Translating marketing campaigns is essential for ensuring that the campaign successfully resonates with, and effectively engages, the new target audience.
The use of dialect, choice of words, images, and tone of voice must be relatable to the audience’s expectations, and fit with their preconceived views around the products, service or brand.
In order to achieve a greater level of success when translating marketing campaigns, the following five factors should be considered:
1. Linguistic and language accuracy
Considering language accuracy for a translated marketing campaign, doesn’t just mean choosing the right language or dialect for your target audience (although this is obviously important).
Instead, it is more about choosing the best words and saying it in the right way.
Your new, overseas audience will expect a campaign that sounds and looks as though it was created especially for them – they don’t want to notice that there are grammatical mistakes or that the original message has been lost in translation.
When translating marketing campaigns consider linguistic and language elements, such as:
• Dialect
• Language
• Colloquial terms/phrases
• Tone and style of voice
• Appropriateness of words/lexical choice
• Grammatical accuracy
• Fluency
Top tip – choose a professional language services provider to support you with your translation as they offer native-speaking translators and linguists who are experts in adapting marketing campaigns for overseas audiences.
2. Cultural sensitivity and accuracy
Adapting the language to fit with a new audience is just the first step to successfully translating a marketing campaign.
The second step is ensuring it is culturally accurate; sensitive to the cultural norms, relevant to audience values, traditions and expectations.
A well-translated marketing campaign shows a high level of cultural awareness and an understanding of local people, places, and preferences.
The following points are relevant for ensuring cultural sensitivity and accuracy:
• Respect cultural norms/values/traditions
• Localize images of people/places to fit with the new cultural context and language
• Adapt symbols/signs/codes for local audiences
• Ensure language is localized for cultural differences including, humour, slang, allegories, and so on
• Consider all aspects of society from government and religion to social structures and familial hierarchies
• Be prepared to adapt colours, logos, taglines, and so on, as required, in order to create the best local fit
Top tip – your language services provider and their native-speaking translators will assist with creating culturally accurate marketing campaigns. Localized campaigns offer an increased chance of success as they resonate with the audience through appropriate use of imagery and language for a regional audience.
3. Localized content accuracy
Words and images are important in every marketing campaign but there are also other aspects to consider which will affect how your campaign is perceived by a new audience.
Aspects such as, currency, date formats, email options, video subtitles, voiceovers, call to action buttons, and so on, must all be localized to fit with local preferences and expectations.
Localize the following content for an improved fit with your target audience:
• Currency
• Units of measurement
• Date format
• Time
• Address/phone number format
• Delivery and purchase options
• Social media preferences
• Email content and options
• Voiceover or subtitle preferences on video or audio content
• Call to action buttons and links are appropriate and work
• Product descriptions and packaging
Top tip – a professional language services provider with experience of your chosen language and culture is best placed to advise on accurately localizing content for your new audience. They can help with ensuring email marketing is sent accurately and timely, check formatting is right, ensure hosting and social media platforms are effectively utilised, and modify product packaging so it appeals to your new audience.
4. Legal and regulatory compliance
Branching out into a new territory and translating marketing campaigns to promote your products to a new audience is an exciting time for your business, but there are also some mundane matters that must not be overlooked.
Compliance in all legal and regulatory areas is an absolute necessity, especially adhering to those laws relating to advertising and marketing as these can vary greatly from one region to another.
The following points should be considered:
• Ensure all product claims and disclaimers comply with regulations
• Check product packaging is correctly translated in line with legal requirements
• Make sure all marketing and advertising content adheres to local laws and regulations
• Certify all industry standards are met or exceeded in relation to product information, packaging, labelling, and so on.
Top tip – if you aren’t sure what regulations exist in the local area regarding industry requirements or advertising legislation, take advice from your language services provider or legal counsel. Your language services provider may offer help in this situation as they often use translators who are trained in law or who have experience in marketing and advertising so they are familiar with local laws.
5. Brand consistency
From everything we’ve covered so far, it might seem as though maintaining brand consistency in very different, new markets might be a tall order but there are a few things that can help…
• Know your most important brand values and design concepts
• Create style guides and glossaries that promote these values (they can also be utilised by your language services provider)
• Use extensive market research to ensure a good brand fit before venturing into any new market
• When creating new content, consider future translation options and use design elements that are more translatable or that can be easily localized
Top tips – Your chosen language services provider can ensure your brand message is adapted accurately for your new audience without losing the overall feel and originality. Key brand values are important in creating a global image but must also consider cultural difference and if you have to change your brand so much it is unrecognisable, you may be targeting the wrong market.
You might like to find out more about the translation and localization services we offer before embarking on your next marketing campaign, if so, please use the links below.
Alternatively, you can contact us here to discuss your current translation project.
