4 signs your translation strategy is holding you back (and how AI can help)

As global brands strive to deliver localized content at scale, they often find themselves caught in a challenging bind. The demand for localized content is rising rapidly, but legacy translation approaches are struggling to keep up. Traditional translation processes and technology are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain due to their time-intensive nature and escalating costs. Luckily, AI-powered translation solutions are quickly entering the market and offer a new way for global content to propel your business forward.

In many cases, teams don’t even realize they've reached their breaking point. If you're experiencing any of the following issues, it's time to revamp your translation strategy and consider how to leverage AI to make a difference.

1. You're missing deadlines because of slow translation workflows

Localization is often on the critical path to launching content, but slow workflows can create bottlenecks, delaying launches and putting pressure on teams. Traditional translation workflows can take days or weeks to complete, leaving you scrambling to meet deadlines.

Example: Secret Escapes, a global travel brand, faced this challenge—but they were able to speed up the translation process without sacrificing quality by leveraging AI in collaboration with human translators. This shift allowed them to meet tight deadlines and stay ahead of the competition. With AI handling initial translation, their teams could focus on high-value tasks like strategy and quality control, speeding up the entire workflow.

Takeaway: Not only were they able to speed up the translation process by 25% (and more in some cases), but those time savings allowed them to support even more marketing campaigns that have helped Secret Escapes grow.

2. Your team is overwhelmed and under-resourced

The strain of increased content demands often falls on small teams, leading to burnout, missed opportunities, and even compromised quality. When your team is stretched thin, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the pace of global content creation without sacrificing something.

Example: Wellness brand Therabody felt the pressure of overwhelming localization demands with a small but mighty localization team of one. By adopting AI-powered translation, they were able to streamline processes, ease the burden on their localization lead, and maintain the strong brand voice they were known for.

Takeaway: By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, AI allows teams to focus on what truly matters—creating valuable, high-impact content. In this way, AI doesn’t replace people; it empowers them to be more strategic and focus on tasks that require human creativity and expertise. 

Especially for small teams,  combining human efforts with AI produces the best of both worlds: speed and accuracy. This approach not only alleviates pressure on your team but also ensures a more agile, scalable process.

3. Your translation budget doesn’t stretch far enough

The cost of translation has always been a concern, but with the increasing demand for localized content, the financial burden is growing heavier. Traditional translation processes can be financially unsustainable, especially when you're dealing with high volumes of content across multiple languages. This growing cost can feel like you're throwing money into a black hole, or like you’re never going to be able to catch up with all the translation demands of the business.

Example: Even big companies can feel this strain: take the example of one Fortune 500 company, which relied exclusively on traditional human translation services to complete its translation projects. However, like many other companies, their marketing team was looking for ways to optimize their spending and deliver more translated content from their existing budget. Despite this need, they wanted to maintain human-level quality even as they explored new possibilities.

They piloted an AI-powered workflow that incorporated human review of automated “first translations.” In the first year, the company saved more than $3.4 million in translation costs which they were able to reallocate to translation of even more content. In addition, content translated through this AI-powered solution was delivered 50% faster while retaining a high level of quality.

Takeaway: For many organizations, the rising costs associated with human-only translation are putting a strain on budgets. The shift to AI-powered translation can significantly reduce these expenses while maintaining high-quality results. In fact, companies that have made the switch have seen substantial savings compared to traditional human-only translation—often reducing cost per word by as much as half and ultimately, empowering them to translate more content than ever before.

4. You’ve got executive buy-in—but no strategy

Many organizations have executive leadership pushing for AI adoption, but the real challenge comes when it’s time to implement the strategy. Often, leadership pushes teams to “use ChatGPT for that,” and it’s difficult to convey the complexity and nuance of translation and all that goes into a successful strategy. Or, maybe you’re unsure where to start, or how to measure success. Without a clear strategy, AI adoption can become a daunting task rather than the solution it promises to be. Proactively adopting AI into your process in the most effective places can not only set you up for greater success but also head off difficult conversations.

Example: Gemini, a company in the crypto industry with complex terminology, was initially skeptical about AI’s ability to scale effectively. But by taking a phased approach and working with Smartling, they transitioned from hesitation to successfully using AI to handle their localization needs at scale. The key was finding a trusted partner that could accommodate their specialized terminology while ensuring speed and accuracy.

Takeaway: Successful AI translation starts with a clear strategy, the right partner, and gradual implementation. Rushing in without a plan risks failure.

Final thoughts: Is it time to rethink your translation strategy?

If you're feeling budget pressure, constantly chasing deadlines, or struggling to scale your localization efforts, it may be time to reconsider your translation strategy. AI-powered translation is the essential next step in evolving your approach to localization—so you can scale faster, more efficiently, and without compromising quality.

Explore how companies like yours are using Smartling to scale with confidence.