The Dos and Dont’s of Translating Your Brand Message

Your brand message is essentially what sets you apart from your peers and competitors, and when it comes to successfully translating it for global audiences, there is a range of factors to consider.

Obviously, you want your message to reach as many people as possible, but to really reach your target audience; you need to speak their languages and understand cultural nuances.

Brand message translation goes far beyond just technical translation, which is why you need to use the right tools and professional help to get the job done right the first time. To make it easier for you, we’ve created a list of what to do and what to avoid when translating your brand message.

Dos for Translating Your Brand Message

Your brand’s message is unique and was designed to have a striking effect on your audience, so it’s important to transfer this message into other languages without its effect getting lost in translation. Here’s what to do:

Use Professional Translators to Engage Your Target Audience

Any content translation is always best left in the hands of professional translation services. Your language service provider (LSP) must be experienced in your industry to ensure you’ll get the best results. Using the same LSP for all your target languages is an excellent way to ensure you get coherent service. These professionals do the market research for you, ensuring your advertising and marketing copy is relevant to the local market and target culture.

Go for Transcreation Instead of Translation

Slogans, for example, bear distinctive brand messages, and with elements like these, literal, word-for-word translation just won’t cut it. Transcreation is a unique translation process that is used to describe the adaptation of marketing materials. The process might see you creating an entirely new set of words and phrases that properly convey your brand’s message into the target language, ensuring it has the same effect on the new audience as your original message has on your local audience.

Focus on Visual Presentation

The visual presentation of something as small as a single word or phrase can be the key to successfully penetrating a new market. This calls for an approach to your marketing content translation similar to how you tackle website localization. Font, size, and color used in your brand message are all significant and might need to be altered for the international market.

Don’ts for Translating Your Brand Message

There are quite a few potential pitfalls you need to avoid when translating your brand’s message. Here are some of the main things to consider:

Don’t Go at It Alone

Even if you have a translation management system to generate good translations for marketing content, it’s not advisable to attempt to do your own brand message translation. Your company’s image is much more important than the small investment it’ll cost you to hire a professional translator.

Don’t Use Machine Translation

Machine Translations can be just as much of a bad idea as attempting to translate your brand message by yourself. MT might be more reliable than it was a few years ago. But it will never be able to cater to cultural sensitivities.

Don’t Target Too Many Languages at Once

When you tap into the global market, you’re opening infinite possibilities for your brand. But just because you can sell anywhere doesn’t mean you should. You need to ensure your target audience is ready for your brand and its message before you try to engage with them.

Don’t Ignore Cultural Differences in Marketing Content

Your brand message is the glue that keeps you connected to your audience. And even the slightest misstep can damage your brand reputation and see the audience ignoring you. Culture is a crucial element to consider in any translation, transcreation, or localization strategy. Not being clued up on cultural considerations can result in different outcomes than the ones you had planned.

Need Help Translating Your Brand Message for Your Target Market?

Here at Day Translations, we believe a personal, human approach is the best tool for translating brand messages and giving our clients a voice on the global stage. Our team of skilled, experienced linguists works with you to develop the best ideas for each of your target markets. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our extensive range of services and their benefits.