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Translate your marketing, successfully.

By Hilary Picken | January 8, 2019 | Translation Tips

Translate your marketing, successfully

When you’re reaching out to your customers, it’s important to engage them in a way that resonates. The right tone and turn of phrase is vital when it comes to creating memorable marketing material.

This is just as important when marketing abroad. Accurate marketing material translation can make or break your outreach. So, what are the dos and don’ts? 

Tone of voice

Plays a big part in marketing texts. It can be the difference between, quite literally, speaking your audience’s language and missing the mark entirely. For example, you may have a company that has a relaxed and informal voice when presenting in English.

This voice might not be the best choice when presenting overseas. Businesses in China and Germany both prefer a formal approach, so the informal, cheery tone you present in the UK might not be suitable.

Keep it simple

Puns and idioms don’t always translate into other languages, or not in the way you might imagine. A literal translation of an expression like wie die Made im Speck leben would give you “living like a maggot in bacon.”

Not a particularly appealing image if you were looking for a hotel room! A professional translator would know that the idea being conveyed was of living luxuriously and would suggest a more appropriate expression in English like “living the life of Riley”. Using plain and simple language in your your website translation can help you sell your services in a clear manner.

The key

Is making sure your translations are being completed by professional mother-tongue translators who can convey both the meaning and the tone of your carefully crafted text.

Experienced project managers add value to the process, selecting the right translator from a vast pool and advising on a range of potential pitfalls from file formats to country-specific considerations.