If you’re running B2B marketing or sales across several countries, you already know the pain: chatbots that only speak English don’t cut it with global buyers. But making a decent multilingual chatbot—especially in HubSpot—can feel like stitching together IKEA furniture with missing screws. This guide is for anyone who needs to roll out a multilingual chatbot in HubSpot Chatflows without turning it into a monster project nobody wants to maintain.
Let’s get straight to it: how to make HubSpot chatbots work in multiple languages, what’s actually possible, and what pitfalls to dodge.
Why Bother with Multilingual Chatbots?
Before diving in, a reality check. Not every business needs to support every language. But if you’re serious about capturing leads or supporting customers from other countries, you don’t want your chatbot to be the reason you lose them at “hello.”
- Buyers expect to interact in their language. That doesn’t mean you need to translate every last FAQ, but at least greet them properly.
- Local language builds trust. Especially in B2B, showing some effort goes a long way.
- It’s not about perfection. If your chatbot can answer basic questions and route people to the right team, you’re ahead of most.
Step 1: Understand HubSpot Chatflows’ Multilingual Capabilities
Let’s be honest: HubSpot Chatflows isn’t built for deep multilingual support out of the box. Here’s what you get:
- You can duplicate chatflows for each language. That means you’ll have one chatflow per language you want to support.
- No automatic language detection. Visitors pick their language manually, unless you get clever with workarounds.
- Limited translation features. HubSpot won’t translate your messages for you—you have to do it yourself.
What this means: You’ll need a plan to manage multiple chatflows, translations, and routing. It’s not rocket science, but it’s some manual work.
Step 2: Plan Your Languages and Content
Don’t just translate everything blindly. Figure out:
- Which languages really matter? Look at your analytics. Where are your visitors coming from?
- What’s critical to translate? Start with greetings, lead qualification, and basic FAQs. Leave the edge cases for later.
- Who’s going to update this stuff? If you don’t have anyone who speaks the language on your team, think twice before adding it.
Pro tip: Start with your top two or three non-English languages. Don’t try to boil the ocean.
Step 3: Organize Your Chatflows
Here’s the basic model:
- One chatflow per language. Name them clearly (e.g., “Website Chat – English,” “Website Chat – German”).
- Keep the flows in sync. When you update your main (usually English) chatflow, make a checklist to update the others.
Managing multiple chatflows can get messy fast. Here’s how to keep things sane:
- Use a naming convention everyone understands.
- Document which chatflow is the “source of truth.”
- Schedule periodic reviews to keep translations up to date.
What About Auto-Translation Tools?
Sure, you can run your English messages through Google Translate, but don’t trust machine translations for everything. They’re fine for simple stuff, but if you’re qualifying leads or handling support, get a human to review the copy. Automated translation is a shortcut, not a solution.
Step 4: Build a Language Selector (Workaround)
HubSpot doesn’t offer native language detection or switching, but you can hack something together:
- Create a “language picker” chatflow. Set up your default chatflow with a first message like:
“Please select your preferred language:”
Then list options (“English,” “Deutsch,” “Français,” etc.) as quick replies or buttons. - Route users to the right chatflow.
- When someone picks a language, redirect them to the corresponding language-specific chatflow.
- This means each language chatflow will have its own URL or page.
- On your website, target chatflows by domain or page.
- You can set up different chatflows to appear based on the visitor’s browser language or the page they’re on (if you have different subdirectories for each language).
Limits:
- No automatic switching based on browser language without custom code.
- Users may have to start over if they switch languages mid-conversation.
Should you bother with fancy hacks?
If you only support two or three languages, a simple manual picker is fine. Anything more complicated is probably not worth the engineering headache unless you have heavy traffic in many languages.
Step 5: Translate Your Chatflow Content
Now comes the grunt work. For each language chatflow:
- Translate all bot messages, questions, and options. Don’t forget error messages or fallback lines.
- Check for weird formatting issues. Some languages are wordier than others—make sure your buttons and messages still look good.
- Review with a native speaker. Nothing torpedoes trust like awkward phrasing or obvious translation errors.
What about dynamic content or variables?
HubSpot’s personalization tokens (like {{ contact.firstname }}) are language-neutral, but any static text around them needs to be translated.
Step 6: Route Conversations to the Right Team
If you’ve got sales or support reps who speak different languages, make sure leads are handed off correctly.
- Use chatflow actions to assign conversations based on language.
- Set up workflows to notify the right team.
- Make sure your team inboxes are labeled clearly.
If you’re a small team, beware: supporting more languages than you have staff for is a recipe for dropped balls and slow replies.
Step 7: Test Like a Real User
Don’t launch blind. For each language:
- Walk through the chatflow as a visitor.
- Check all links, buttons, and handoffs.
- Try switching languages mid-conversation (and see what breaks).
- Ask a native speaker to try it.
Step 8: Keep It Updated
This is where most multilingual chatbots fall apart. Every time you tweak the main (English) chatflow, you need a process for updating the others.
- Set reminders to update translations when you change the original.
- Keep a changelog of what’s changed in each chatflow.
- If you have a translation vendor, batch updates to save time and money.
What Not to Do
- Don’t add languages you can’t support. If nobody on your team speaks Japanese, don’t launch a Japanese chatbot.
- Don’t trust machine translation for everything. It’s fine for simple stuff, but will embarrass you on anything nuanced.
- Don’t ignore maintenance. Outdated language chatflows are worse than having none at all.
When to Look Beyond HubSpot Chatflows
If you need:
- Automatic language detection
- Seamless switching between languages mid-conversation
- Complex routing or NLP-based intent detection
…HubSpot Chatflows probably isn’t the right tool. There are chatbot platforms built for multilingual support (like Intercom, Drift, or custom solutions), but they come with their own headaches and costs.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Multilingual chatbots in HubSpot Chatflows aren’t magic, but they’re doable if you keep things manageable. Start with your most important languages, keep chatflows organized, and plan for maintenance from day one. Don’t get seduced by “AI translation” or endless language options—focus on what actually helps your sales and support teams connect with real buyers.
The best chatbot is the one you can actually keep running. Start simple, improve as you go, and don’t let perfection slow you down.