If you have any experience marketing to U.S. Hispanics, you are likely familiar with back translation. Back translation refers to translating consumer-facing Spanish content into English so that non-Spanish speakers, such as your legal team, can review and approve it. Recently, we have seen a huge spike in Hispanic content marketing and along with it, an increase in back translations as more and more Spanish content needs to be approved by English speakers.
Chances are that the approval process is the end of the road for that back translated English content, since it’s not typically intended to see the light of day.
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
What if you could leverage that back translated English content to reach a broader audience and drive efficiencies in your content marketing process? You can, since you have two key ingredients: the creative idea behind the original Spanish content and a working English version. With these ingredients in place and a few process changes, you’re ready to get more mileage out of your Spanish language content marketing efforts. Here are your next steps:
Revisit your content strategy
To best leverage your Spanish language content marketing efforts and use your back translated English content, you will need to plan your content accordingly and work with the right team.
- Identify your audiences. While you probably have the Hispanic audience well identified and segmented for the Spanish content, you will need to go through the same exercise when thinking about the content you will be adapting into English.
- Select topics based on your multiple audiences. This requires a shift in how you approach content. Where you normally considered topics that would appeal to Spanish-preferring Hispanics, now you will need to consider topics that connect with all Hispanics and general market consumers.
- Define distribution. Now that your English content will be consumer-facing, you’ll need to ensure that you have a solid plan to distribute your English content. This includes organic SEO, social media, paid media, native advertising and influencer amplification.
Work with a bicultural AND bilingual content team
With a solid content strategy in place, you’re ready to efficiently leverage back translations. A bilingual and bicultural team is a must to reach Hispanic and general market consumers, in English and Spanish. Such a team will understand the nuances of both cultures and will be able to deliver content that communicates AND connects with both.
Consider this hypothetical: How would you adapt Spanish content about el ratoncito (aka, el ratoncito Pérez) to a general market, English-speaking audience? If such content were destined only for legal approval, the English translation would talk about a cute little mouse (and legal may wonder what the marketing folks are up to). But when the same content is destined for the general market, the English adaptation will discuss the cultural equivalent of el ratoncito: the tooth fairy.
Reap the benefits
With a revised content strategy and the right content team you can turn lemons into lemonade. By leveraging your back translations, you leverage your Spanish content for your English content marketing.
