As the owner of a translation business, you know firsthand just how much a good marketing strategy can make or break you.
However, your current advertising strategy often makes you feel like your company is getting, well, lost in translation. You need to make a change as soon as possible.
But you’re just not sure where you should start when it comes to updating your marketing plan.
In this post, we’re sharing both print and digital advertising tips that you can’t afford to miss out on.
When you’re ready to dominate your target market and outrank your competition in the search engine results, keep on reading.
Start with Your Website
Especially when you’re running an international business, you need advertising tips that can reach everyone on the globe — at the same time.
In short, while a strong website is important for every company, it becomes even more essential for brands who need to reach people in different time zones and across different languages.
In other words? Even though you’re running a translation business, it doesn’t change the fact that nearly 3/4 of consumers say they prefer to read content in their first language.
Start by looking for the right tools and plugins that will automatically change your site’s language to the language of the user.
But don’t stop there.
Having an intuitive and branded web design are also key digital marketing tips. This matters because people will stay on a site they find easy to use for much longer than average.
Pop-ups, autoplay features, or just sites that take forever to load won’t cause them to click away after three seconds. This helps you rise in search engine rankings.
First of all, ensure your site loads quickly and completely on desktop and mobile devices. Use menu options at the top of your page to help users find exactly what they’re looking for as fast as possible. If you’re blogging (more on that in a minute) make sure you’ve taken the time to properly categorize your past posts.
Above all, keep your homepage engaging and organized, like on this website.
Finally, don’t forget to include your company’s contact information on not just the homepage, but every page of your internal website.
Remember that consumers won’t always come to the homepage first. Don’t make them hunt around on your site to find out how to get answers to their questions or sign up for your services.
Blogging and Guest Posting
Now that we’ve covered how your website will drive more customers to your translation business, let’s talk about how blogging can increase your site visitors by around 300%.
We understand that blogging is a lot of work — and, if you have to hire professional content services to write your posts for you, it can also be expensive. So, why is it worth it?
First of all, it helps to increase your authority and brand recognition within your target market. By providing information-based (as opposed to sales-driven) blog posts, you strengthen consumer trust in your brand.
Plus, blogging also tells Google and other search engines that you update your entire website more often than companies who just have a static site.
This means that you’ll be able to outrank your competitors in the search engine results. Plus, you’ll also have more indexed pages (AKA, pages that have been read and categorized by Google.) This also helps you get higher up in the search engine result pages.
Blogging also gives you an amazing opportunity to connect with your target market and shorten your overall sales cycle through the use of keywords.
By naturally including keywords (what people type into search engines when they need a translation business) in your content, your website will show up in front of people who are ready to buy exactly what you’re selling.
But blogging alone isn’t enough. You also need to get into guest posting. This is one of the best online advertising tips because it gives you the chance to broaden your market and increase your brand awareness at the same time.
Write articles and blog posts for popular online journals, websites, and even forums that are relevant to the translation industry.
Other Key Digital Advertising Ideas
Of course, your digital marketing strategy shouldn’t begin and end with site design, blogging, and guest posting alone.
There are a few other digital marketing tips you should take into consideration, too.
Make sure that you claim your third-party listings on platforms like Google My Business, and fill out your profiles as completely as is possible. This is especially helpful when it comes to connecting you to your target market.
Those third-party listings are also important because they allow your customers the chance to leave online reviews for your business. While having a testimonials section on your website is a good idea, most consumers feel that third-party site reviews are less biased.
Make sure you frequently read and respond to these reviews — yes, even the bad ones. You want to prove to potential and current clients that you take their input seriously.
Social media is also essential in the online marketing world.
However, especially since you’re a smaller business, we suggest that you conduct some market research to find out which platform your customers spend most of their time on.
Focus your efforts there first, and then expand to other platforms. If possible, aim to post three times a day: morning, noon, and night.
Finally, never underestimate the power of an e-newsletter. Not only will this allow you to let your leads and current customers know about new product offerings and flash sales.
E-newsletters can also help to build up a personal connection between you and your market. You can feature employees of the month, tell customer stories, and even ask for feedback in survey form.
Offline Advertising Tips for Your Translation Business
Yes, having a strong digital marketing strategy is incredibly important for your translation business. However, it doesn’t mean that you can completely ignore print marketing or offline marketing in general.
Now, let’s take a look at some seriously effective marketing ideas that don’t require an Internet connection.
Host an Event
One of the best ways to get your name out there is by hosting an event in your local market.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money in order to increase your brand recognition — you just have to focus on inviting the right people. Invite other local businesses to a dinner at an international restaurant in your area, or host a “language night” at a local school.
Focus on event spaces that have a global feel — even having a “movie night” where you show a popular international film could work.
We suggest handing out promotional products at these events. This way, even if attendees don’t need translations services now, they’ll know who to call when they do in the future.
Don’t Underestimate Mailings
Relying on the cousin of the e-newsletter, paper mailings, to get the word out about your business is still an effective marketing idea.
People love getting “snail mail,” especially as it becomes rarer and rarer. Whenever possible, hand-address your envelopes to increase their open rate.
When you send out mailings, think outside the holiday card or business pamphlet alone. Instead, consider including things like a magnetic calendar, so that customers can have your company in their heads all year long.
You could also include a paper card with a discount code.
The same goes for simply including a physical coupon offering them a percentage off of your services.
Also, slip in a few of your business cards, and handwrite a note on the back of them. You may also want to create a branded letterhead or stationary, in order to increase your brand recognition.
It’s all about building a personal connection between you and your leads.
Grow Your Translation Business with These Tips
We hope that this post has helped you to better understand how to market your translation business both on and offline.
Remember that conducting thorough market research — and knowing when to ask for the help of a professional marketing team — will take you a long way.
Looking for additional advice about how to build your brand? Want to ensure you’re creating evergreen content that your market will love sharing on social media?
Want to understand how good web design increases your conversions and grow your traffic?
Our blog can help you to learn all of that and more, so keep coming back to us for more advertising advice.
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