Marketing Business Translation: Challenges And Methods For Success

Because marketing is in essence a conversation with customers

, it has a high influence on how consumers view brands. As such, marketing translation is often a game-changer. It can deliver enormous rewards (in the case of good business translation) or mind-numbing losses (if a business translator wrecks a certain project.)

To be successful, marketing business translation must catch the customers' attention and effectively persuade her or him purchase the product at hand. Business translators of marketing must also thoroughly understand the product, the basic tenets of marketing, and the unique nuances of the target culture.

Because culture and language are inextricably linked, business translators must carefully consider how phrases will sound to a native speaker. Direct translation can lead to disaster, as when KFC's tagline "Finger Licking Good" meant "Eat Your Fingers Off!" when translated word-for-word to Chinese.

To encourage sales, a marketing business translator must be skilled in identifying when an idea must be rephrased. Because humor is typically culturally based, a jokey ad campaign may require reframing during business translation. Likewise, stylistic choices such as voice or character are often couched in cultural preferences. For these and other reasons, a competent business translator must take the time to consider whether the ad's original message will work with the target culture, or whether a minor reframing might be required.

Adding to the complexity of marketing business translation is the fact that not everyone agrees on how it should be carried out. Some believe successful business translation includes some copywriting by its very nature, while others see it as direct translation, without creative leeway. Those who maintain the former position sometimes refer to marketing translation as creative adaptation, so as to imply that their variety of business translation preserves the persuasive outcome while being creative with words and meaning.

Now that we've considered the complicated nature of business translation, let's move on to a discussion of how you can achieve the best translation for your needs. First, because there isn't a universal understanding of how marketing business translation should be done, it's important to clearly communicate what you expect of your business translation services provider. Outline marketing objectives for each project; you may even contractually link payment to these goals. This ensures that your sales and marketing goals take center stage.

No matter what kind of marketing work you're doing, chances are that there's a performance metric to be had. For instance, even those who tweet about your brand can be held to marketing goals. Let's say you're working with a Spanish-English business translator for translation of your company's tweets. You could base marketing success on how many new followers your brand receives on a weekly basis.

Flesh out your marketing objectives with information on your brand and your products or services. Include any data you have on customer demographics for the intended audience. Consider assembling a folio of marketing information your company has already created, along with marketing research data on how well your past campaigns have fared. Taken altogether, this auxiliary information is sometimes called a marketing brief. When partnering with a business translation firm, include clear objectives in your marketing brief, if not in your contract as well.

Finally, if you will be working with a certain firm for an extended period, we recommend building a database of commonly used phrases, for consistency.

by: Terri L. Kent

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