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Add a translation to a template

Add a language version of an existing template — translate the subject and body, keep the layout. Customers receiving emails in their own language is one of the easiest support quality wins available.

4 min read

Add a translation to a template

Each template supports per-language subject lines AND body content. The structure (blocks, layout, styling) is shared across languages — only the text changes per language.

This article assumes you’ve already built the template in your default language. If you haven’t, build it first (Create a template) and come back here once English (or whatever your default is) is solid.

Before you start

  • The template exists with its default-language version finalized
  • The languages your team handles configured in Settings → Markets and Languages
  • Translation copy ready (translated by you, by a translator, or via an integration)

Steps

  1. Open the template in Settings → Email Studio.
  2. Click the Languages tab (or the language picker in the editor toolbar, depending on UI version).
  3. Click Add language. Pick from the languages enabled for your tenant.
  4. The editor opens a copy of the default-language template, with the layout intact and only the text editable. Translate:
    Subject line — translate carefully, this is the first thing the customer sees
    Each Text and Heading block’s content — translate the body text
    Button labels — translate the call-to-action text
    Image alt text — translate where culturally relevant
  5. Don’t translate the merge tag paths themselves. {{contact.name}} stays exactly as {{contact.name}} in every language — only the surrounding text changes. The merge tag resolves the same way regardless of language.
  6. Save. Repeat for each language you support.

What gets shared and what doesn’t

  • Subject line — ✓ —
  • Block content (text, headings, button labels) — ✓ —
  • Image URLs (if you swap localized images) — ✓ —
  • Block layout (which blocks, in what order) — — ✓
  • Block styling (colors, fonts, alignment) — — ✓
  • Merge tag paths — — ✓

This means: if you re-arrange blocks in the default language (move the button below the body text), every language version sees the same re-arrangement. If you change the body wording in the default language without translating the change, the other languages keep their stale wording until you update each.

Language selection at send time

When an automation sends this template via Send Email Studio template, the language is resolved one of two ways:

  • Match the inbox language — pick the language attached to the email channel that the conversation came in on. If that language isn’t translated, fall back to the default.
  • Pick a specific language — explicitly set a language code in the action.

For customer-facing automation, Match the inbox language is almost always the right choice. The customer wrote in their language; reply in their language.

Verify it worked

Send a test email in the new language:

  1. Wire the template into a test automation with Match the inbox language strategy.
  2. Send a test inbound email on a channel configured for the new language.
  3. The reply should arrive in the new language with all merge tags resolved.

If the email arrives in the default (English) language even though the inbox channel is set to e.g. Norwegian, the translation is missing or the channel’s language isn’t set correctly.

Maintenance

Translations drift. When you change wording in the default language, the other languages stay stale until you update each. A few practices that help:

  • Date the wording. Add a comment in the description field with the last-translated date. Re-review every quarter.
  • Translate only stable copy. If you’re A/B testing wording in the default language, hold off on translating until you’ve settled on the winner.
  • Use a translation service for high-volume. A Norwegian or German translation done by a native-speaking translator reads like a real email; one done by a machine without review reads like one. Customer perception of the brand is at stake.

Troubleshooting

  • Symptom: Email arrives in English even though the contact’s language is Norwegian. Fix: Confirm the email channel’s language attribute is set correctly. The “match inbox language” logic uses the channel’s language, not the contact’s profile language.
  • Symptom: Translation editor shows the old layout, not the latest default-language layout. Fix: Layout changes propagate when you save. Re-open the template’s default version, save, and try opening the translation again.

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