Multilingual marketing in Burnaby: choosing, testing and scaling a second language

Why language matters more in Burnaby than in most cities

Burnaby is one of Canada's most linguistically mixed cities. In the 2021 Census, roughly one resident in seven had Mandarin as their mother tongue and about one in eight had Cantonese. Tagalog and Korean each accounted for a little over 3%, with Spanish, Punjabi and Persian each a little above 2%. The full breakdown is in Statistics Canada's mother-tongue table.

For a local business, that means a meaningful share of potential customers may feel more comfortable reading, searching or talking in a language other than English. The opportunity is real, but only if you can serve those customers well once they reach you.

Step 1: Start with your own evidence

Census figures describe the city. Your own enquiries describe your market. Before spending anything, gather:

• Call and message records: how often do customers ask for someone who speaks another language?
• Customer names and notes: which communities already use your services?
• Staff languages: who on your team can answer a phone call or a text in another language, and when are they available?
• Competitors: which local competitors advertise in other languages, and how?

If customers already ask for Cantonese and someone on your team speaks it, you have a strong starting point. If nobody can respond in Korean, a Korean campaign will frustrate the people it attracts.

Step 2: Decide what "language" really means

Language choices often hide a second decision.

• Chinese is not one choice. Mandarin and Cantonese are different spoken languages, and written Chinese comes in Simplified and Traditional characters. Mandarin speakers from mainland China generally read Simplified; many Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong read Traditional. Some businesses need both.
• Tagalog and Filipino English: many Filipino-Canadian customers are comfortable in English, so a few Tagalog touches, such as a line saying staff speak Tagalog, may be enough.
• Korean, Punjabi, Persian, Spanish: each has its own search habits and local media. Check how your customers search before writing anything.

Pick one language and one version to start. You can add more later.

Step 3: Write pages people want to read

A good multilingual page is written for local readers in that language, not copied word for word from English. It should:

• explain your main service in plain, natural terms;
• state the Burnaby areas you serve;
• say clearly who answers in that language and when;
• show real photos and your licence or insurance details where relevant;
• make calling, texting or emailing easy.

Every word should be checked by a fluent native speaker. Machine translation can help with a first draft, but trade terms, prices and polite forms often come out wrong.

Google's guidance on multilingual sites recommends separate URLs for each language version and telling Google how the versions relate. Avoid mixing two languages on the same page.

Step 4: Run a separate ad group

If you advertise, give each language its own ad group with its own keywords, ads and landing page. That lets you see clearly what each language returns.

Keep these rules in mind:

• Use the same cost-per-lead ceiling you use for English campaigns, so the new language has to earn its keep.
• Schedule ads only for hours when someone who speaks that language can answer.
• Track enquiries by language, including calls, texts and emails.

Our Google Ads service explains the cost-ceiling method in detail.

Step 5: Handle the first contact well

The first call or message decides whether the effort pays off. Prepare:

• a short greeting in the language, with the business name;
• a plan for when the right person isn't available: a call back within a set time, or a text in the customer's language;
• simple written templates for quotes and confirmations, reviewed by a native speaker.

A template you might adapt for a text reply, with placeholders:

Hello, this is [Business name]. Thank you for your message about [service]. [Staff name] speaks [language] and will call you back by [time]. You can also reply here by text.

Step 6: Test, measure and decide

Give the test two to three months. Then look at:

If the language produces paying work at a cost per lead within your ceiling, expand: add more service pages, reviews in that language and perhaps local community media. If it doesn't, pause it and try again later or choose another language.

A worked example

Picture a renovation company based near Metrotown. Over a year, about one enquiry in six asks whether anyone speaks Cantonese, and one of the project managers does. The owner publishes a reviewed Cantonese page for kitchen and bathroom renovation, adds a line to the Google profile noting that Cantonese is spoken, and runs a small Cantonese ad group during the project manager's working hours.

After three months the owner compares the numbers. If the Cantonese enquiries cost no more per lead than English ones and close at a similar rate, the language has earned more pages and budget. If they cost far more, the owner keeps the page, pauses the ads and relies on referrals and reviews instead. Either way, the decision rests on evidence.

Common mistakes

• Publishing machine translation unchecked.
• Advertising in a language nobody can answer in.
• Treating "Chinese" as one audience.
• Mixing languages on one page.
• Expanding to three languages at once before one has proved itself.
• Forgetting reviews. Ask satisfied customers if they'd leave a review in whatever language they prefer, and reply in that language.

Next steps

Our multilingual campaigns service builds and tests the first language with you, and the areas page shows where Burnaby's town-centre audiences are most mixed. To talk about which language might pay off for your business, call, text or email. We're a marketing service, not a contractor or translation agency; we plan the campaign and make sure every word is checked before it goes live.