Translating your marketing materials may be a tedious job, but it's a critical one. GoTranscript has many years of experience in translating niche content such as marketing copy.
Marketing copy goes beyond conversational language skills. It's hoped that your product names, product descriptions, website content, and so forth were finely crafted and honed by experts to get optimal results.
Although automatic translation software is enough for day-to-day communications, it leaves much to be desired when it comes to translating creative content. A clever play on words in English may turn out to be ineffective, nonsensical, or offensive when translated into another language.
Like any translator, a marketing translator is skilled in translating a particular language pair. But this translating specialist also has some marketing training as well as some knowledge of the culture you aim to market to. Let us explain why this matters.
As a popular movie points out, the Quarter Pounder goes by different names in countries other than the U.S. This is because most other countries use the metric system, so "Quarter Pounder" doesn't make immediate sense to most consumers. Imagine being faced with buying a 120 Grammer, and you'll quickly get the idea.
Many general translators wouldn't have the well-rounded knowledge to pick up on this problem. However, a translator specialized in marketing will be on the lookout for all linguistic and cultural issues that could adversely affect your message.
Systems of measure are only one of many possible tricky areas in marketing translations. The following are other issues that could pop up in your attempt to translate your marketing materials:
Cultural or religious sensitivity to certain products, services, or topics
Unfamiliarity with certain products, services, or topics
Lack of an equal or sufficient term in the foreign language to describe your product
There will sometimes be cases in which your copy can't simply be translated; you'll need to adjust your approach to reach a different market. But much of the time, marketing translators can make your copy and content appropriate for a new audience.
You may have heard that the translation of "Coca-Cola" into Mandarin Chinese equates to "bite the wax tadpole." Fact-checking website snopes.com reports this story to be partially true.
In the early days of Coca-Cola sales in China, store owners advertised the product by making their own signs. They did their best to choose various Chinese characters that sounded like "Coca-Cola." Unfortunately, most of these arrangements had silly meanings.
However, the Coca-Cola company quickly fixed the situation. It chose characters that approximated the sound of the name yet meant something along the lines of "let your mouth rejoice."
The point is that translating your marketing copy does need careful consideration and, ideally, much aforethought.
Another related tale is the one about the Chevy Nova failing in Hispanic countries because "no va" is Spanish for "doesn't go." Although Snopes reports this to be a false story, it's a good example of what could theoretically happen if you don't assign your marketing projects to specialized marketing translators.
GoTranscript has been translating all types of content and copy, including marketing copy, for more than a decade. Our clients include some of the biggest names in business.
One of the secrets to our success is our large pool of highly skilled translators dispersed all over the globe. One of them is the perfect match for translating your marketing projects such as:
Press releases
Signage/banners/posters
Brochures/pamphlets/flyers
Product packaging
Web pages and full websites
And much more.
Our online system makes it easy to order translations. We also offer tons of extra benefits, such as volume discounts and free editing. Get started today and improve your marketing tomorrow.
| Standard | Price per word | $0.060 | $0.087 | $0.100 |
| Extra | Editing | Free | $0.052 | $0.049 - $0.109 |
| Professional quality | Free | $0.049 - $0.109 | +30% | |
| total | $ per word | $0.060 | $0.188 - $0.248 | $0.193 - $0.271 |
| Order Translation |
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