In this age of instantaneous tech, a lack of language skills is still putting global business success on mute. How can marketers avoid getting lost in translation?

Going global is increasingly on a CEO’s and a CMO’s to-do list. In the UK alone, 87% of those businesses who trade internationally are planning on expanding their overseas operations this year, with a further 10% aiming to step outside the UK for the first time.

That’s a lot of cross-market communication campaigns. But, despite emerging technologies helping business bridge borders more easily than ever before, they’re still being held back by language barriers – to the tune of almost £50bn per year in the UK.

When words cost business

We’re living in a turbo-CX age. From hyper-personalization to customer-centric, data-driven campaigns – consumers increasingly expect their needs to be understood and met. And that means that language, more than ever, is not just about words. It’s about making a deep, personal connection with someone based around cultural nuances. But these cultural nuances are often missed in generative AI’s word churn, jeopardizing audience engagement in an era where building trust is everything.

Without this richer understanding of language, marketing messages are misinterpreted. That makes brands seem distant and out of touch. And that makes customers feel dissatisfied and disengaged.

When companies don’t localize the buying experience, they risk losing around 40% of their target market. But when trading partners use similar languages, trade can shoot up by 72%.

Source: https://www.thedrum.com/

Full article: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2024/09/09/no-non-nein-why-language-barriers-are-still-holding-back-global-business-growth