8 tips for getting (even) more value for money from your language service provider

Global marketing managers, do you find that you constantly need to do more with less? While still delivering great results? We all appreciate great service and good value for money. But when there’s pressure to cut costs, managers can sometimes look at translation as an expense, not an investment. It’s so easy to miss the bigger picture. After all, going global, and doing it well, means growth. So, what can you do when you have a smaller budget?

There are plenty of ways that your existing provider can offer even more value for money. You can still achieve international growth, even in lean times. Here are our top tips for making the most of your language service provider’s expertise:

1. Start with intent

Your budget is precious. To get maximum value for money, it pays to think strategically. First ask yourself whether your content needs to be translated. And for which markets.

It can be tempting to look for a cheap solution. Whatever option you end up choosing, your translated content still needs to be accurate and relevant to your target market. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can save 90% of your translation costs by using machine translation or AI. There are too many cases of companies using a budget solution with the aim of saving money, and then subsequently harming their brand as a result.

2. Consider your audience and the purpose of your text

You may be writing all kinds of content for a variety of different audiences. And let’s be realistic. Not every text needs the same approach. That’s why many language service providers (LSPs) offer different levels of service. And at different price points. So, what do those different levels of service look like?

Transcreation

The bells-and-whistles approach. For when you need to wow your target markets. Those taglines, advertising and marketing campaigns? That’s when transcreation is the right approach.

Translation, bilingual revision and QA

The six-eye method. There’s even an international standard for it: ISO 17100. Two qualified and experienced linguists, one eagle-eyed quality checker. For when you need accuracy and publication-ready quality. This level is perfect for high-profile content aimed at your customers.

Translation only

This option is suitable for internal content that requires accuracy and clarity.

Machine translation post-editing

This more cost-effective option is suitable for content with a short life cycle.

You can read more about our solutions on our Services page. If you’re not sure which service you need, ask your LSP. They will be happy to guide you, based on your budget, target audience, and the purpose of your text. A good provider won’t try to sell you a Ferrari if all you need is a Fiat. Likewise, if the service you need is beyond your budget, they can advise on other approaches. Finally, understanding the different options available will help you make an informed choice and get value for money. And avoid the trap of comparing apples with oranges.

3. Involve your LSP in the early stages of content creation

Last-minute source text changes are a major culprit in driving up translation costs.

To prevent costs from spiralling out of control, take a critical look at your source text. Better still, ask your LSP to proofread it for you. Wait. Doesn’t that come at an additional cost? Well, yes. But there are some big plus points to proofreading your source text.

First of all, a clear source text can reduce translation turnaround times. You won’t have to waste time replying to requests for clarification.

Secondly, your proofread source text is also likely to be more concise. A good proofreader will flag redundancies, making your content shorter.

A good LSP can highlight parts of your source text that may not be relevant for some target markets. Or identify information that is obsolete. Investing time in analysing your content before translation can save unnecessary extra costs.

But the biggest benefit by far? If you already have a good relationship with an LSP, they should know your brand inside out. But if you’re looking to develop a relationship with a new LSP, part of their service should include putting in the hard work to make sure that they do understand your brand inside out! The more invested the LSP becomes in understanding your brand, the more they’ll love becoming a part of your process, and the more they’ll be invested in your brand’s success. This is important, because that love and enthusiasm for your brand that the LSP accumulates will become woven into their own DNA. The LSP’s project managers will then infuse that brand enthusiasm into their translation teams – those all-important teams of linguists, post-editors, revisers, copywriters, proofreaders, and even your own in-country offices, who may all be involved at different stages of creating your final foreign language versions.

4. Define the project scope

Have you ever come across scope creep? And seen how it affects the final invoice? Ouch! You can prevent nasty surprises by being clear about the deliverables. Make sure that all stakeholders have the project scope in writing. Outline your requirements, including language pairs. Provide details about the subject matter, and share your style guide, glossary* and any relevant reference material. Providing detailed instructions upfront can prevent costly revisions later. And communicate with each other to agree a plan for how to handle unexpected changes.

*Bonus tip: If you don’t already have a style guide or a glossary, your language service provider can help create these for you. These reference sources will be an invaluable help for your translations to stay consistent and on brand. You may also find that your copywriters and source content creators also appreciate them.

5. Plan ahead

This doesn’t mean that you need to plan the process. It just means keep in touch with your language service provider to tell them what’s in the pipeline. The LSP can, in turn, let you know about your localization team’s availability. This helps avoid rush fees and lets everyone plan their workload more efficiently. Another benefit of keeping the lines of communication open? Regular check-ins help all parties to anticipate potential challenges and future needs.

6. Group smaller jobs together

Most language service providers apply a minimum charge for smaller jobs. This is to cover overhead costs. But you don’t need us to explain the ins and outs of running a business here! Typically, a minimum fee is equivalent to the cost for translating around 300 words. So, individually translating five 50-word social media posts isn’t the best use of your budget. But by planning ahead and bundling smaller projects, you get more value for money.

7. Share your artwork with your language service provider

Receiving editable text in the native file format is always helpful. It also usually saves costs and avoids drama down the line. Your language service provider will want to know how you created your PDF, JPG or HTML files. Especially if you want your translations to appear in the same file format, too. So please share your artwork files right from the get-go. This not only minimises unnecessary file preparation costs. It also helps your provider to gauge upfront the complexity of the typesetting work. This becomes relevant as marketers seek out cheaper alternatives to industry-standard design tools. So, before you ditch your existing suite, ask yourself:

• Does the new tool offer cross-platform support?
• Does the new tool support all your target languages?
• Do your external providers also work with that tool?
• Does the tool integrate with existing workflows?

8. Reuse and repurpose your content

There’s no doubt that reusing and repurposing content saves you and your team valuable time. This is where an ongoing relationship with your LSP pays dividends. Why? They use translation memory tools* to store previously translated content. This means that if you ever need to update your content, you won’t be starting from scratch. And just like our tip on bunding smaller jobs, it’s a good idea to bundle texts with similar content. Translation memory tools flag repetitions. This means that translators only ever need to translate something once. These tools can be a gold mine: they help keep costs down and ensure consistency across projects. You’d need to spend a lot of time training large language models to get that kind of value. And you won’t even get close with out-of-the box machine translation solutions.

*Bonus tip: Every LSP will be using translation memory tools, but not every LSP will use them well. Why? Because maintaining a usable, trustworthy translation memory requires a huge investment of time from an LSP. Spending too little time in maintaining these memories can lead to poor or inconsistent translation results. So ask your LSP to prove why they are the ones you can really trust to create and maintain a reliable translation memory for you.

A final note

We hope these tips not only help you see how your language service provider adds value. But we hope they also spark some ideas on how you can get even more value for money from working with a professional. In any event, it’s worth remembering the adage “buy cheap, buy twice”. Read our article on the hidden costs of in-house translation for more insights. The Institute of Translation and Interpreting also has a guide for translation buyers on getting it right. As with so many things in life, you get what you pay for. Invest wisely!