Why 2026 Is the Year of Global Communication

The Tipping Point: Silence is Not an Option

If the last decade was about “going digital,” 2026 is the year the world truly goes global. This isn’t a prediction; it’s a tipping point. We are standing at a unique crossroads where technology and humanity are finally learning to dance together, rather than compete. At INGCO International, as we prepare to celebrate our 20th anniversary, we see 2026 not just as a milestone for us, but as the year the entire world’s communication strategy is either made or broken.

Why 2026? Because the “old ways” of doing business across borders are officially obsolete. The global consumer has found their voice, and if you can’t speak their language, they will find a company that can. Silence is no longer an option.

Take this quick assessment to find out how you are doing!

Top 3 Global Communications Trends

→ Trend 1: AI Orchestration, Not Replacement

For years, the fear was that AI would replace the human translator, turning language services into a cheap commodity. In 2026, we’re witnessing a powerful pivot: the era of AI Orchestration. Technology handles the heavy lifting—the speed, the data, the instant draft—but it is the human “Wordologist” who provides the crucial, irreplaceable “cognitive respect” and cultural nuance.

In 2026, companies that rely solely on machine translation will find their lips “sealed” by cultural blunders, robotic delivery, and deeply embarrassed PR teams. The winners will be those who embrace a “Human-Led, Tech-Enabled” strategy, using AI as a sophisticated tool to amplify, not annihilate, the emotional connection of their message.

→ Trend 2: Language Inclusion is Non-Negotiable Equity

Language inclusion is no longer an aspirational goal; it is the bedrock of successful organizational strategy. In 2026, Language Inclusion is the new, non-negotiable frontier of equity. Consider it an operational necessity. Providing critical information in a consumer’s native language isn’t just a courtesy, it’s an act of respect that drives unprecedented loyalty.

Whether it’s a life-saving medical document, the fine print on a contract, or a localized eCommerce platform, the ability to speak to someone in their heart-language is the fastest, most effective way to build immediate and lasting trust. As we count down to our 20th year, we are seeing more businesses than ever realize that an “unsealed” communication strategy is the only way to unlock truly global revenue. If your communication strategy stops at the English-speaking office door, it’s not a strategy, it’s a limitation.

→ Trend 3: The Demand for “Loud and Clear” Authenticity

The digital landscape of 2026 is brutally crowded and noisy. To be heard, you don’t just need volume; you need authenticity. You can’t simply “translate” a successful American brand; you have to localize its spirit. This is why voice—the actual sound and tone of your brand—is seeing a massive surge. Localized marketing strategies, culturally sensitive captioning, and professional voiceover services that capture local dialect are paramount. Consumers want to hear a voice that sounds like theirs—literally and figuratively. If your voice is muffled, your brand is invisible.

20 Years of Talking the Talk

At INGCO International, our lips haven’t been sealed since 2006. We haven’t just been translating; we’ve been leading. We’ve spent two decades building the infrastructure, refining the 10-step “INGCO Way” quality process, and cultivating a global network of Wordologists to ensure you don’t just speak, but speak brilliantly.

2026 is the year to stop whispering and start talking to the world. Are you ready to join the conversation, or will you let your competitors steal the stage?

Is your global communication strategy ready for the future? Download our 2026 Global Readiness Checklist or schedule a consultation with our team to ensure your brand is heard “loud and clear” across every border.

Struggling to connect with global customers? Discover why Capital One recognized global growth partner INGCO International for breaking down language barriers and accelerating international growth.

In today’s hyper-connected world, effective communication isn’t just about speaking different languages; it’s about conveying the true essence, emotion, and cultural nuances of your message. Misunderstandings cost deals, brand messaging gets lost in translation, and compliance nightmares arise. For over 19 years, INGCO International has been the solution, dedicated to this intricate art. Our recent recognition with the Capital One Envision Award for Supplier Excellence of the Year is a powerful affirmation of our unwavering commitment to helping businesses like yours Go Global.

Go Global Now!

The Capital One Supplier Excellence Award goes beyond acknowledging us as an exceptional supplier. It underscores our fundamental belief that a diverse team fosters a deeper, more authentic understanding of the world. It’s a testament to our enduring mission, established in 2006: to ensure equitable access to language and empower seamless international market entry.

Beyond Translation: The Power of Our Wordologists

The true architects of our success and your global reach are our language-obsessed Wordologists. They are the beating heart of our business, tackling the most complex language service challenges with unparalleled expertise. Our global growth experts deliver not just accurate translations, but culturally resonant communications that integrate seamlessly with local market norms, drastically improving message comprehension across borders. Collectively, they master over 200 languages.

This is how INGCO International transcends mere translation, empowering our clients to:

• Expand into New Markets: Successfully launch products and services globally with localized messaging that resonates.
• Ensure Regulatory Compliance: Guarantee precise understanding of technical specifications and legal documents in every geography, avoiding costly errors.
• Bridge Community Gaps: Facilitate vital information dissemination to diverse audiences, fostering trust and engagement.

Imagine a global tech company trying to launch a new product in Japan. Our Wordologists didn’t just translate the manual; they adapted the entire marketing message to resonate with Japanese cultural norms, resulting in a 27% higher conversion rate in that market. This profound passion for our work is the secret to our ability to transform communications and catalyze significant improvements in customer engagement, sales, and revenue growth for our clients.

Ready to connect with one of our award-winning Wordologists?

Unwavering Quality & Compliance: Why You Can Trust INGCO International

Since our inception, INGCO International has been built on an unshakeable foundation of trust and uncompromising quality. Our dedication has earned us accolades from esteemed organizations, including the SBA Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year award in 2020, the Innovation in Service Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners in 2022 and induction into the National Association of Women Business Owners Hall of Fame in 2025.

Quality is not just a promise; it’s ingrained in our DNA. We uphold the highest global compliance standards, evidenced by our ASTM and ISO 17100 certifications. Capital One, like many global financial institutions, needs absolute precision in regulatory documents across countless languages. INGCO’s meticulous process ensured flawless delivery, highlighting our commitment. Furthermore, our proprietary The INGCO Way – a meticulously crafted 10-step process – guarantees flawless solutions every single time. Learn more about our rigorous quality standards.

Our pledge to clients is straightforward: we deliver on our promises. This unwavering commitment instills confidence, assuring our clients that we possess the extensive experience and specialized expertise to consistently provide superior language services for your international market entry.

The Capital One Envision Award is both a validation of our remarkable journey and a guiding light for our future endeavors.

• Myth: A direct translation is always sufficient. 
• Reality: Cultural nuances and context are paramount for true message comprehension, which is where our Wordologists excel.

Ready to truly Go Global? Contact your global growth partner today for a consultation on how our Wordologists can transform your international communication strategy.

Unlock your global potential. Speak with an INGCO International expert and discover how our award-winning language services can drive your international growth.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EDINA, MINNESOTA – September 24, 2025 – INGCO International, a leading innovator in multilingual communication solutions, today proudly announced it has been awarded the distinguished Capital One Supplier Excellence Award. This esteemed recognition celebrates INGCO International’s exceptional performance, groundbreaking solutions, and unwavering dedication to delivering outstanding results through unparalleled service.

For over 19 years, INGCO International has empowered businesses and community organizations to transform their communications, significantly enhancing customer engagement, sales, and revenue growth. As trusted language service experts, INGCO International is renowned for its ability to address complex language challenges swiftly, effectively, and with utmost professionalism. The company’s distinctive approach is deeply rooted in its core values, which include championing linguistic diversity and proactively going above and beyond for every client.

“We are profoundly honored to receive the Supplier Excellence Award from a respected industry leader like Capital One,” said Ingrid Christensen, Founder and CEO of INGCO International. “This award serves as a powerful testament to our team’s unwavering commitment to innovation and our mission to ensure equal access to information globally. Our dedicated Wordologists are the driving force behind this success, and this recognition truly validates their expertise and tireless dedication.”

INGCO International is committed to delivering a legendary customer experience guided by its “Global Touch, Local Mindset” philosophy. The company’s expansive network of linguists collectively commands over 200 languages, leveraging tech-enabled, human-led solutions to deliver superior results. Operating on a proprietary 10-step process, known as The INGCO Way, the company consistently guarantees flawless, culturally-appropriate language solutions, expedited turnaround times, and continuous innovation to achieve excellence.

About INGCO International

Founded in 2006 by Ingrid Christensen, INGCO International is an industry leader in solving complex global language needs. Our core purpose is to bridge global language barriers. The company’s mission is to provide equal access to language through the meticulous provision of interpreting and translating services. INGCO International looks forward to strengthening its partnership with Capital One and continuing to advance global communication accessibility. INGCO International is headquartered at 200 Southdale Center, Edina, MN 55435. For more information, please visit ingcointernational.com.

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Media Contact:
Brooke Williams, Director of Sales and Marketing
brooke@ingcointernational.com
(612) 605-8006

You’ve just launched your new website, complete with a sleek design, compelling content, and a smooth user experience. But despite all your hard work, you’re struggling to connect with international audiences. Visitors from other countries leave the site quickly, engagement is low, and sales? Barely trickling in. Could the barrier be language and cultural differences?

Website localization services could likely be the key to unlocking your global potential. 

But what is localization? Think of it as making your website speak different languages while also understanding the culture of the people reading it. It’s not only about translating words but also about making sure your site feels familiar and relatable to people from different parts of the world. By tailoring your website for other regions, you can create a more personalized experience that resonates with diverse audiences. 

Here are seven powerful ways website localization can help your business grow:

1. Expand Your Global Reach

Localization makes your website accessible to a wider audience by translating content into multiple languages and adapting it for cultural nuances. Imagine someone visiting your website from Japan but seeing everything in English—they might feel lost. Translating your site helps them feel included. 

Are you missing out on entire markets because your website only speaks one language?

2. Build Trust with International Audiences

People trust brands that speak their language—literally. By presenting content in the native language of your audience, you demonstrate respect for their culture, which fosters trust and credibility. Imagine if you were visiting a website in a language you don’t understand. 

Would you feel confident buying from that brand?

3. Boost Conversion Rates

A localized website reduces confusion and increases clarity, making it easier for users to navigate your site and take action. When users can understand product descriptions, checkout instructions, and support information in their language, they are far more likely to make a purchase or sign up for services.

Could language barriers be the missing link between your audience and higher sales?

4. Improve SEO Performance

Localized websites can target region-specific keywords, helping you rank higher on international search engines like Baidu or Yandex. Incorporating multilingual SEO strategies, such as optimizing for search terms in different languages, ensures that your website appears in the search results that matter most. Imagine searching for a product in French but only finding English results—would you keep searching or try another site? 

Are you optimizing for search terms your global audience is actually using?

5. Enhance Customer Experience

Localization involves more than translation; it is also about cultural adaptation. This includes date formats, currencies, imagery, and even humor. For example, a joke that works in the U.S. might not make sense in Germany. 

How seamless is your website experience for international visitors?

6. Gain a Competitive Edge

Many businesses still overlook website localization, giving you an opportunity to stand out. A culturally adapted, multilingual website signals professionalism and a global mindset, showing customers that you’re serious about serving their needs wherever they are.

Are you positioning yourself as a truly international brand or blending in with everyone else?

7. Strengthen Brand Reputation

A localized website shows you care about inclusivity and global accessibility, strengthening your brand’s image as a forward-thinking, customer-centric business. It sends a clear message that your business is ready to serve customers from different cultural backgrounds.

What message is your website currently sending to global audiences?

Trust INGCO With Your Localization Goals

At INGCO International, we specialize in comprehensive website localization services, helping businesses like yours break language barriers and connect with global audiences effectively. Our expertise in translation and localization ensures that your content resonates with diverse markets. Are you ready to transform your website into a powerful tool for international growth?

Contact us today to get started on your website localization journey and watch your business thrive worldwide.

If you’re part of the marketing, communications, HR, legal or compliance team for an organization with international reach, you’ve likely heard of the concept of “localization.” Although frequently thought of as a synonym for “translation” or converting text from one language to another, localization actually means much more. 

This article will explore the definition of localization and why these efforts are important for marketing leaders and communication teams to understand and consider when entering new global markets. 

What is translation?

Translation is the art and science of rendering a piece of written content into another language.

Professional certified translators utilize a deep understanding of both languages to relay written or spoken content as authentically as possible. For global organizations, translation is a key element for bridging the communication gap between languages, cultures, and geographical locations.

What is localization?

Localization goes beyond language translation by adapting content in a way that meets the unique needs of a specific country or region. 

Localization considers how things like idioms, puns, pop-culture references, geographic humor, nationalistic pride, and emotional language could play a role in how a message is received. 

In addition to language-specific needs, the following elements are also typically considered in a localization project:

• Page layout
• Graphics
• Colors
• Imagery
• Currency
• Payment methods
• Units of measurement

The overall goal of localization efforts is to create materials that are perceived as authentic to the intended audience and that relay the original message’s full meaning. It ensures that your content is accurately received and understood by your target audience.

The importance of localization for global businesses

Localization is crucial for growing global organizations to understand and deploy strategically. While these efforts may appear costly or daunting at first glance, company leaders often find them to be a worthwhile investment. After all, successful, professional localization has the power to connect messages and services with audiences who are often vital to a company’s success. Here are some of the ways localization may benefit a company:

Localization helps build trust and loyalty with customers

• Consumers have several options of who to purchase from, and often these decisions come down to brands that seem trustworthy. Localization errors can erode that trust, or take it away before it’s even been built.
• Once consumers trust your brand, the need for consistency in your company’s localization approach is vital. Why? Because continued trust builds brand loyalty. 
• Building authentic connections across global markets is also a part of creating an overall positive experience for the consumer. From the time they first learn about your company, to the moment they’re ready to make a purchase decision, professional localization helps avoid any hiccups that could change a consumer’s mind. 

Localization helps you enter new markets successfully 

• When material feels authentic to a consumer, there are more likely to engage with it. Localization is a key way to achieve this with local audiences in new global markets. 
• Localization helps your company appear more, well, local. Consumers are more likely to trust businesses that are local or have the appearance of being local, even when you don’t have a team or office in that area.
• Professional localization also showcases your professionalism, quality, and experience as a global organization. 

Localization makes sure your material is understood

• Word-for-word translations do not always translate properly, as languages and cultures often have varied meanings for the same words in another language. 
• A specific language may also operate with different grammar rules – something word-for-word translation often doesn’t account for.

Localization helps you avoid embarrassing or costly errors

• It would be a mistake to simply translate a consumer-facing piece of content without utilizing localization services, otherwise your company risks a negative impact on the entire brand’s reputation.
• Depending on the type of error and its impact, your company could also face legal risks. For example, lawsuits or fines might be filed if a localization error takes place in an operating manual or product description that has the potential to harm the consumer.
• Aside from the financial ramifications, localization errors can also create embarrassing mistakes – sometimes to the extent that it begins trending on news media or social media. It’s the sort of press a company would rather avoid. 

Overall, localization is key to global growth

From startups to established companies, organizations of all sizes that aim to have a global reach will want to be familiar with the concept of localization.

That’s because successful global expansion efforts require communication, marketing and manufacturing materials that build understanding, connection and loyalty with intended audiences, all while meeting a region’s cultural and regulatory standards. 

When starting a localization project, companies should consider partnering with a professional language service provider that has a proven track record of success. At INGCO International, our team of Wordologists^SM speak more than 200 languages and have more than 17 years of experience working in a variety of industries, including the food and beverage, legal, medical and life sciences fields.

Contact our localization specialists for your next project today!

Are your advertising departments and marketing teams up to date on the latest trends in advertising? Do you collaborate with your teams to create quality content? How do you know if your target audiences view your advertising in the most professional light? These are just a few questions to consider when planning content for any audience. It gets even more complex for global companies and those seeking to reach new geographic or cultural target markets. 

Targeting audiences with different cultural backgrounds and languages not only provides an opportunity to bring your goods and services to a new group of people, but also demonstrates a dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). Let’s explore ways you can translate your advertising content and reach global audiences.  

What is Advertising Translation? 

Advertising translation is the process of translating your advertising content into a specific language (or languages) to reach a target audience outside your company’s native language. For example, if you have advertising content created for U.S. markets in English but are now targeting a population in Brazil, you need to translate your content into Portuguese.  

The translation process is much more complicated and involved than you may think. The first step is considering what types of advertisements to translate for global reach.  

• Video – closed captioning, subtitles, voice-overs, etc. Translate audio and visual aspects of a video advertisement for accuracy and cultural nuances. 
• Print – translate any distributed physical, printed material into your target languages. Why waste time and money printing material if people are not understanding your advertising message?  
• Digital – anything posted to social media platforms, a website, an app, etc., should be translated.  

The Importance of Using a Professional Translation Service 

Aside from reaching your desired audience with material they can understand, translating advertising content with the help of a professional language translation agency is a critical factor in the success of your advertising and marketing efforts. Translating involves technical and linguistic expertise to get the job done right the first time. Once the original content is ready for both press and translation, an expert will translate the content while keeping your brand voice, tone, and message the same.

Additionally, in some languages, translation will reduce or add words or characters to keep the same meaning, while in others, some of your native words won’t even exist. This character fluctuation often impacts the layout of your graphics. A professional agency has a team of designers to assist with the layout and design of your newly translated content to match your original designed graphic.  

Wanting to get the work done in-house? Consider how long it took your team to create the original content piece. Attempting translation in-house may take double that time to translate it into an additional language on top of redesigning the layout. It is imperative you translate your advertising content efficiently and accurately the first time to not miss important deadlines, reduce speed to market, or lose credibility with your target language populations.  

Challenges of Advertising Translation 

Regardless of the original content’s language, challenges will still exist when translating it for any marketing or advertising campaign. Here are just a few challenges and considerations you want to think about before getting started with translating your advertising content for a specific audience: 

• Getting the cultural nuances correct. What may seem respectful or funny in one culture could be rude or offensive in another. 
• Avoiding “offensive content,” whether symbols, imagery, or text. Symbols could be very similar across cultures, but one mistake could cost you the entire campaign and audience.  
• Check your idioms at the door. For example, people in other cultures may not understand what you mean when you say things like “the ball’s in your court.” 
• Not accounting for different dialects. Don’t generalize languages across countries or groups. Different regions of the same country could speak different dialects of the same language with very different meanings! 
• Using localization  to encompass social cues, politics, demographics, history, and more. Translate your content with this cultural context in mind if you target an audience in a specific region.  

Investing in quality translation services for global marketing and advertising will help your company avoid these challenges. They take the same care and thoughtful consideration as you do with your original content pieces. Your translation services partner wants to see you achieve brand recognition and gain consumer loyalty from your target audiences.  

Best Practices for Translating Ads 

Translating advertisements is a great way to expand your global reach. Here are some best practices for translating advertisements to create successful campaigns:  

• Decide on your target geographic and cultural locations to identify what languages are used. 
• Understanding the translation process can be complicated and may involve a lot of research.  
• Know your timeline — from content development to publishing — and build in added time for translations.  
• Consider both cultural and linguistic contexts for international and regional audiences. 
• Gather all marketing materials and content you would like to have translated as part of the campaign (social media, press releases, etc.). 
• Rely on a professional translation service for accurate, culturally relevant, and brand-reflective translations. 

The INGCO Way – Quality, Efficient Translations for Advertising  

INGCO International is a leading expert in global marketing translation services. We specialize in multiple facets of these services – from translation and localization to layout, design, and more, so you can rest easy that your project is in great hands.  

Our goal is to build and keep your trust. Discover the INGCO Way and start connecting with new audiences around the world.  Contact us now to learn more and get started!  

Businesses can communicate with any audience in the world thanks to technology. As a result, many organizations are expanding globally to grow. But how can companies achieve global success? Onboarding a language services provider for proper translation, interpreting, and localization is one of the first steps in developing a sound global strategy. INGCO International provides the right Wordologists^TM to assist your business in communicating in other languages.

Translation and interpreting services are routinely used in the global marketplace as countries, cultures, and people interact worldwide. What was once dominated by one language and group per business space, now consists of multilingual access points and increased demand for competition. This means potential growth and higher return on investment (ROI) for your business. Allow us to teach you the INGCO Way and hiring our Wordologists^TM will be the smartest business decision you make to expand your business globally.

What is a Wordologist^TM?

“Wordologists^TM,” as we coined it, are INGCO’s language-obsessed word nerds who provide unmatched accuracy and cultural fit for even the most difficult translation and interpreting challenges. You might be wondering, why not use “translator” or “interpreter” to describe who they are and what they do?  Our Wordologists^TM are what set us apart from every other language service. The key differentiation is that our translation and interpreting services are done by humans, not robots or Artificial Intelligence.

Our Wordologists^TM obsess over every detail of your content to ensure accurate and culturally nuanced translations to convey the right meaning behind your words. We realize trust is an essential factor in the translation and interpreting process, and we work diligently to remove any uncertainty surrounding your projects.

Wordologists^TM professionally blend the science of translation with the magic of localization to produce content that looks and feels like it was originally created in the target language. We have dedicated Wordologists^TM in over 200 languages, so we can turn around projects faster and with better precision than anyone else. No waiting in a queue or on a team to get to your work – we know how important it is to stay on track and immediately give your consumers what they need.

How Can Your Translated Content Benefit from Wordologists^TM?

Let’s learn more about what Wordologists^TM do and how you can benefit from their work.

Improve Your Global Reach with Accurate Translations: Our business goal is for you and your business to succeed. Your company has much to gain from expanding to a larger global audience. However, getting it right the first time is imperative. Consumer trust is not easily earned (but is easily lost), so your translations and interpreting need to be spot-on. Trust us, once out there, it is hard to take back errors and still have the loyalty of your consumers.  accuracy and quality must be top priorities – which is what our Wordologists provide.

We build teams of Wordologists^TM specific to your language projects. We like to think of them as linguistic superheroes. Our Wordologists^TM teams are comprised of up to 10 different language specialists working in tandem to create masterfully crafted messages specific to your target language and audience. The INGCO Way guarantees your messages to be consistent, accurate, and on-brand in any language.

Improve Internal Training, Corporate Communications, and Inclusion Goals

INGCO’s Wordologists^TM are not only used for consumer-facing projects, we also help with your internal documentation such as training manuals, procedures, messages from leaders/CEOs, meetings, operations manuals and diagrams, employee handbooks, and sales training materials and presentations to ensure everyone in your organization can receive your message and feel part of the team.

Wordologists^TM Can Connect with Every Culture

We take the time upfront to carefully understand your brand, specific goals, objectives, and target audience(s). We then thoroughly examine the target languages to which you want your content translated to understand the cultural nuances. Unfortunately, many companies skip this step, which could prove costly and potentially offensive depending on the culture.

For example, suppose you want to translate a marketing campaign into Spanish, and someone on your team speaks the language; however, the Spanish-speaking employee is from Mexico, and the audience you are trying to reach is in Spain. Having your team member translate the material might sound like an ideal way to save money, but do they understand the unique cultural and linguistic nuances of the European Spanish dialect? Probably not.

There is an inherent risk of not investing in proper translations and interpreting. INGCO is here to help you quickly, seamlessly, and accurately connect your business with the world. We offer Wordologists^TM in over 200 languages so you can prioritize your other business needs and let your team get back to doing what they do best to maintain your organizational efficiencies.

Creating Content with the Touch of Wordologists^TM

When our Wordologists^TM come together to prepare your material the INGCO Way, global success is right around the corner. Your team can focus on other business goals, your material and brand are consistent and professional in every language, and your clients and prospects continue to grow and engage with your brand. When you open up your company to the world, you break down barriers you may not have even known existed. So go ahead and create your content and develop your global strategies – then contact INGCO. We will be here to assist with translating and interpreting services to help you accomplish your business goals.

INGCO International Overcomes Language Barriers

Your brand deserves a global arena, and your staff deserves to understand their company’s documentation. INGCO International helps you overcome linguistic challenges so you can speak to audiences in their language to show you care.

Ready to find your voice and speak to the world? Contact us now to get started. There is no other way to go but The INGCO way!

Your marketing team has just produced a beautifully designed, first-class sell sheet to send to your customer base. It has the perfect images, the perfect captions, and the perfect message — all in English. The one thing you didn’t think about — your global audience. How many prospective customers will never see your message because you’ve failed to translate the content?

Global Brands Need to Speak Global Languages

Simply put, your business has sold its products and services effectively in the U.S. Now, you are expanding your geographic boundaries. However, none of your sales or marketing materials are ready for this global audience. Fully translated documents are not a nice-to-have; they are a must-have to expand globally. Ensuring a good customer experience is essential in today’s economic climate. Properly translated materials help achieve this goal. But, there is more to this work than meets the eye. First, what do we mean by “proper?”

Proper translation means:

• translating your documents accurately while addressing the nuances of each culture
• ensuring that brand integrity and voice are maintained throughout the document
• editing all embedded images with appropriate translation

Working with a company that can not only properly translate your copy and embedded images but also has experts on staff to recreate your documents (as initially designed) helps your brand reach new audiences and leads to new sources of revenue.

When you translate your business’ marketing documents, brand images, website and more, you enhance your company’s content strategy to:

1. broaden your global audience,
2. improve the customer experience, and
3. reduce the risks that stem from improperly or non-translated documents

Multilingual Translation Use Cases

Website Translation
Website translation and translation of other online content now represent a significant part of translation services for businesses. Regardless of your company size, there are many benefits of translating copy and embedded images on your website or in social media graphics into multiple languages. Engaging your global visitors with appropriate content opens new doors, keeps non-native visitors on your site longer, and improves SEO and your company’s brand awareness in these languages and countries.

You should also consider translating the following materials into languages other than your native language.

External Documentation

• PowerPoint presentation
• Marketing and advertising (social media graphics, website carousel images, emails, newsletters, videos, tradeshow signage, and displays)
• Brochures and pamphlets
• Thought leadership pieces (white papers, case studies, ebooks)
• Technical documents
• Press releases and other corporate communications
• Catalogs
• Other forms of graphics and visuals where you might use an image with embedded text
• Product descriptions and instructions
• Sales presentations

Internal Documentation

• Employee handbooks and benefits package
• Training manuals
• Internal presentations
• Operations manuals and diagrams
• Sales training materials and presentations

Preparing for Content Translation

Content translation involves taking your content and translating it sensitively and relevantly for a certain region, culture, or audience. This is known as localization. To ensure the best outcome, there are steps you should take prior to engaging a language services partner.

The following process outlines the primary steps to help you prepare your material.

1. Identify and research your target audience(s).
Understand what is expected of your business from prospects in your target regions. This is likely to differ from your domestic target audiences. Additionally, research the cultural nuances of these target audiences. Later in the process, this information ensures that translated content appears appropriately. It’s important to not make assumptions about a culture or language when translating content.

2. Prepare your content based on your research but with subsequent translation in mind.

Here are some points to consider:

• Why are your services a good fit for an audience in a different location?What’s different from your home country that you must keep in mind? How do you want to communicate these messages through visuals and text?
• How can you use your answers from question one to target localized areas, populations, or individual clients? Include these points in your marketing and document translation plans. For example, are there images you’ve selected that would be fine for some cultures but offensive to others? Are you using the appropriate currency symbols, date layouts, etc.?
• Once you start designing, remember that everything will eventually require translation. For this reason, you should leave sufficient white space in graphics for text layout adjustments in the target language (see graphics and text considerations below).
• Choose Unicode fonts that include special characters so the translator can use them when necessary.

The Translation Process

A professional language services company receives your files (in your native language). They will meet with you to ensure they understand your goals and then will get to work. A professional language services company ensures accurate and culturally relevant translations that will retain your original meaning and resonate with your target audience. Often, they will enhance your content by providing additional relevant cultural information to you during this process to improve your messages.

With presentations and any desktop publishing images with embedded content, the language services firm strips out the existing language replaces it with the targeted language, ensuring not just accurate translation, but in the case of images with embedded text, also physical “fit” within the image’s confines. This is particularly important when translating from English, which tends to be a more compact language than others.

Expertise in marketing collateral, desktop publishing and the target language/culture is essential to appropriately arranging content within the confines of the original layout. For example, in one language, one or two words may be all that’s needed to explain a concept, while in another, you’ll need five or more words. In the German language, for example, many nouns are joined to make a very long word! Also, don’t forget that your target language may read right to left and not left to right. This is why enlisting the help of a professional language services organization is critical.

Cultural nuances and translations also affect your document’s original layout or design. Remember that an image may need to be replaced with a more culturally appropriate one.

Why Use Professional Translation Companies?

Given the complex issues related to translating text and graphics while maintaining brand identity and voice, cultural sensitivity, layout and design, using a professional translation company with layout and design expertise makes so much sense. Professional language services companies stake their reputations on the proper translation of native documents. Finding a translation company that also has expertise in layout and design makes your projects run smoothly and more efficiently. These companies work with multilingual content projects every day and do it better and more cost-effectively than you might do by hiring contractors, advertising agencies or relying on bilingual employees.

Design Follows Translation

Due to the reasons cited above, a professional language services company knows that the translation comes first and then the design. They focus on quality translation and correct terminology for your particular business, as well as specific diacritical marks – paying special attention to how numbers and currency, for example, are displayed for the dialect. The company then returns the newly translated and designed file to the client for distribution.

File Formats and Page Layouts for the Translation Process – Working with Translation Experts

Page layouts and graphic design are the starting points for your digital images. Your graphics team has the page layout skills in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Canva and Adobe InDesign software to create your content. These file formats are universally accepted and accessible. However, your team must also remember that translating the embedded text in any image or graphic element is just as important as translating the document text. It’s a best practice to provide the original InDesign file, not a PDF or other non-design format. Your translation team will work within your original design file to embed translated copy. Providing the native graphic files for visuals in addition to your InDesign file is a bonus step you can take to shorten turnaround time.

Why Should Your Business Consider Multilingual Publishing?

You’ve already read how translating content from your native language into multiple languages can increase your global reach and brand awareness. Multilingual publishing capabilities will incrementally improve your brand reach and foster ongoing awareness in countries where you wish to do business, leading to increased leads and repeat customers.

Costs of Doing the Work Yourself

Of course, you can always bring the work in-house, but here are some things to consider:

• Time: How long will it take you to complete multilingual translations of documents yourself accurately
• Resources: Do you have the in-house resources to translate content into multiple languages?
• Budget: How much will it cost to hire in-house resources?
• Brand Embarrassment: Will you miss an essential nuance or concern because your cultural knowledge is incomplete – thereby causing damage to your brand? How do you know you’ve done it correctly?

When considering the potential ramifications of even one of these costs, you can’t risk not having translation done professionally and accurately.

Top Reasons to Hire a Professional Translation Service

1. Investing in a professional translation service sounds like a low-priority expense, but it’s a critical investment in your future. The professional translation team ensures that your message is heard and understood in every content piece, whether in print or online.
2. Increasing your global reach in a customer-friendly way builds your credibility and trust in your brand. An expert language service company will maintain this credibility with meticulous translations.
3. No sales mean no business. Targeting as many ideal customers as possible – in their native languages, sensitively, and in a nuanced, culturally appropriate way, will ultimately pay for itself. This is the purview of translation experts.
4. You and your team are already fully occupied creating your brand, marketing content, and services. A professional translation service will manage the finishing work on your digital and print documents because they understand the nuances of different languages and will meet with you to ensure they understand your industry, and your business goals and objectives.
5. Professional translations improve your turnaround time and speed to market. Because of their proficiency, professional translation service companies actually reduce costs versus doing it yourself. These companies have certified linguists that ensure accurate, efficient translations, plus layout and design experts to bring the newly translated material artfully into the output file.
6. A professional translation provider has the editing skills needed when checking the translated content. As the final task they do for you, a professional service ensures that there are no missing items, formatting errors, incorrect or missing hyperlinks, etc. The result is a perfectly re-created and culturally translated content piece. This allows you to concentrate on running your business.

A Great Investment for Your Business – With Added Benefits

Expertise
Multilingual digital document translation is a technical process requiring software training and design expertise. These professionals offer the best of both technical and layout skills as well as translation skills and language proficiency to provide a well-rounded service offering. They offer efficiency and timeliness in finalizing your documents, allowing you to focus on other business priorities. In business terms, this combined expertise optimizes your investment.

No compromise
A certified professional translator understands the ins and outs of both the technical processes/software and the human side of translation processes. Using a professional service ensures that you’re not compromising any sense of visual or written consistency, or formatting once the translation is complete.

Quality
A professional translation services company will double-check translation accuracy and formatting to ensure that their work has left no information untranslated or misinterpreted. The benefit of working with a professional translation service is quality. You cannot receive the same level of quality using search engines, Google Translate, native speakers, or friends who speak the language!

Translated Materials and Documentation Help Your Business Advance

You’ve spent years honing your brand and go-to-market strategy – now it’s time to expand your reach to engage potential customers geographically. A professional translation service ensures the customer experience in other languages and dialects is accurate – anything less may have negative implications for your business.
In a world where diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are the day’s hot topics, your brand and content must be accessible to those who speak other languages. Engaging a professional translation services company is an investment that repays you in increased brand awareness, customer satisfaction, and long-term ROI.

INGCO International is your home for all your business document translation needs.
Translation work is complex if you want to get it right. Whether you need translation in one or multiple languages, you can trust INGCO’s dedicated team of expert human linguists (Wordologists^SM) to efficiently, and accurately translate and convey your message with the desired emotion that’s both culturally appropriate and on-brand.

We also work in every desktop publishing platform available – Adobe Creative Suite, WordPress, Canva, handwritten notes; you name it!

Global marketing is one of our specialties. We know that marketing and communications starts with a deep understanding of people – their culture, language, norms, and preferences. With that in mind, we’ve engaged some of the best and brightest translators and interpreters in the industry. Our linguistic specialists collectively speak 200+ languages and live in 60 countries across the globe, giving them first-hand experience, insights, and perspectives into the local markets you’re trying to reach.

Our linguists are the heart of the work we do, and they’re supported by innovative translation technology that helps them work efficiently and improves consistency across the work, ensuring timely and accurate translations every time. INGCO International is ISO-certified, so you’ll always receive the highest quality translations.

Ready to get started on seamless translations of your marketing content and documents? Contact us today. We’re looking forward to working with you on your global communication needs.

English may be the world’s lingua franca, but just 26% of all web searches are conducted in the language. That means website localization matters more than ever when you want to launch in a foreign market. Yet in order to get the biggest return on your investment, you’ll need to optimize your pay-per-click (PPC) ads using a method known as transcreation.

 What Is Transcreation?

Simply put, transcreation is the combination of translation and creation. It’s often used in marketing to adapt the message to the target market when a more direct translation wouldn’t work.

For example, take Swiffer’s famous slogan, “When Swiffer’s the one, consider it done.” In order to keep the rhythming couplets in Italian, it was changed to “La polvere non dura, perché Swiffer la cattura.” Directly translated, the Italian version reads, “The dust doesn’t last because Swiffer captured it.”

Now, given the limitations of PPC ads, you can probably already see why transcreation would boost your ROI. But the process typically goes well beyond coming up with a catchy slogan. Below are three other factors that go into a successful PPC translation.

 Multibyte Characters

Character limits make it difficult to write effective PPC ads in English, let alone translate them.  

And while every language presents unique challenges, Asian languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean make writing PPC ads exceptionally difficult. Why? Because they use multi-byte characters.  

Most languages use an alphabet with a limited set of text symbols, punctuation marks, and special characters. When that’s the case, one byte (or unit of information) is enough to represent each symbol. However, some Asian languages use more complex ideographic characters as well as single-byte characters. Translating those texts involves a combination of single-byte and double-byte (or more) characters, which increases your limitations.           

Search Engine Rules

In addition to character limits, search engines prohibit certain words in PPC ads. Using one of these forbidden words will result in an automatic rejection. To make matters worse, the list of words varies by country and language. What works in the U.S. may get your ad rejected in France, for example.

Keywords

Last, but certainly not least, are keywords. By using the right keywords, you boost the odds that the search engine will serve up your ad. But you also need to consider how competitive they are in the target language. If you choose keywords with the highest search volume, your ad may rank lower or you may drive up bid costs. 

And remember to block negative keywords in the target language, too. If you don’t, you may target too broad of an audience, which may lead to overspending.  

The Benefits of Professionally Translated PPC Ads

As you can see, PPC translation requires an in-depth knowledge of the language, target market, and SEO best practices. Fortunately, a professional translator who is well-versed in the PPC space will help you: 

• Rank higher in the search results
• Increase web traffic
• Improve brand credibility
• Increase your campaign’s ROI

Consider it a relatively low-cost way to put the finishing touches on your website localization project.  

How INGCO International Can Help

At INGCO, our international SEO team is well-versed in website localization, SEO translation, multilingual keyword research, and more. We’ll take your vision from concept to completion in over 200 languages—including those tough-to-translate PPC campaigns.

Ready to launch in a new market? Contact us today to get started! 

Nearly one in 10 working-age U.S. adults — 19.2 million persons aged 16 to 64 — is considered limited English proficient.

How are you reaching this the limited English proficient market?

Translation and localization services are essential when marketing products and services across the Unites States. This includes non-profits organizations efforts to increase their service numbers and reach the communities in which they serve. Two thirds of the 19.2 million US limited English speaking (LEP) population speaks Spanish, and Asian and Pacific Island languages carry a large percentage of the group as well. Utilizing a professional provider to reach these markets will ensure that your messaging is accurate and communicated in a professional manner.

English proficiency is an important pathway to economic sustainability for workers across the United States. Access to English-language education will improve economic and social conditions for this large group yet reaching them is challenging. While it is estimated that virtually all US labor force growth over the next four decades is projected to come from immigrants and their children, there are opportunities now for organizations to reach out into these communities to offer their products and services.

Professional translation and localization services can help you bridge the gap of communication when reaching out to this large potential target market. It is important to work with a professional language provider to ensure that your communications are rendered properly in the target language and that your messages will be fully understood by your future clients.

INGCO International is proud to provide professional translation, interpreting and global marketing services in over 200 languages. We are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota but have a global presence with offices in New York, Guayaquil, Davao City and London. We look forward to hearing from you! Call us today.

Click here to view Brookings Institute article with complete data.