HubSpot & Transifex

As a leading marketing automation software with customers spanning over 120 countries, HubSpot turned to Transifex looking for a localization platform that is as global and fast-moving as they are. We worked closely together with the HubSpot team to help them set up a seamless, automated, and continuous flow for all of HubSpot’s software localization needs. Here’s a closer look at how HubSpot used Transifex to level up its localization.

HubSpot’s localization team consists of in-house localization specialists and project managers, covering the primary languages the company operates in. The team frequently works with outside translators and vendors, where stakeholders own different roles in the process and are often in different time zones than their teammates. Due to this, HubSpot was looking for a translation management software that would enable them to establish continuous localization processes and workflows with super fast turnaround times. 

HubSpot’s developers needed to eliminate any additional efforts on their part by seamlessly integrating with their codebase to make workflows as “low-touch as possible”. Translators and vendors needed a streamlined user interface enabling them to work quickly and easily. On their side, the internal localization team was looking for a dynamic query management system to enable effective communication of context and other vital information across teams and languages.  

HubSpot turned to Transifex to address its two paramount needs of seamless code repository integration and effective communication across its global team. From individual features like Search Strings to the platform’s central repository functionality as a whole, Dierk Runne, Globalization Systems and Infrastructure Manager at HubSpot, shares exactly why and how the HubSpot team leverages Transifex:  

Easy-to-Use Platform & API: From initial set-up to ongoing use, the Transifex platform provides a streamlined and barrier-free user experience for team members, regardless of their role. HubSpot uses a custom integration to link Transifex to its code repositories, which was easily set up through Transifex’s well-documented API. The API also empowered the HubSpot team to build a suite of tools that not only manages their continuous localization workflows but also equips their translators and reviewers with a familiar, easy-to-learn environment. 

Centralized Hub for Continuous Localization: HubSpot uses Transifex as a centralized hub for agile software localization for both its external and internal teams. External partners can interface with translation content (which is created or changed on a regular basis), and internal product teams can receive and deploy translated content as quickly as their product teams produce it (multiple times a day).

Search Functionality: One of HubSpot’s favorite features is the global ‘Search Strings’ function. The feature enables teams to easily and quickly perform search functions across multiple projects and languages directly from Transifex. Through its use, HubSpot’s cross-functional and distributed teams have seen a spike in their productivity noting that, “because the number of resource files and the word count in our projects can be quite high, the speed of this feature truly has been a game-changer for us.”

Tools for Remote Teams & Other Use Cases: The HubSpot team makes full use of the Transifex platform for use cases of all sizes and complexities. “Transifex strikes a good balance between accessibility and feature richness…because the tool is entirely web-based, its use is platform-agnostic, and it’s very accommodating to distributed teams. The platform provides a lot of flexibility in how you want to work with it and can fit into a multitude of use cases,” Dierk explains.

Customer Support: As Dierk puts it, “We value the responsiveness of the Transifex team. Communication channels are always open, be it for support issues or longer-term feature requests and discussions around functionality.”

After integrating with Transifex, fixes to localization issues that previously took the HubSpot team weeks to fix are now often resolved in less than half a day.  

HubSpot has implemented a CI/CD localization workflow using Transifex, where localization is fully integrated within the development-release cycle. “From onboarding new team members or external resources to extending our language offerings, it only takes a couple of clicks.” Dierk shares that, with Transifex, “we’ve been able to significantly reduce turnaround times for translations, switching to a ‘simultaneous release’ model under which new features and products can be published across all languages at the same time.”  

By using the full suite of team collaboration features and localization tools that Transifex has to offer both on and off the platform, HubSpot has found a trusted localization partner and platform that continuously keeps up with its global needs. Today, HubSpot continues to use Transifex to collaborate successfully across ten global offices — and localize its software for 86,000 customers in 120 countries.