Taking products and services abroad by adapting and scaling existing marketing campaigns can result in a high ROI for your clients. However it is easy to succumb to certain pitfalls when marketing to an international audience.
Business translation services are always a part of the process in taking your marketing materials and making them engage in a multitude of languages but smart marketing agencies realize there is much more to making your message resonate than basic translation.
We’ve worked with some of the biggest marketing agencies in the world, translating websites, market research and press releases for global superbrands over the last 10 years and from this experience we believe there are 5 things you must avoid when taking your clients businesses and selling it on a worldwide scale.
1. Fail to do your market research
Marketing to an international audience requires solid market research – would you target local audiences for your clients without doing the research and having the data first? Of course you wouldn’t! Even understanding your clients’ main English-language website traffic from each country and the behavior of those users on the site is a start!
Our Market research translation services will give your clients primary, unbiased, accurate and targeted research in international markets.
At Bubbles we have worked with some of the biggest names in international market research including Kantar and Millward Brown to translate questionnaires to capture specific and personalized data in a variety of industries. Your clients shouldn’t go into the international market without the proper data to back up their campaign and we recommend that you have this in place first before you take any marketing action.
Just translating the English questionnaires isn’t always enough either – which leads us onto pitfall 2…
2. Lack of Context
Many businesses fall into the trap of translating word for word, or even worse, using generic online translation services!
It’s pretty easy to find people offering to translate your client’s marketing collateral but by using one company who truly understands the job at hand, has experience in the language, the market sector and the task at hand (website/press release/technical documentation) is essential.
Translating without context by mixing translators or not seeking professional and experienced help could result in a poorly organized campaign inconsistent messaging and won’t result in international success for your clients.
3. Ignoring the “social” element of social media
It isn’t just English speakers that use social media and around 70% of global social media users are purchasing online making it a valuable platform to target.
Many companies just use social media as another conduit for their messaging and forget that it’s also a great listening tool – you may learn a lot from using translation services to research the potential market.
Just opening various regional-language social media accounts isn’t always enough but you may be able to scale a campaign by translating a programme of communications and aligning your message at source. By employing translation services to work across all of them simultaneously will get a consistent client message out.
4. Using Colloquialisms
With a professional translation service for your clients you can be sure that any colloquialisms or local idiom’s are avoided in any translated materials. Your clients may be wedded to their terminology – but we can assure you that the international customer is not!
Many marketing companies make the mistake of including phrases that don’t translate well or are simply lost on international audiences.
Phrases such as ‘on the same page’ for instance don’t translate well in other languages and using certified translation services that can weed out these local phrases will make your content and client’s marketing materials more accessibility to global consumers
5. Expect instant international success
You have the market research data and you have the global translation services in place however be realistic about your client goals. Just translating a website or press release doesn’t always convert to immediate sales.
International marketing success isn’t instant however the end results are worth the wait. Increased brand recognition for your clients, an international consumer base, and the potential of targeted new markets are all goals that can propel your client from a localized business to one with global connections.
At Bubbles translation we know how difficult international marketing can be. From translating websites, marketing materials, and targeting social media for international audiences we have years of experiences that ensure you don’t make these mistakes.
Even falling into the trap of one of these 5 mistakes we have listed here can have a detrimental effect on your whole marketing campaign however at Bubbles translation our wide range of business translation services can avoid all of these errors!
We can help set your client’s marketing campaign on the right track and make sure that their product or service not only appeals to an international audience but helps you cement your relationship with them by delivering a high ROI.
