Learn about the things you need to do when you plan your global content strategy.

1. Planning Your
Global Content
Strategy
Val Swisher
Founder & CEO
@contentrulesinc
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

2. Who We Are
Professional services firm specializing in:
 Content strategy
 Content creation
 Global readiness
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Founded in 1994
12 full-time employees
Network of 2000+ fully-screened consultants across U.S.
Managed, contract, and placement services
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

3. What We Do - Content Strategy
Work closely with The Rockley Group to provide:
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Substantive Audit
Content Modeling / structured authoring
Taxonomy
Workflow
Global content strategy services:
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Global content audit
Globalization planning
Vendor selection
Integrated workflow
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

4. What We Do - Content Creation
Create and modify content
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Technical Documentation
Marketing Collateral
Training Materials
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ILT
ELT
Video
eBooks
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

5. What We Do - Content Global Readiness
Ensure content is global-ready
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Readability
Grammar and style
Reuse
Evaluate and improve content quality using state-of-the-art tools
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Reports
Metrics
Recommendations
Fixes
Save money on translation
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Specialized reporting and editing
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

6. © 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

7. First…A Definition
A global content strategy is a structure for managing all of
your content that is consumed by people who speak or read
languages other than the source.
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

8. Why Do You Care?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Save money localizing and translating content
Improve content quality in all languages
Save time localizing and translating content
Someone told you that you need to figure out this
mess (see 1-3, above)
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

9. Planning your Global Content Strategy
 Locate your content
 Create a catalog
 Know who all of your vendors are and what
content each is responsible for
 Locate, identify, and have possession of your TMs
 Understand methods of handling global content
 KISS your source content
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

10. It’s 10PM. Do You Know Where Your Content Is?
 To create a strategy, you must locate your content
 Everyone is creating content, all over your company
 How much of it is being translated? Where? By whom?
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

11. Content – Everybody’s Doing it
Three ways content can be created and translated:
 By your team, managing your translation vendors
 By other teams, managing different vendors
 By people in each geography, writing in their native
language
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

12. Create a Catalog
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Who wrote the content
What group is responsible for localizing/translating
Which languages
List each translation vendor, per language
Where are the TMs
Who is assigned to review the translation
What process per language: translation, localization,
transcreation, pivot
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

13. © 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

14. 2 9 8
1
5
4
701
1
3 6
Know Thy LSPs
How many vendors do you need?
Pros
Cons
 Redundancy
 Organization
 Expertise
 Multiple TMs
 Competition
 Inefficiency
 Modalities
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

15. Standardize Your Translation Memory
 Single repository of translation memory
 Take ownership of your translation memory, not your LSP
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

16. Methods of Handling Global Content
 Translation – Word for word
 Localization – Culture-sensitive, retain meaning and
intent
 Transcreation – New content for specific audience
 Pivot – Leave content in source or pivot language
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

17. Methods of Handling Global Content
Translation
Localization
Transcreation
The content stays the
same
The meaning stays the
same
Different content
developed to meet
business objectives
Language
Literal word-for -word
translation of everything
Translate the meaning of
the words in a way that is
culturally appropriate
Developed in local
language; English may be
used as part of the brand
vocabulary
Images
No change
Change to fit local
expectations / product
needs
Change to fit local
expectations / product
needs
Layout
No change
Minimize changes
Change to fit local
expectations
Brand
Vocabulary
No change
No change
Enhance and expand
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

18. Pivot Language
 Intermediary language used for translation between
many different languages
 Default language for content that is not being translated
Examples
 U.S. Standard English
 U.K. English
 Other source language
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

19. © 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

20. Exercise: Analyze Ikea Website
Work backwards and articulate what you think the strategy
is for translation, localization, and transcreation at Ikea by
geo, content type, and/or media
See if you can find an instance of each technique
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

21. Exercise 1: Analyze Ikea Website
Look for instances of
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Translation
Localization
Transcreation
Pivot
Countries:
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Australia (Perth)
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United Kingdom
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Denmark
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Dominican Republic (Santa
Domingo)
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Canada
Notice
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United States
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France
Efficiencies
Inefficiencies
Lost opportunities
Anything else?
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

22. Look for:
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Exercise 2: Analyze Ikea Website
 Pick a product family
 Search for it in multiple countries
 Analyze the results
Translation
Localization
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Transcreation
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Pivot
Countries:
Australia (Perth)
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United Kingdom
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Denmark
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 Pick a specific product
 Search for it in multiple countries
 Analyze the results
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Dominican Republic (Santa
Domingo)
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Canada
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United States
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France
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

23. KISS Your Source Content
 Keep it short and simple
 Writing for translation | Global English | Simple English |
International English best practices
 8 Simple Steps to Make Your Content Global-Ready Now
Send me an email and I’ll send you a copy
vals@contentrules.com
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

24. KISS Elements
1.
2.
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Reduce word count
Increase use of identical sentences
Decrease word variability
Reduce sentence length
and complexity
5. Eliminate word usage errors (idioms, jargon)
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

25. Tell ‘Em What You Told ‘Em
 Locate your content
 Create a catalog
 Know who all of your vendors are and what content
each is responsible for
 Locate, identify, and have possession of your TMs
 Understand methods of handling global content
 KISS your source content
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

26. Val Swisher
vals@contentrules.com
@contentrulesinc
© 2013.
Content Rules, Inc.
All rights reserved.

27. Val Swisher
CEO & Founder
vals@contentrules.com
@contentrulesinc