Marketing Translations – What You NEED to Know

We talk a lot about the power of good, strong translation; it matters to your customers and clients, so it should matter to you too.

The quality matters for varying reasons, mostly because it has the power to instil confidence in your brand among key audiences, but equally important is the damage it can do if your marketing is not tailored appropriately in your target language.

Avoid Tricky Translation Traps

Marketing materials can be both hard-hitting and hugely informal, but at both ends of this spectrum, the tone of voice you adopt may require metaphors, nuanced terminology or slang (relevant to your audience and their geographic location). These elements complicate translation as some refer to very specific (sometimes small localities) and a generalised version can weaken your content and reflect a lack of awareness or care for your customers in that market place. Getting tailored content wrong through poor translation damages your credibility and can negatively impact your brand perception, especially if the content in question offends readers.

Avoid the Cheapest, Automated Translation Service

As always, ensure you have qualified translators/linguists working on your project. Make sure you discuss, at length, your marketing aims and the tone of voice that most suits your end goal. Decide if your content is for wide geographical appeal in a certain country or if your project demands regional dialect considerations…don’t alienate your audience by failing to acknowledge the nuances of their language.

If your translators are working in their native tongue, you should be able to avoid many of the common pitfalls as their increased understanding will assist you. Keep cultural insights in mind and be prepared to tailor your content when basic translation won’t work or be as effective. An area which often suffers in marketing translation is straplines - the way language varies from country to country and even within borders means straplines can often lose their meaning or impact more than body content, so approach with caution or at least, be willing to be flexible.

Choose Alexika

Marketing abroad doesn’t need to be stressful, just executed properly. With the right team and supporting tools, your messages can be pushed forth into the global market and start winning you that loyalty, internationally!

Alexika are on hand to help with your marketing brief. Get in touch today to discuss your requirements with our team of experts.

Categories: General

View other blog posts from: Mar, 2016