AI vs. NMT: The Battle Reshaping Global Marketing — Insights from Hinde Lamrani

We've got some fresh, hot-off-the-press insights from Hinde Lamrani , Digital Marketing Services Director at Acolad group . Hinde shared some serious knowledge bombs on the collision course between AI and Neural Machine Translation. From AI-powered search engines to the nuances of transcreation — let's dive in!

1. What’s the biggest SEO trend or change in 2024, and how should businesses adapt?

AI-powered search and Answer Engines are reshaping how users interact with search engines. Optimizing for direct, AI-driven responses is becoming key, and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is becoming a must.?

Visual content, especially short-form videos, is becoming more important. Optimizing video content with appropriate metadata, transcripts, and schema markup enhances search visibility. I recommend content repurposing: don’t reinvent the wheel. If you have already invested in quality content, you can repurpose it in video form and expand your reach.?

2. What’s a common SEO mistake marketers still make, and how can it be avoided?

Marketers often invest enormous effort in the home market and then translate for other markets. This is counterproductive as it leads to them missing the mark with the target market audiences, hence a poor ROI. They should adapt their SEO strategy for the target market based not only on language but also on Culture, Local Search Trends, Local Competitors, and local Search Engines.

3. Which tools or resources are essential for staying competitive in SEO today?

In addition to the usual SEO tools for Research & Tracking, Core Web Vitals monitoring tools are important to include in the list.

Authority-building skill sets are needed to fulfill E-E-A-T

Freshness signals are vital to keeping a competitive edge, so I would add a very good content strategist.?

4. How do you balance technical and creative SEO to get the best results?

A solid technical foundation should be a priority; you can’t build creative SEO on an unhealthy foundation. This doesn’t mean developing an obsession with the Tech side of SEO; there should be a balance. The best balance between technical SEO and creative SEO comes from integrating both strategies to enhance website performance and user engagement.

5. What’s your top advice for a business just starting with SEO?

Don’t try to run before you crawl (pun intended). Get your basics right first:?

1. Understanding the user's intent behind search queries (informational, transactional, navigational) and aligning content accordingly

2. Relevant Meta's & Headers for both humans and bots.?

3. Clear site structure for both bots and humans, coupled with strategic Internal linking.

4. Page speed, responsiveness, and visual stability are critical to search rankings; Google continues prioritizing user experience metrics with Core Web Vitals. Follow Aymen Loukil — he’s an expert in this field.

5. Don’t rely ONLY on your website for traffic and ROI. Start working on building your brand name on other channels from the start. SEO is no longer about the website; it’s about entities everywhere on the web, giving signals about your relevancy, authority, and branding.

6. How do you see neural machine translation (NMT) reshaping global marketing in the coming years?

In 2024, tuned neural machine translation (NMT) models deliver more consistent outcomes that are easier to post-edit for high-quality results, especially when handling real-world content through traditional workflows. As large language models (LLMs) become increasingly advanced, more energy-efficient, and produce less unpredictable outputs, they will play a key role in automating processes thanks to their analytical capabilities and enhancing quality-related aspects. This will lead to more and more use of LLMs as opposed to NMT in the future.

Research paper about NMT VS LLMs 2024

7. What challenges do businesses face when integrating AI into SEO strategies?

Striking a balance between automated content and tailored messaging is critical for SEO success.

AI-generated content can lack depth, creativity, or authenticity, which can hurt search rankings if it doesn’t meet Google’s E-E-A-T.?

Search engine algorithms, particularly Google’s, are continually evolving. AI tools may not always stay updated with the latest changes, leading to content that may become irrelevant or even penalized.

AI should be used as a tool, not a replacement for humans. HILT (Human in the Loop) is Key. SEO writers should use AI as a tool to enhance and speed up the writing process while keeping control of the direction and guidelines. This will ensure that content meets user intent and adds real value.?

8. How should companies approach localization in global marketing campaigns?

Global Marketing Campaigns target specific audiences, so the Localized version of the campaign needs to be tailored for the target audience in the target international markets for better ROI.?

Companies need to choose the right localization process; for example, choosing machine translation or traditional human translation will not work for Global Marketing campaigns.?

They need to choose Transcreation as a localization process. Transcreation is the process during which a highly specialized linguist recreates the source text to be appropriate for the target audience — NOT a direct translation. The aim is to ensure that the end users feel the same way after reading the copy, regardless of their linguistic and cultural background.

As opposed to a translator, a transcreator is allowed to not adhere strictly to the source text; this freedom facilitates their work so they CAN make changes to make sure cultural differences are respected.?

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