Digital marketing has arisen as one of the key ways to reach consumers in the 21st century. Just like ads in the past, there are several different categories and ways to go about digital marketing. Digital ads, e-commerce sites, and social media marketing are some of the major types. An important benefit of digital marketing is that you can reach customers in different regions around the world more easily. Below, we’ll cover how marketing translation services can help you reach those new demographics, all from in front of your laptop.
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Reasons to Work with a Translation Agency on Your International Business Strategy
Let’s get the basics out of the way. What is a translation service? A translation service converts written text from one language into another. Such services may also cover different aspects of localization, like updating currency symbols, keeping the message culturally sensitive, or making sure a message fits with overseas regulations like privacy laws.
With so many translation apps on the market that promise to translate everything from your browser, you may be tempted to automate the process. However, a translation agency can handle many parts of the message that an app simply can’t. A translation agency can help with:
- Identifying how messages should look across different platforms and marketing strategies
- Understanding which digital marketing works best for different regions based on local consumer habits
- Converting all parts of the message so that they work with the new text, including graphics and layout
- Keeping the core message the same, but adjusting for local tastes and cultural considerations
- Adapting the message so that literary devices like idioms don’t get lost in translation
Professional marketing translation services handle much more than a machine can. It’s the human eye that makes sure your message will truly land in the new market and region.
How do I choose a marketing translation service? If you need a specific service, such as social media translation, start by searching online. The clearer you can make your search intent, the better. Googling marketing brochure translation, for example, should bring up companies with the marketing-specific experience you need.
Many top translation companies will pop up, including marketing translation specialists who can help you develop your international business strategy. These agencies are often experts in digital translation, handling everything from social media translation to digital ads. According to one such company, Tomedes, it’s important to vet these groups to see if they have experience in the exact type of digital translation you need. They should have client testimonials, clips of past work, or references.
Digital Advertising and Professional Marketing Translation Services
Digital advertising has different considerations from traditional ads. The ads we see in magazines are designed to draw the eye with imagery, before sharing the text that describes the product on the same page.
However, with the advent of pay-per-click advertising, ads must exist natively in a digital environment and entice someone to click to go to a website, where the additional information on the product or service may be stored. The small amount of text these ads use, if any at all, must be perfectly arranged to maximize clicks. Graphics like flashing backgrounds or moving images are sometimes used to grab attention.
Then there’s affiliate marketing, where people use content on websites to house links that take people to products for sale. Each click means a share of the sale price goes to the person or company that posted the link.
Marketing translation services can make sure each of these approaches is perfectly translated and meets local consumer habits. Like traditional marketing, language must be convincing to make sure people click ads or links. Professional marketing translation services can also make sure these ads meet certain market-specific legal requirements, such as disclosing when a website uses affiliate marketing.
E-commerce Sites and Marketing Translation Services
Today, e-commerce is a major sales platform. If you’re looking to offer your products in different regions, translating your e-commerce site can help customers feel more at home when it comes time to order online.
Marketing translation services often handle many elements that go into localizing an e-commerce site. They might update currency symbols, adjust the layout of websites to fit the newly translated text or adjust a website to fit local consumer habits in the new market.
Social Media and Marketing Translation Services
Social media has been the “it” way to reach customers for years now. And it’s working. About 57% of brands believe their social media marketing has been “somewhat effective” or “very effective.”
What’s more, 50% of Generation Z and 42% of Millennials say that social media is the most relevant channel for advertising.
In short, if you want to reach consumers, you go to their hangouts. Right now, that’s social media.
Professional marketing translation services can help your message land on social media in a number of ways:
- Making sure each post meets the requirements of the platform: for instance, some platforms are most image-heavy, and others are most text-based
- Meeting local consumers on their preferred social media networks: for instance, China has Renren instead of Facebook
- Keeping messages more casual, as the medium dictates, but still culturally sensitive and organic-sounding
- Making sure the figurative language common in both ads and social media, like references, idioms, and metaphors don’t get lost in translation
Another point to consider is that social media needs regular updating, so outsourcing your social media translation can save time. By strategically using marketing translation services, you can meet your customers on their ground, driving engagement, and brand awareness.