Marketing translation: How to reach a global audience
You have this beautiful text that you have put a lot of time and effort into. It works great with your audience; it conveys the right message and fulfills your goal. Now, you want to translate it to reach your global audience. So, why is the translator asking so many questions? Why is it taking them so long?
Any text should be carefully checked before starting the translation process. The content, type of text and brand image have to be assessed to achieve the same quality as the original text. If you want a smoother translation process, take a look at your text with the following in mind:
Walk in your audience´s shoes: add a bit more information
Content is successful if it is relevant to the situation, needs and goals of your audience. The cultural background of your readers varies with their country of origin, and your reader might need a bit more context. For example, look at this text inviting visitors to South West Scotland.
“Visit the famous Gretna Green, the spectacular Dumfries House, or the magical Galloway Forest Park.”
What we offer
Personal approach
We learn about your brand and products to effectively portrait your business to international customers.
Quality translations
We help you make your guests feel welcome by speaking their language naturally and adapting your content to theirs needs.
Efficiency and simplicity
We keep the translation process as simple as possible. We are here to help you with your communication, not to give you a headache!
For many first-time visitors, the promise of an “spectacular house” and a “magical forest” sounds very appealing. But, it is very likely that they never heard about Gretna Green. If you change the word “famous” for “historic” or “romantic”, visitors have more information about the place, as well as a reason for wanting to go there.
…Or remove some information
Decide the value that certain information provides to your international reader. If it doesn´t fulfill a need of your target audience, there is probably no need to translate it. Consider carefully your content depending on your circumstances. These are some examples:
- A blog post titled “Thanksgiving dinner table decoration” wouldn’t be of much interest outside of the United States.
- A press release celebrating a new deal with a regional supermarket in the Midlands. Is it relevant to your customer in Madrid?
- Product and service pages. Those that are not available in the target country can be omitted.
Writing with style
Cultural references, analogies and humour play and important role in marketing texts. And it is the most challenging part of a translation.
If your international audience is not familiar with those elements, the translator has to adapt them. A word by word translation is not enough. To convey the same meaning and feelings, the content will have to be adapted or changed. This means that the translator will need more time to work on your text, so be patient. The same applies to idioms, colloquialisms, double meanings and jargon.
Brand identity and style guide. Who are you?
If you already have a brand identity summary or use a style guide, share it with your translator. This will help us to understand the style and tone of voice that you use. Besides, it reduces the number of queries and the time needed to translate.
Not sure about your text?
Don´t worry, because nobody will read your text as carefully as a translator. The translator will spot discrepancies, unclear sentences open to interpretation and passages that need more context.
Our tip:
Before translating your content to reach a global audience, start with just one language. Then, you can use the translation process as a sort of quality control of your original text. Ask your translator to highlight the issues and then update your text before it is sent for translation into other languages.
If you want your message to connect with real customers, get in touch today and find out how we can help.
