Our Analysts' Insights

For those who have worked within the localization industry for a while, the concept of “writing for translation” might feel old school, already-learned-and-forgotten-about: something that technical authors take for granted. Just like developers always think about internationalization of software code and processes, right? (We know how well that works!) That’s why a refresher course in how to write content in a way that optimizes the global customer experience is a really good idea – especial...

Enterprises that were used to holding in-person events for customers, employees, partners, or investors have been taken by surprise by the social distancing rules and reluctance to travel due to COVID-19. They must figure out – and fast – how to deliver rich participant experiences in a virtual format. And that is a tall order. Many localization teams have been forced to create miracles in short time frames to transition multi-day, on-location extravaganzas to similarly engaging virtual events.

Recently CSA Research launched the third edition of our oft cited “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy” research. We originated this topic of research in 2006 and continue to provide companies worldwide with the reliable data they need to plan and execute effective international growth strategies. When you encounter data like this from us or any other source, put on your data scientist hat and ask these two questions: what is the population and is it a representative sample?

With over 222 million Arabic-speaking web users, and an online economic opportunity of 2.5 trillion US dollars in 2020, Arabic is an attractive option for global brands. Nevertheless, it appears on far fewer sites than its potential would indicate. Part of the reason is that localizing into Arabic is not a simple task as it is not a single digital language for content marketing and customer experience. The languages used in the Arabic-speaking world for conversation, social networks, messaging, ...

Consumers prefer accessing information, making online purchases, and getting technical support in their own language. That’s not a big surprise, but data from our third edition of “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy—B2C”, combined with our other research on website language support, highlights the fact that many consumers don’t have access to sites in their language, that localized websites often have major flaws, and that many must rely on English to get things they want or need.

In our early-in-the-pandemic call for action by company leaders, CSA Research recommended that companies “learn from this experience and get ready now for when the crisis ends.” We echoed that advice in our report on the future of language services. Over the last few weeks we’ve been briefed by several LSPs and translation technology vendors about how they have used the slowdown to push new initiatives and projects and, as we suggested, develop new products. They said that the pandemic’s dis...

With no country’s economy able to predict accurately whether it’s entering a recession or cautiously rebounding, you might expect companies to be cutting back their translation and localization budgets. However, that doesn’t match our analysis based on virtual group meetings with Leadership Councils, interviews, and the results of a survey of 63 global enterprises in 19 countries that CSA Research conducted in mid-April 2020.

The last few months have been tough on everyone. After a couple months of indecision, many political leaders took the advice of epidemiologists and shut down all but essential businesses. With people ordered to shelter in place, LSPs around the world operated remotely with staff working from home. Our surveys over the last few months have shown the economic impact of the resulting decreased demand and uncertainty about how long they’d be shut down.

One of the most heartbreaking results of COVID-19 pandemic has been hearing about people falling ill, suffering, and too-often dying, without their family and loved ones around them. Imagine how much more terrible this must be if the patient – or family members – cannot easily communicate with caregivers, nor fully understand what they are told. Combine these challenges with statistics showing COVID-19 disproportionately affecting racial and ethnic minorities and the picture is grim.

Marketers strive to create the ultimate customer experience (CX), but we find that few spare more than a moment’s thought for how their home-market customer journey will work in other languages or countries. As a result, many businesses miss the vital requirement of engaging their global audience with content that resonates with them – not just with translated content, but with a full language experience that conveys their brand, reputation, and trustworthiness. CSA Research updated our long-r...