the growing demand for language services€¦ · million people in the u.s. spoke a language other...

The Growing Demand for Language Services

© 2015 MTM LinguaSoft., Inc. All rights reserved.

Creative agencies:

Open up new

opportunities for your

business by offering

language services.

Not very long ago, demand for translation and other language services in the United

States was relatively low and was concentrated in large multinational corporations and certain

government agencies. No longer!

The demand for language services has grown tremendously since 2000 and has accelerated in

the last decade. Furthermore, the demand is no longer concentrated in a few large clients—small

and large businesses, state and local governments, and all kinds of other organizations have

increased their use of translation, interpretation and other language services.

If your agency doesn’t have a language services partner to turn to, you could be missing out

on a share of this exploding market.


The language industry

experienced double-digit

rates of growth through

the global recession of

2008-2009.—Common Sense Advisory

Annual studies by Common Sense Advisory (CSA) show language company revenue growing at

substantial rates since 2005. Growth rates were in double digits starting in 2007 and continuing

through the global recession of 2008 and 2009.

Average rates of growth in the language service industry have since dipped below double digits,

but they have still been well above those of most national economies. A study by TechNavio

predicts an annual growth rate of 5.72% from 2013-2018. There is every sign that strong growth

will continue into the foreseeable future.

Furthermore, the growth in language company revenues undoubtedly understates the increase

in demand for translation. Computer and internet technologies have led to declining costs and

prices in the language industry just as they have in many other sectors, so those increases in

revenue reflect an even greater increase in overall demand.

Revenue Growth in Language Industry, 2009-2015(in billions of dollars)


Three major trends have contributed to the growth in demand for language services in this

country: international trade, international marketing and outreach to non-English-speaking

minorities.

1. International Trade

International trade has been expanding steadily for decades, but the proliferation of free trade

agreements has led to a virtual explosion of international trade. Meanwhile, increasing foreign

competition and government initiatives have led U.S. businesses of all sizes to think more

seriously about the possibilities available to them in foreign markets.

In the past decade, U.S. commodity exports increased by over 98% to $1.635 trillion. Exports of

services have grown even faster, rising by over 110% to $7.1 billion.

More importantly, the destinations for exports have shifted away from traditional U.S. markets

like Canada, Mexico and Western Europe. Exports to Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle

East and, especially, China, have grown much faster than exports to traditional markets.

Exports have shifted

away from traditional

U.S. markets to more

cultures with more

languages.


In 2010, the Obama Administration launched its National Export Initiative with the goal of

accelerating the trend towards export growth. The Initiative aimed at doubling exports within

five years and introduced a variety of measures to encourage exports by small- and mid-sized

businesses. It is now clear that the Administration won’t meet those goals, but, since 2010,

exports of both goods and services have increased by over 26% despite the poor international

economic environment and a relatively strong dollar.

0

400

800

1200

1600

2000

Goods

Services

20142012201020082006200420022000

U.S. Exports, 2000–2014(in billions of dollars)


2. International Marketing

Trends in international marketing may also accelerate growth in the language industry.

Companies can reach ever-increasing audiences at lower cost through the Web—audiences that

are Increasingly composed more of non-English speakers. In 2013, English-language users made

up only 28.6% of Internet users. Meanwhile, the spread of smart mobile devices has made the

Web widely available in places like India and Sub-Saharan Africa, where Internet penetration has

historically been extremely low.

The spread of Internet usage, combined with the trend towards content marketing has opened

up new areas for the language industry. PPC advertising and social media marketing aimed at

foreign audiences are expanding at remarkable rates. Social networking sites and blogs are active

across the globe providing ever more platforms for effective content marketing, including articles,

infographics, videos and multimedia productions—all of which should be localized for optimum

effectiveness.

Growth in Internet Usage, 2000-2014

Africa6438.6%

Middle East3303.8%

Latin America/Caribbean1672.7%

Asia1112.7%

Europe

North

America

Source: Internet World Stats


The movement towards marketing “transcreation” is another factor that has spurred growth

in the language industry. Transcreation involves actually rewriting source materials in the target

language to be sure that your message is conveyed in a way most likely to appeal to the local

audience. Localization of marketing may also involve a pre-translation cultural assessment to

determine what facets of a piece—including graphics, color scheme, and layout, as well as text—

are likely to need modifications for other cultures. These kinds of services require special skills

and may be considerably more expensive than a simple translation job.

Translation and transcreation of websites, marketing materials, and consumer/product

information targeting overseas customers constitutes a substantial portion of MTM LinguaSoft’s

business. Other growing areas are localization of mobile apps, subtitling and voice-overs for

videos and multimedia productions, and localization of online surveys. Clients have included

everything from manufacturing and technology companies, to professional services firms, to

colleges and universities.

translateTransCreate


3. Outreach to Minorities

Multicultural marketing is one of the hottest topics in marketing these days. The changing

demographics of the U.S. have made marketing to diverse communities a priority for many

businesses that used to rely solely on English. At the time of the 2000 U.S. Census, close to 46

million people in the U.S. spoke a language other than English at home. The 2011 American

Community survey put that number at over 60.5 million. Less than 60% of the number reported

that they spoke English “very well.” Spanish was still the language most spoken at home (62%),

but close to 15% spoke an Asian language, and these speakers on the whole were less likely to

report that they spoke English well.

It’s not surprising then that, while the ever-growing Hispanic population has been a particular

focus, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations have begun to target many

other concentrated minority groups in an attempt to draw in new customers and provide services

to these groups. Much of this marketing involves translating materials for populations with no or

limited English proficiency.

At MTM LinguaSoft we have been called upon to provide and ever increasing list of languages for

clients targeting communities in the U.S. Spanish and Chinese have been, and continue to be, the

most popular, but Korean, Vietnamese, Hmong, Tagalog and even Burmese and Malayalam have

been entering the mix.

Over 60.5 million in U.S.

speak a language other

than English at home.

—U.S. Census Bureau


Who Needs Language Services?

As the examples given here show, the demand for language services can come from surprising

places. Agencies involved in providing services like advertising or marketing materials, web

development and design, and technical materials may not be aware of how large the demand

actually is. In our experience, businesses and organizations often come to us for translation

after they already have the finished English materials, even though this is not the best course.

Materials written and designed with translation in mind can save a lot of time and expense

later on when it comes time to translate.

Establishing a relationship with a language service partner and learning the basics of writing and

designing for translation—these steps allow creative agencies to give their clients another level

of service. MTM LinguaSoft has already worked with marketing, marketing research and design

agencies on projects in many media: digital (multilingual websites, online consumer surveys,

international keyword research), print (product brochures, forms), and audio/visual (foreign

language subtitling and voice-overs).

Even if prospective clients are not planning on translating materials right away, they will be

happy to know that you can accommodate future language needs. It differentiates you from the

competition and positions you as an advisor/consultant who can help clients as they expand their

operations beyond U.S. borders or reach out to minority communities.

Take steps to position your agency to handle foreign-language materials today. It will give you a

leg up on the competition.


Checklist for Determining if Language Services Would Help Your Business

Clientele: Do your clients include any of the following sectors?

Architect/engineering firms

Community colleges/colleges/universities

Economic development agencies

Banks/financial service companies

Government agencies

Healthcare providers

Insurance companies

Law firms

Manufacturers

Non-profit organizations

Pharmaceutical companies

Retailers

Social service agencies

Tourism-related businesses

Services: Do the services you offer include any of the following?

Advertising

Copywriting

Direct marketing

Website design/development

Event planning

Graphic design

Interactive marketing

Marketing research

Publicity

Technical writing

If you checked any of these boxes, your business and your clients could benefit by adding language services.

+1 (215) 729-6765

www.mtmlinguasoft.com

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