International Direct Marketing - Translation

Will marketing internationally in English ever work for your business?

If you want to successfully launch your product or service into a new market then it is essential that you communicate to your target audience in their native language.

Just straight literal language translation will not do the job. The way you communicate the benefits of your product or service must reflect the culture and sales approach of the target country to deliver the success you want. Literal translation makes no pretence at reflecting local culture.

There is really only one scenario where you might get away with communicating in English. This is if you utilize mailing lists where you know specifically that the person has subscribed to an English speaking magazine or journal, has attended a seminar in English or they are expats. The downside, of taking this approach is that by doing this you are significantly limiting your market potential.

When looking for someone to translate your:

• direct mail piece
• brochure
• e-mail
• website

it is very important that you utilize a native speaker and preferably someone who is based in the country that you want to market into.

In today’s world, where language and local conditions can change rapidly, it is easy for translators who no longer live in their native country to lose touch with current trends and language changes.

Language translation is not only about translation into German, French, Czech, Swedish etc, there can also be a need to translate from English to English depending on what country you are marketing from and to.

It is often quoted that the USA and the UK are two nations divided by one language – English. This is very true. The style and format of English used to market in the USA does not naturally transfer when marketing into the UK market. Similarly, a UK approach will not provide the best success if looking to market into the USA.

We can provide a translation service for all your marketing communication needs for European countries and also other nations across the globe.

We can provide advice on:

• Targeting
• Sourcing mailing and e-mail lists
• Mailing formats and postal optimization