you look outdated. It tells your customers that you’re not ready for the global stage—even if you technically are.

The Solution: High-Performance, Human-Centric Translation Services

If poor translation repels customers, then professional, high-quality translation magnetises them. But this isn’t just about swapping English words for foreign equivalents. Translation is about connection—about cultural nuance, relevance, readability, and resonance.

The best translation services are not just linguists. They’re bridge-builders. They adapt your message to fit not just a different tongue, but a different world view.

But here’s the twist most companies miss: It’s not enough to just translate. You have to translate strategically.

What Everyone Else Gets Wrong About Translation

Let’s pause here and call out a harsh truth: most businesses do translation wrong. They make one of two fatal mistakes.

The first? They rely on automated translation software like Google Translate for business-critical content. While good for directions or quick summaries, these tools often butcher grammar, misunderstand context, and create embarrassing—and sometimes damaging—errors. In 2009, HSBC Bank had to spend $10 million to fix its global rebranding campaign after its slogan “Assume Nothing” was mistranslated in several languages as “Do Nothing.”

The second mistake? They treat translation as a one-time checkbox instead of an ongoing business strategy and they don’t update translated materials as new offers emerge. Nor do they localise campaigns and they fail to adapt tone, humour, and intent for new regions.

You need better.

The Better Way: Step-by-Step Translation Strategy for Real Business Growth

Start with deep localisation, not just direct translation. Your brand should feel native to the markets you serve. This means hiring native-speaking translators with cultural expertise—not just language skills. A German client doesn’t want to feel like an afterthought. They want to feel like the homepage was written just for them.

Translate your website—not only the main content, but product descriptions, metadata, menus, CTAs, FAQs, and customer reviews. Multilingual SEO is the unsung hero of global lead generation. If your French customers are Googling a solution to their problem, will your site show up?

Localise your email marketing flows. Are your promotions and automated emails available in other languages? Are you segmenting your lists based on region or language preferences? If not, your highest-paying customers may never hear from you in a way that matters.

Transcreate your ads, not just translate. Transcreation blends copywriting with translation, ensuring your message hits home emotionally. Consider Coca-Cola’s “Taste the Feeling” campaign, which was transcreated across over 200 markets, tailored to resonate locally while maintaining a global identity.

Offer multilingual customer support. Chatbots, help centre articles, after-sales service, and even invoices should all be available in the customer’s preferred language. Doing so reduces complaints, boosts retention, and enhances lifetime value.

Go even further with product packaging, legal documents, investor pitch decks, and user manuals. IKEA has mastered this. Every flatpack product comes with instructions that don’t even require words, but when text is needed, it’s flawlessly localised—whether you’re in Seoul, Stockholm, or São Paulo.

How to Make Your Translation Services Better Than Your Competitors’

Don’t stop at language. Build translation into your operations.

What if your onboarding workflow automatically translated client contracts based on the lead’s IP address?

And what if your analytics dashboards showed you how non-English speakers engage differently, so you could adapt faster?

What if your brand guidelines included multilingual tone of voice samples for every market you serve?

Most translation services stop at the content. You can dominate your niche by turning translation into an experience.

Also, build relationships with a core team of dedicated human translators who understand your voice and values. Train them. Treat them as part of your team. The deeper their understanding, the more naturally your content will flow.

Finally, invest in translation memory and termbase systems. These tools ensure consistency across all translations, save time, reduce costs, and maintain brand identity over time.

This is what global giants do. But it’s now accessible for smaller businesses—if they care enough to do it properly.

Netflix’s Subtitling Strategy

Let’s look at Netflix. With subscribers in over 190 countries, they invested heavily in professional translation and subtitling services. But they didn’t just translate titles—they reimagined them.

The Korean show “Kingdom” wasn’t merely subtitled; it was localised to preserve the political intrigue and historical context for Western viewers. The result? A cult following outside of Korea—and a new wave of global content fandom.

Netflix’s translation strategy wasn’t an afterthought. It was the fuel that drove their global takeover.

What would happen if your business adopted the same mindset?

The Real Cost of Doing Nothing

Every day your content remains monolingual, you’re losing potential customers. You’re sending a signal—whether you realise it or not—that says, “We’re not ready for you.”

In a world where trust is hard to earn and easy to lose, making your business accessible in multiple languages is not just polite—it’s profitable.

This isn’t about trying to sell to everyone. It’s about reaching the right people in the right way.

And in many cases, that means speaking their language.

Speak Their Language. Win Their Business.

It’s not just about translation. It’s about transformation.

When you commit to multilingual communication, you’re not just translating your words. You’re translating your brand’s value into the hearts and minds of a whole new audience.

So ask yourself: Who aren’t you reaching yet? And what’s it costing you?

If you’re serious about growth, then make translation a strategic part of your business—not an afterthought.

Partner with professionals who live and breathe language, culture, and conversion. Let your message travel across borders with precision, clarity, and confidence.

Your next customer is out there. They’re waiting. And they’re not reading English.

Contact us today for website localisation, subtitling services, translation services, multilingual transcription services and multilingual minute taking services.