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Machine Translation, the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

6/25/2019

2 Comments

 
by Summer Worsley

Machines make our lives easier; no one doubts that. Think of the wealth of information that’s just a few clicks away and right at our fingertips, giving us instant answers to our questions. But should we reach for the computer when we’re looking for language translation services?

Yes, the technology exists. You can simply plug in one text, select your current language and the one you want it translated to and with the push of a button, you can have an actual, instant translation in mere moments. Unfortunately, there’s no guaranteeing what you’re left with is an accurate translation.

Any language involves many nuances. Machines use rules and algorithms to translate text and as the old adage goes, rules are made to be broken. When they are, a machine doesn’t know how to take that into consideration.

While it may be convenient and fast, computers will never take the place of native speakers when it comes to professional translation. Current technology, while advancing, proves no match for speakers.
 
Who’s Using Machine Translations?

​Wondering who’s turning to machine translation? You might be surprised to learn that companies outsourcing to non-English-speaking countries are moving toward machine translations (MT) for customer service needs.

Using machines means these companies can skip the costs involved in hiring native speakers. While saving the company money, it also gives instant translations to customers at any time of day. In a fast-paced world that doesn’t sleep, that kind of service is incredibly appealing.

It’s not all good, though and when machines make a mistake, it can lead to a major faux pas that is anything but professional. Consider the food festival misrepresented as a Clitoris Festival, the Translation Server Error Café in China? These MT gems wouldn’t have happened if a native speaker were translating or proofing written work.

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When to Use Machine Translations

There is a time and place for everything, of course, so MTs aren’t all bad. They can help you understand the general gist of a text, especially if you’re at least a little familiar with the language. When it comes to sophisticated, professional work, though, you’ll want to leave it to, well, the professionals. Of the human variety, of course.


You may think you can do a rough translation, then have a human proof the work and make necessary corrections but losing the original work will compromise the translation and all those important nuances will be lost.

The kicker? You won’t be saving that much money if you opt to approach your translations this way. Instead, you’re likely to wind up with a shoddy translation and still out of money by the time you have it fixed. You’re better off starting with a human and getting the closest translation possible from the original work.

Where Do Machine Translations Struggle?

Longer pieces of work, or those that are more complex, are more likely to encounter problems during MT. These machine translation programs aren’t able to process contextual clues or easily divide sentences as they’re intended.


You’ll also find cultural differences impact the way language is processed. Regional dialects and sayings may not come through during a translation. Even more problematic, that may have an entirely different meaning behind them that could dramatically alter the translation.
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Additionally, a machine has no way to incorporate cultural norms, or recognise needed sensitivities. This can lead to inaccurate translations and even be downright offensive.
 
You’ll also find that idioms don’t translate well through machines. The meaning behind the words can’t be expressed or interpreted. Idioms are so ingrained in our everyday vernacular you may not even realise when they’re being used.
 
This isn’t just true for English speakers. After all, idioms are a worldwide phenomenon. Not only don’t you realise when you’re using them yourself, you likely won’t recognise them when you stumble across someone else’s.

 
Don’t Fire Your Translator Just Yet 

Language is a living, breathing thing. You can strip it down to short sentences to try and make it more manageable for MTs, in the process, though, you’ll lose that part of a language that makes it sound human. What you’re left with will be lacklustre and far from professional.
 
Aren’t convinced just yet that MT isn’t the way to go? Consider these exceptional mistakes machines have made during the translation process. Ask yourself if you really want a machine representing you or your business. You may find the risks far outweigh the benefits.

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2 Comments

Why opting out of your email list is not such a bad thing

6/10/2019

2 Comments

 
by Samuel Gitukui

For email marketers, getting as many leads as possible seems to be the goal. These are the people you are going to convert into willing and regular customers after all.

So, if people are unsubscribing from your mailing list, then this should be cause for alarm, right? Not exactly.

You see, most companies will make it difficult for the customer to find the unsubscribe button, putting it in a hard to see font at the bottom of the email. The problem with this approach is that as the customer receives more and more of your emails, they are more likely to hit the mark as spam button.

This then means that all of your emails will be going directly to the spam folder only to be deleted later.

Making the unsubscribe process that much easier can actually be a great business strategy where people who are simply not willing to read your emails opt themselves out. You can then make the process easy by adding a large unsubscribe button that is very simple to spot. As soon as the reader clicks this button, he or she is immediately taken out of the mailing list leaving you with only the people who are interested and allowing you to tailor your marketing to these people.

While there is always the possibility of losing a large potion of your mailing list, the benefits far outweigh having your emails sent to the spam folder.

Other alternatives

If you are concerned about losing a huge portion of your mailing list then there are a few things that you can do. One of them is to create a catchy line saying something like, “Okay, so you’ve been unsubscribed, but we still think we can work things out. Having seconds thoughts? subscribe again here”.

This has the effect of making the customer reconsider their move to completely unsubscribe from your mailing list and is one way to avoid the spam folder.

Another way is to create a short video after the customer has unsubscribed. The video should be fun and say something to the effect of, so you’ve finally decided to leave us, we are going to miss you. We will be waiting for you to get back where you belong…so we can take our awesome business relationship to the next level.

Then there is the third way where you can provide your customers with the option of reducing the number of emails that they receive in a week. If for the example you were sending 7 emails a week, the customer can opt for say two or three emails a week.

Sometimes they are committed to hitting the unsubscribe button and will still do this so always make sure that the process is simple for them.

At the end of the day, what you need to avoid the most is not losing people from your mailing list who are not interested in the business’s products but the focus is to avoid landing on the spam folder.
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2 Comments

How to prevent your emails from going to the spam folder

6/4/2019

4 Comments

 
by Samuel Gitukui

If there is one thing that every entrepreneur should be concerned about, then it has to be the spam folder. This is where all those emails that the potential customer is not interested in end up and it only means that you are losing valuable time, effort and business when writing those emails.

The good thing is that there are steps that you can follow to write emails that result into conversions.

Let’s find out!

Always do it with intent

Some entrepreneurs try to remain vivid in the minds of their prospective customers by sending them emails on regular basis. It is a sure way to end up in the spam folder. Instead always send emails when there is a purpose of sending them such as alerting a potential customer to a new product, new offer or sending them helpful tips.

Write a proper subject line

The subject line is the first thing the recipients will look at when considering to read your email. Some people put so much effort on boosting their subject line with little to match up on the email.

Instead what you should do is to write a subject line that explains to the reader exactly what they will get in their email. Once your prospective customers learn that your claims are genuine, they are far more likely to purchase from you.

Researching on client

One of the most important parts of writing an email that converts is to engage the client and write something that is personalized. You can do this by understanding the needs of the client.

The growth of social media and the internet means it is much simpler nowadays to get background information on a client. There is Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn which you can use to conduct your research.

Once you learn of a recent activity that happened to the prospective customer, you can go ahead and include this in your email. For example, if he has recently received a promotion, you can use this in your email and start of by congratulating them for their promotion.

This will also show the prospect that you took the time to get to understand them and their needs. The responses from these types of emails will be more than can be expected with generic emails that are sent by most businesses and those that only end up in the spam folder.

If it’s a customer who has bought a product from the business before, then the same process and principles will apply. These will include conducting your own research before writing a message.

Finish up with a question

The majority of the emails will lack conversions and will go unanswered simply because of one thing, they lack a question in the end prompting the reader to respond.

You should ask a relevant question such as would you like to know more about the product? Or would you like to connect with us directly?

Once the prospect reads the email and the above tips are observed, it is going to be that much easier to receive a response from them.  
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4 Comments

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