Not every marketing team has the luxury of having a dedicated counterpart in each target country to ensure campaigns are culturally aligned and locally relevant. In such cases, companies often turn to alternative solutions to bridge the gap.
One option is to partner with a local marketing agency that understands the regional market dynamics, consumer behavior and media landscape. Another is to work with a translation agency that can adapt marketing content linguistically and when possible culturally. Each approach has its benefits and trade-offs and the right choice often depends on budget, timeline and the level of local nuance required.
Either way, context is key when it comes to targeting other markets. When leveraging a translation company and transcreation, it’s important to provide agencies with as much relevant information as possible. This includes sharing URLs to the web content, email bodies, imagery that supports the message and any campaign meaning or mission statements. These elements help the translation agency fully understand the intent behind the content and how it should resonate with the target audience. By offering a comprehensive view of the campaign’s objectives and visual elements, the marketing team ensures that the transcreation process remains faithful to the original vision while being tailored to the cultural and linguistic nuances of the new market.
Before we dive into the topic I’d like to point out how important it is to involve your translation agency early in the content development process. If you’re lucky enough to have an internal localization team get them on board from the beginning. Early involvement helps you anticipate the volume and type of changes that may arise. This way you can schedule and plan accordingly – avoiding last-minute surprises.
For example, if your content includes icons, screenshots or images with embedded text or letters, prepare these assets for localization1, translation or even transcreation. Visual content is often overlooked but it can significantly impact your audience when it’s in their language and culturally appropriate. It makes the experience much more user-friendly.
Imagine an image showing people gathered around a table celebrating with pork and alcoholic beverages. In Muslim-majority countries like Libya or Brunei this imagery may not resonate – or it could alienate your audience.
In more serious cases there can even be legal implications. Certain countries have strict regulations around how alcohol can be depicted in content – or whether it can be shown at all. In such situations, choosing visuals that reflect local customs and comply with regional laws is not just respectful – it’s essential.
Therefore, understanding the target audience is crucial for successful transcreation. Providing detailed information on the demographics, preferences and behaviors of the target audience in the specific region or language market allows the translation agency to adapt the content effectively. This could include age, gender, income level, cultural background and regional interests, as well as any unique behaviors or trends that are common in that market. By knowing the audience’s mindset, communication style and buying habits, the agency can ensure that the message resonates on a deeper level, aligns with local expectations and avoids any potential cultural missteps.
Cultural context plays a pivotal role in transcreation, as it helps shape how content is perceived and received by local audiences. Providing insights into the local culture, traditions and values is essential for ensuring that the message aligns with the community’s norms and sensitivities. This can include understanding religious practices, holidays, taboos, humor or cultural values that may influence the way content should be presented or modified. For instance, a color, symbol or phrase that is considered positive in one culture might carry a negative connotation in another. By offering these cultural insights, the marketing team helps ensure the content is not only accurate but also culturally appropriate, fostering a stronger connection with the target audience.
Brand guidelines are essential for maintaining consistency across markets. Providing clear instructions on tone, voice and style ensures that the transcreated content aligns with the brand’s identity, regardless of the language or region. This helps the translation agency capture the essence of the brand while adapting the message to resonate with local audiences, keeping the overall brand presence unified and authentic across different markets.
Understanding your competitors in the target region is key to crafting a successful transcreation strategy. Provide insights into their messaging, branding and market positioning, so the translation agency can adjust your content to stand out. This competitive intelligence ensures your content works with the target audience while highlighting your unique value proposition in comparison to local competitors.
Local laws, regulations and industry-specific standards must be considered when transcreating content. This includes data privacy laws, advertising restrictions and any specific guidelines that could impact how your message is communicated. Providing this information to your translation agency helps ensure that your campaign complies with all relevant legal requirements and avoids costly mistakes or misinterpretations in new markets.
Share the overall goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) of your campaign to ensure the translation aligns with your desired outcomes. Whether the goal is to build brand awareness, drive conversions or generate leads, this information helps the translation agency tailor the content to achieve the specific objectives of your campaign, making the message more effective in each market.
Providing a glossary or terminology list, helps ensure consistency in the use of key terms and product names throughout the translation. This can include specific words, phrases or industry jargon that need to be used consistently across all content. A comprehensive list ensures that your brand’s messaging stays uniform, reducing the risk of confusion or miscommunication in new markets.
If available, sharing past performance data for similar campaigns can give your translation agency valuable insights into what worked (or didn’t) in the market. This allows the agency to tailor the content to better meet local preferences, expectations and behaviors, increasing the likelihood of success in the new market based on data-driven decisions.
If your campaign involves social media, providing context is crucial. Share relevant hashtags, guidelines for working with influencers and platform-specific strategies. This ensures that the transcreated content aligns with the dynamics of each platform and the local audience’s social media behaviors, maximizing engagement and impact.
Providing examples of the desired tone of voice helps the translation agency accurately capture the style of communication you want to convey. Whether you prefer a casual, formal or humorous tone, these examples provide clarity on how the message should be delivered in the target language, helping to adapt the content to local preferences without losing the brand’s essence.
Here is a checklist you can follow when preparing the content for the translation agency. You can also use this as a baseline and create your own checklist because not everything here may apply to you and your marketing efforts.
Early involvement: Translation agencies and localization teams should be included during content development to anticipate changes, plan localization of visuals like icons and screenshots and avoid cultural or legal issues – especially in regions with strict regulations (e.g. around alcohol).
Context: URLs, mail bodies, imageries, campaign meaning and mission statements.
Target audience details: Information on the demographics, preferences and behaviors of the target audience in the specific region or language market.
Cultural context: Insights into the local culture, traditions or values that can influence the way the content should be presented or modified.
Brand guidelines: Clear instructions on tone, voice and style to ensure consistency with the brand’s identity across markets.
Competitor analysis: Information on competitors in the region, including their messaging, branding and positioning.
Legal and compliance requirements: Any local laws, regulations or industry-specific standards that need to be adhered to (e.g. data privacy or advertising restrictions).
Campaign objectives: The overall goals and KPIs for the campaign so the translation can be aligned with desired outcomes (e.g. awareness, conversions, lead generation).
Glossary/terminology list: A set of preferred terms, key phrases and product names that should be consistent throughout the translation.
Historical data: If available, past performance data for similar campaigns, so the agency can understand what worked and what didn’t in the market.
Social media context: If the campaign involves social media, a list of relevant hashtags, influencer guidelines and platform-specific strategies.
Tone of voice examples: Sample content that reflects the desired tone (e.g. casual, formal, humorous) to help the agency adapt the message appropriately.
Providing this extra information gives the translation agency the tools they need to craft a final product that’s not only accurate but also culturally on point. You’ll get a result that actually speaks to the target audience, not just in their language, but in their heart.
Overview of the “Marketing and …” series:
Marketing and the globalization factor
Marketing and transcreation
Marketing and the importance of international markets
Marketing and the extra steps to take to embrace other markets
Marketing and achieving the best results for international markets
Marketing and the factors to measure international success
- Not sure about the difference between translation and localization (globalization and internationalization)? Check out this post! ↩︎