Digital marketing translation is a multidisciplinary practice that builds an online presence in every target language. We are not talking about simply translating documents here, but building an entire online brand and all of the resources that go with it: a multilingual website, regional marketing campaigns and more.
In this article, we look at how modern brands need a comprehensive translation process integrated into every aspect of their digital marketing strategy.
The role of translation in multilingual digital marketing
For multilingual brands, translation plays a key role in every aspect of their digital marketing efforts. Ideally, this starts at the early research stage – for example, multilingual keyword research – and carries through to the production, localisation and promotion of each resource.
Here are some of the most important roles digital marketing translation plays:
- Website translation: Building multilingual websites and translating content for every target language.
- International SEO: Maximising search presence in every language/location and ensuring users access content in their native language.
- Content localisation: Adapting your content strategy for each language audience to maximise relevance.
- Multilingual advertising: Optimising ad campaigns for each language audience, including translation, localisation, adaptation and transcreation.
- Multilingual social media: Creating social media channels for each language audience on the networks more relevant to them – and, then, translating the necessary content.
- International e-mail marketing: Translating and localising e-mail marketing campaigns for every language market.
- Transcreation: Adapting concepts where direct translation doesn’t work to establish an alternative that inspires the target emotional response – especially important for advertising, slogans and creative content.
- Multilingual customer support: Translating documentation and localising contact details.
Essentially, digital marketing translation should be present in every aspect of your strategy.
If PPC advertising is an important part of your search presence, you need translated and localised campaigns, multilingual landing pages and follow-up campaigns for each target audience.
Likewise, for social media marketing, you need to start by choosing the right networks for each language audience and, then, create the right kind of content to address their needs and interests – and respond quickly to user interactions, in their native language.
Building a voice in every language
One of the most fundamental principles in marketing is addressing the needs of each target audience. When you apply this to international markets, you are not only dealing with demographic and interest variations but also with a long history of cultural evolution that influences the way people think and feel about your products and services.
An award-winning campaign that achieves great success in the UK can easily fall flat when it is run in a country with significant cultural differences. And even when the cultural environment is similar, key parts of your message can be easily lost in translation.
Digital marketing translation doesn’t simply involve taking one campaign resource and translating it for another market. It is a more comprehensive, multidisciplinary practice that helps every campaign achieve maximum performance on every channel and in every language.