The added value of a native translator in a world full of DeepL's and GPT's

The generation that used to rent VHS at a video store still knows every scene of The Lion King (1999!) by heart. But when they (yes, talking about myself) try to remember last night's movie they haven't got a clue what they saw. Sounds familiar? 

We all consume so much content these days that we tend to forget it in no time.   

The rise of AI-driven text tools also means we see more and more content that looks identical. As if the same person wrote the entire internet together. It causes your readers to experience content fatigue. They get the feeling that they have read your text before and so they drop out even faster. 

Authenticity and originality are becoming increasingly important. To stand out in this saturated market, you better come up with original, beautifully packaged content. With new insights, or at least a unique style tailored to your brand. 

When we think about content tailored to your brand, it's a short leap to brand identity and tone of voice. After all, a strong brand always relies on a clear brand identity.  Your target audience starts to recognise you when they ‘hear’ you speak. And so, they expect your brand voice to be present even down to the smallest detail.
Do not expect translation tools to translate your original text into your brand voice. A translator interprets and converts according to style rules.

A wave of AI-generated content is flooding the internet. CMS HubSpot nicely captures the consequences of that overload: 

1. The content is not going to resonate with your target audience, and 

2. Google's AI models can't find enough new information to keep learning. 

So those new insights, written in your very own style, are also important for SEO reasons.  

As mentioned before, translation tools make mistakes. They simply write average text. By translating carelessly, you get dull content. As a matter of fact, Google labels content that is unconvincing or contains spelling mistakes as ‘low quality’. That causes drops in your SEO rankings. And for point 2, you're still going to need human ideas. 

My colleague and SEO expert Lissa previously discussed the importance of well-written content in her blog post on Friends of Search 2024. 

The same goes for the Flemish and Dutch, Walloons and the French, Spaniards and Mexicans, ... Translating is more than converting words from one language to another. Translation tools have greatly improved in recent years, but experienced native copywriters or translators understand the cultural nuances, context and emotions behind the text. And you need to translate those with them to create the same impact. 

You will find a striking example in our blog post on brand names. 

The thing about tools like DeepL is that they draw from content that already exists. That's why they often choose the most obvious options. A creative copywriter, empowered by AI, turns everything inside out once more to put something unique on paper. 

Be careful with free tools, as they tend to stock data. So, depending on the text you have translated, you might accidentally share sensitive information. You never know where it will end up. 

Let's be honest. At iO, too, we use tools like DeepL. Even for this blog post. But we use it to do quick groundwork. To automate the rough outlines and create more time for the nuances that make the difference. 

Native copywriters or translators take cultural sensitivities into account, add a human layer to the writing and make your brand stand out from the crowd. As you saw, poor translation can ruin the success of your campaign.   

So why settle for less when you have the right expertise at your fingertips?