Building a brand? Translation is key
Tags: Employer Branding, Business, Translation

#EBAWeek (June 10–16 2019) was all about celebrating companies that go the extra mile to create innovative, inspiring and happy workplaces.

The week made it clear that while there are lots of companies and organisations out there that do plenty of great things, many fall flat when it comes to communicating their workplace achievements.

Everyone wants their company to be perceived as an exciting and desirable place to work. Nowadays, though, it seems that attracting motivated, high-calibre employees relies heavily on your company branding. According to Wonderful Workplaces ‘ latest report:

94% of jobseekers would consider an employer’s brand when applying for jobs.

71% of candidates would apply for a ‘unique opportunity’ even if they’re not actively looking for a job.

96% of jobseekers say a company’s reputation is important to them.

The problem is that few companies succeed in creating a strong reputation and recognisable employee identity. In fact, Wonderful Workplaces report that 46% of survey respondees said that their most recent employer did not effectively communicate their brand.

A missed opportunity

According to Jennifer Jackson, the senior careers content editor at Wonderful Workplaces: “The explosion of content and social media has meant that employers have to be ever more creative in how they target prospective employees.



Frustratingly, many companies are continuing to miss out on attracting the right talent, in many cases because they’re failing to communicate their values effectively.”

Translation is key when building a brand

So how do you go about positioning your company as an exciting place to work?

Here at Wolfestone, we believe that investing in professional translation services is a key part of building your brand­. When it comes to recruiting, it’s never been more important to have an international reach.

In today’s increasingly globalised world, companies that can draw from an international pool of talent are more likely to attract employees with the right skillset and personality fit for the role.

Hello multilingual SEO!

One way of shouting about your business’ achievements and targeting an international audience is through multilingual job adverts and recruiting material. However, simply translating text from English into multiple languages is unlikely to give you any return in investment — this is where SEO comes in.

International SEO basically involves optimising a website for search. The crucial factor in achieving a well-optimised site is that you need to collaborate with a linguist or translation company that has a good understanding of on-site SEO and what phrases your target market searches for.

Search terms are nuanced and vary greatly from country to country- it’s vital to get an experienced translator on board who has previously worked in such an industry.

Don’t just translate your website — localise it

Did you know that only 25% of the internet is English-speaking? If your website is only available in English, you could be isolating the vast majority of internet users.

But while translating your website into other languages is a good start, localising it is even better. Localisation is all about getting the tone and content of your website exactly right for your target culture.

For example, Wolfestone can advise you whether images on your website ought to be amended and whether your slogans are appropriate for your target market. You can also be given advice about investing in transcreation, a service which essentially means your content is rewritten to preserve impact and evoke a certain reaction.

Localisation is the number one way of creating and maintaining a company brand that transcends multiple languages and cultures.

Engage in social media

Employer Branding Week was full of discussions about how utilising social media is crucial for branding your business and showing off your workplace achievements. But how do you engage an international audience at the same time?

One of the easiest and most impactful ways of doing this via social media is leading with video content that is captioned or subtitled in other languages.

S ubtitles which are in the same language as the audio are known as captions, and support deaf people or people with hearing problems in understanding the audio. Subtitles which are in a different language as recorded on the soundtrack are aimed at reaching an international audience.

Both methods can provide a cost-effective way of widening your company’s reach and ensuring your business’ brand and values are conveyed on a global scale.

Want to know more

Wolfestone can answer any questions and queries you may have about the role of translation in building your brand and how we can help you shout about your wonderful workplace. Click here to see our list of services.

Article written by Sofia Lewis, Wolfestone contributor

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiaellenlewis/