How Can Businesses Calculate and Measure Translation ROI?

hand indicating the calculation of translation ROI

Are you planning to cross the borders of your language and target new audiences? Do you plan to expand your brand’s reach? Then, it’s time to evaluate if adding language translation services to your content strategy plan can help you get closer to your goals. But, where can you begin? How about calculating translation ROI?

ROI drives most business projects and activities, so if you’re going to spend time and effort on developing an app or website for new markets in new languages, you have to be sure it is all for a good reason. Now, let’s start by defining the meaning of ROI.

What Is ROI?

The meaning of ROI—or Return On Investment—often expressed as a percentage, doesn’t imply anything more than the comparison between the net amount of money that’s obtained from a project (its performance) and the money that’s invested in it (investment.)

So, for example, if after deducting all your translation expenses, you make a net profit of USD 10,000 after investing USD 100,000, then your ROI is: “100% x 10,000 / 100,000”—that is 10%. A bigger and more positive ROI is usually better.

#OptimationalTip: If your ROI turns out negative, then it means you spent more money than you made, which—you guessed it—is not a good way to run a long-term business.

How Can Translation ROI Be Calculated?

Many people think that calculating the return on investment of language translation services is impossible. However, there are practical ways to promote investment in translation as part of your broader strategy. This will, in turn, help your company’s international expansion plan to function properly.

Begin With Market Research

The first step in calculating ROI when translating content is deciding where you want to sell. The country or region you choose may be different compared to someone else’s choice. Next, you need to estimate the sales revenue for the markets for which you plan to make the localisation.

To make such an estimate, consider the following:

Data from tools like Google Trends to see how relevant keywords are in different languages. You may want to check out different versions of these tools for different regions.

The size or number of web or mobile device users in the location market.

Market-or country-specific regulations on applications or websites. In sectors such as healthcare and finance, regulations may prevent you from launching a localised version of your application. In that case, remove that country from your list and find another in its place.

The comparison between a market that you intend to reach and a market that you already know.

What Metrics Can You Use for Translation ROI

For any company planning a translation and localisation project, it’s important to monitor the metrics. Presenting these statistics to decision-makers will help demonstrate where you get the return on investment from such a service. Some statistics can be:

Website Traffic from Foreign Markets
Conversion Rates on Translated Websites
Downloads from Landing Pages
Unique Visitors from Foreign Countries

Why Does Language Translation Matter?

There’s an undeniably strong link between language content and the likelihood that a consumer will make a purchase. Certainly, the following facts back up this statement:

According to a Common-Sense Advisory survey conducted in eight countries, more than 72% of consumers would be more likely to buy from a website if it were in their native language.

95% of Chinese consumers do not buy products or services presented in a foreign language, even if they are fluent in that language.

Around 42% of consumers in the European Union do not buy products or services presented in a foreign language, even if they are fluent in that language.

#OptimationalTip: Translation and localisation may not be a choice, but a necessity for companies that aim to target new audiences. ROI considerations can push your business toward a certain priority for localisation.

What Are the Key Advantages of Language Translation?

Customer Satisfaction

Providing written material that’s perfectly translated and localised is the key to conquering new markets. Whether you want to attract new customers with relevant marketing content, or you want to give them the option to pay in the local currency and have items delivered directly to their doorstep, these are all the responsibilities of translation and localisation.

Cost-Savings

There are obvious cost-saving advantages of investing in professional language translation and localisation services from the start of a project. For example, using online translation tools may result in staff having to correct mistakes, spend time reviewing content translations thoroughly, and edit documents written blindly without a real understanding of whether the translation makes sense to readers.

Learn more about the benefits of using language translation services to grow your business.

Last Thoughts

The ROI calculation for content translation includes a series of numbers that will allow you to track the correct metrics and analyse the brand’s performance in local markets. However, you should not settle for KPIs. Ideally, you should do a qualitative analysis of your result. This way, you will get a more accurate picture of the impact of location on your overall growth.

Working with a company like Optimational can save your company money from the start. How? By removing the risks associated with translation software and guaranteeing that the work is done quickly and accurately. At Optimational, we offer a personalised and flexible service guaranteeing that translation projects are adequate and profitable.