Professional translators know the meaning of the term “localized translation”. It is a translation that must be adapted to the target audience to which the translated text is addressed.
For example, a company that makes computer processors used my translation services. It launched a new version of a well-known processor and, to promote this product, it used, among other things, a video game with the same processor as the subject. There are several ways to translate such a script. A translator usually makes the most accurate translation of the text, a standard translation. There is also the impulse that, being a video game, to use common words and phrases for young people. But the correct localization in this case means taking into account the expressions, and even the mentality, of IT specialists.
Another example: a ride-sharing company from the USA wants to enter the Romanian market. For this, he acquires a Romanian company with activity in the field, and starts promoting the new brand. And they turn to you, as a translator, to translate the promotional slogans they intend to use in the campaigns to promote the new brand. It seems easy to translate. There are simple texts, some consisting of a single sentence, others grouped in several sentences. You translate them and you solve the problem. But the slogans in a successful promotion campaign must take into account many more factors: the existing audience of the Romanian company, the development strategy in Romania of the US company, the public to which it intends to address, etc. All these elements define and determine the localization of the future translation.
So, there is a very close connection between the concepts of localized marketing, localized content, and localized translation. Translation may be missing in the case of a campaign, but any marketing strategy must take into account the target audience, it must be “localized”, and any marketing campaign is based on content (be it text, sound, image, video, or even based on actions and gestures), and this content must also be ‘localized’, depending on the intentions of the marketing campaign and the target audience. An image or video for the European market, for example, could be completely unsuitable for use on the Asian market. The cultural element must always be taken into account. Even the colors matter, and differ depending on the audience.
In fact, any text that is published, offline or online, includes a marketing intention: it wants to say something, and be as visible and convincing as possible, often addressing a specific target audience.
But localization itself does not involve only a just adapting of the content to the target audience. It must resonate with the emotions, intentions and aspirations of this audience, creating a kind of empathy, and at the same time it must convey its own message as convincingly as possible, directing the target audience in the desired direction, including through a short, medium or long education, depending on the company’s strategy and budget.
It is an additional effort for a company, beneficiary of the marketing campaign, to develop different campaigns with different texts for buyers in Italy than in Germany, for example. But the benefits of a good localization almost always outweigh those costs.
Thus, at the beginning of any campaign, it is ideal to make a study of the cultural and social aspects of the target audience. If there are significant differences between the groups that make up the audience, it is advisable to develop personalized campaigns for each group.
Different ways of approaching marketing campaigns may also be needed depending on the life cycle of the product or service offered. Thus, at the launch of a new product or service, or even when entering the market of the beneficiary company for the first time, the focus is on awareness of the product, service or brand, usually using promotion in social networks, and videos. There follows a period of customer education, a phase in which the localized content resonates with potential customers and are convinced of the quality and usefulness of the products or services offered.
A localization must engage in all stages of the product life cycle, starting from the product design, manufacturing, awareness of its need among the audience before launch, through launch, purchase, loyalty, post-purchase support, and even cessation use of that product and its replacement with a new improved version, or a new product.
The content that accompanies your company’s products, services, and even image is critical to business success. Give it due importance, adapt it and customize it according to customers, so that they have the most enjoyable experience possible. Otherwise, your competitor is waiting around the corner!
Leave a Reply