Communication Languages

The fourth (and final) part of firm research involves documenting the languages in which the firm communicates online.

Assessing feasibility

While an investment manager with a multilingual audience would like to communicate with every individual in their preferred language — and which in some areas could be a regulatory requirement — doing so can be a significant undertaking.

Supporting multiple languages introduces added complexity to systems and processes. The ongoing effort required to translate and maintain content is typically labour intensive and costly, though technology is making it increasingly manageable.

Ultimately, any ambition to support multiple languages must be balanced against the firm’s available resources and operational capacity.

Determining required languages

By identifying up front which languages the firm plans on communicating in, the digital marketing team can determine the best way to accommodate multiple languages, if required.

Language preferences should be clearly specified for:

• Core website pages
• Regularly published website content
• Marketing materials
• Regulatory documents
• Social media accounts
• Emails
• Advertising copy