A good marketing translation requires expertise and a good grasp of the language
Those who work in marketing know that advertising text must be readable, engaging and convey the information clearly and comprehensibly to the reader. It is not rare to find jokes, double-entendres and puns in these types of texts, for which a mere machine translation falls short. Whether it's a website, communication manuals, PR articles or slogans and taglines that are meant to catch the eye and entertain, it's important to take their translation with the utmost seriousness. Only thus can these texts meet their business objectives. An example is the well-known Czech slogan "Aby váš motor skvěle Shell” (“So your engine run well”, where “Shell” is used in lieu of “šel” in the sense of run), which would be difficult for a native speaker to understand if translated merely by a machine.
You need to prepare well for the translation
We know from our many years of experience that the motto "Fortune favours the prepared" is not just a trite cliché. Careful preparation is essential to ensure that the text is translated as accurately and concisely as possible. First and foremost, it is important to talk to the customer about what they expect from their marketing text, what their ideas are for editing the text, and how the market they are in behaves. It is also good to have a terminology glossary, keywords or other company materials, such as texts already translated for the customer, which offer further guidelines for successful translation.
From assignment to translation
A translator alone is not enough to translate a marketing text. Our translation agency always involves a team of translators, proofreaders and copywriters who are competent in the language and topic. Expertise is unconditional in this translation industry. And it's not just about expertise in the field of marketing, but also in the given business segment. For example, for cosmetic products, it is important to know that different countries have legal guidelines for describing the ingredients. For this reason, it is advisable to involve both experts and marketers in the translation process .
After studying the assignment and all the necessary materials, so-called trial translations are advisable to check the customer’s communication style, tonality, etc. If the customer orders a legal review of the text from us, we will be happy to help.
What are the pitfalls of marketing translation
When translating marketing texts, it is important not only to have expert knowledge, but also to know the cultural particularities of the target market and the customs of the country in question. Asian languages are among the most difficult languages to translate, and not only from a marketing perspective, as demonstrated in an example from our Chinese translation practice - a source text containing the phrase "lucky numbers" meaning "unlucky" in Chinese. Therefore, whether it is a professional marketing text or a more informal one, it is essential to have an overview of geographical realities. To avoid the reader misunderstanding of the idea and message of the content, the translator must have a flair for language as well as refined stylistics. In fact, there may be differences in the source language where the translation needs to change not only the structure of sentences, but often entire sections of content. This also applies to short mottos, names or descriptions. For example beauty and spa care, which can be translated as relaxing shower gels.
Do you want to score on the foreign market?
If you are heading beyond our borders with your product or brand, don't underestimate marketing translation. Even a small mistake can be a setback for your foreign expansion. Therefore, don't be afraid to reach out to professionals who have experience with thetranslation of marketing texts. It saves you time hand in hand with money that you can invest into your business instead.
Although translations from/into English and German are among the most common, our translation agency can handle translations of websites, advertisements, product manuals or leaflets, as well as dubbing in more than 200 language combinations. We are no strangers to translations into Bosnian, Swedish, Estonian, Arabic, Turkish or Thai!
