HubSpot CRM is an incredibly versatile tool for companies operating in a huge variety of languages - offering translation into e.g. French, German, and Spanish. But there are so many other language options available to users.
But what about ‘Welsh’?...

In 2022, Plus Your Business worked with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). As a prominent university in our home country, we were delighted to work with them. 
The University needed to offer Welsh and English language options.

Throughout the CRM implementation phase, lasting about three months, Elisa (my wife and business partner) found an area of concern. HubSpot CRM doesn’t have ‘Welsh’ as one of its default languages.

In this case, offering English and Welsh at the same level was imperative for our client. Luckily, there are ways you can set this up in HubSpot. It will help your business stay legal and offer the best customer experience possible.

This article explains why customising HubSpot for the Welsh language is essential for some businesses and how you can customise it on the platform.

Offering Welsh as a Language and Complying With the Law

Here are the primary laws and standards that you need to be aware of:

• The Welsh Language Act (1993)
• Welsh Language (Wales) Measure (2011)
• The Welsh Language Standards (No. 8) Regulations 2022

The UK government's Welsh Language Act (1993) established a principle for public businesses and the administration of justice in Wales. This principle dictates that public bodies and universities treat English and Welsh languages equally.

The National Assembly passed The Welsh Language Measure (2011) to reform existing laws regarding delivering Welsh language in public services. The Welsh Language Standards then set out requirements for operating bilingually in Wales.

If you’re an organisation in Wales that wants to (or has to) communicate in both English and Welsh, here are seven main areas you’ll want to consider. It’ll help you deliver the best experience possible to your customers.

1) Use HubSpot Default Properties in Forms to Your Advantage

Always use the default properties in HubSpot when possible. These are standard fields you will use when creating a form.  For example, HubSpot has properties such as “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Email address,” “Phone Number,” etc. 

On forms being used in the Welsh language update the labels to Welsh

2) Custom Properties in Forms for a Welsh and English Version

When a custom property is needed, create a Welsh and English version.

You may need to use bespoke Custom Properties for a particular business. For example, in this case, for a university it might be areas such as:

• What course are you interested in?

This question/field is not a Default Property as it is particular to the university's business. You can create a Property with a drop-down menu to handle this situation. The question could be, “Are you interested in…”, and then the drop-down menu would detail the courses they offer.

To set this up, you must create two Custom Properties: an English version and a Welsh one. You can then use the Welsh version in the Welsh form and the English version in the English form.

When people submit a form, HubSpot can ask if they prefer to communicate in Welsh or English. At any point during the customer’s journey, they can change their mind and switch languages.

3) Workflows to Update Custom Properties When a Language Value is Known

If somebody fills in the Welsh version, the English version will be empty and vice versa. This is where workflows come in.

The person filling in the form might have chosen the Welsh version of their preferred course name, for example, “cerddoriaeth” which in English is “music”.

In this case, you must create a workflow to update the English Property version of the property and selection of “music”.

This means the property is available in both English and Welsh

When you send out emails from HubSpot you can use personalisation tokens. It can bring in areas such as “First Name”, “Last Name”, “I understand you are interested in…” and then insert the name of the course they expressed interest in, etc This means if somebody changes a language preference, the property is available as a personalisation token for emails.

This process also works the other way around. For example, if the person decides to say what the course is in English but then wants to receive communications in Welsh, the corresponding Welsh property must be updated so the property is available for use as personalisation tokens in the emails.

It’s important to note that you have to create a workflow for each custom property. Here is an example of how you can do this:

“Welsh version is known. The English version is unknown. Therefore, copy the Welsh version if the person has selected ““cerddoriaeth” to the English version Music.

Creating all the workflows can be quite time-consuming. However, once they are set up, communications can be automated in HubSpot.

4) Workflows to Switch to Welsh or English for Preference Changes

A person may want to switch to receiving communications in Welsh instead of English. This requested change could occur at any time and the contact could be in the middle of an automated workflow.

In such a situation, the contact record will need to be removed from the English workflows and moved into the Welsh workflows. However, it is imperative that the person is placed in the correct position so as not to break their customer journey

5) Translation of Welsh properties to English in the Property Description

At this university, the primary language for employees was English, and few people spoke Welsh. This was important to take into account so that HubSpot users could easily use the platform.

Whenever a Welsh Custom Property was used we put English descriptions in the details for each property.

The workflows that copied the Welsh selection to English made it easier for the non-Welsh-speaking employees to know what property had been selected.

6) Use Email Web Version Links for the Welsh Language

Finally, when you send out marketing nurturing emails to people, there is another area you can adapt to accommodate the Welsh and English language. It allows people to read the email in the language that they prefer.

It is a standard link on marketing emails that usually says, “If you cannot view this email correctly, please click here.” Clicking on that link will take you to a web version of the email, where you can read it.

We used this link for language preferences. For example, if the university sent an English version of the email to a contact, the link would switch to a Welsh version. 

Vice versa when a Welsh version of the email was sent the link displayed the English version.

Finally…

In September 2023, there were an estimated 891,800 Welsh speakers in Wales. Given this small figure, it is unlikely HubSpot will adopt the Welsh language. This scenario is also the same for other small countries.

Customising these areas ensures a smooth customer experience while respecting their language choices. It makes it easy to deliver your message without sending long emails. It also ensures that you follow the law by giving equality to both languages.