Marketing, digital marketing and advertising are all about clearly communicating a business core value to their target market to turn them into customers. Part of this process is creating persuasive messages that resonate with the brand of your client’s target audience. There are many techniques to do this but what happens when you have to translate that message into another language that you aren’t fluent in? It can certainly be a challenge for many marketing agencies. Here, we will explain why that is the case and how you can overcome it.
WHY IT’S HARD TO TRANSLATE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
There are some unique challenges when it comes to translating marketing communications as opposed to other forms of writing. First, there is the challenge of translating the nuances of marketing messaging. The second challenge is translating industry-specific jargon for the products and services you are marketing.
Both traditional and digital marketers must first understand the industry, as well as the product or service they are marketing. Second, they must put on their marketing hat and convey the brand’s message that is tied to their products or services using marketing techniques. Then, after all of that, if you want to translate it from English to French or vice versa, you have to keep the entirety of that message intact.
This extra step can be a challenge for marketing agencies since it is hard enough to find people who can do the first two effectively, not to mention the time and effort it takes to translate if they are capable. First, we will dive into the intricacies of marketing language, and industry-specific jargon and how translating well-planned marketing messages into a different language can present other communication challenges.
TRANSLATING MARKETING NUANCE
When it comes to marketing, insiders know how much nuance goes into crafting powerful marketing messages. Even if the communications are short in length, the amount of planning and thought that goes into crafting these messages is significant. Marketers and advertisers know this firsthand.
Some key things that marketers pay attention to are things like the feeling and tone behind the message. There is the art of saying something without actually saying it through nuance and suggestion. Then there is the practice of developing a deep understanding of your target audience, how they think, and how their worldview can be affected by things like their culture and attitudes. This can affect the types of messages that will resonate with them. These marketing skills can take years to understand and fully master.
Then finally, once that message is perfect, it becomes time to translate it. To use a cliché, the messages can (and often do) become lost in translation. This is a huge problem that is incredibly unique when it comes to translating expertly designed marketing messages. It would be such a shame to take all that hard work and throw it all away by using a translation tool, Google Translate or a cheap translation service (or software) that would translate the
message to the point where it loses the original meaning it was imbued with.
So, what kind of things can get lost in translation?
TONE AND VOICE
When it comes to translating marketing messages into other languages, there could be miscommunications involving the tone and voice of a brand. For example, cultural differences between English-speaking and French-speaking regions can impact the perceived tone and voice of marketing messages. For instance, some English-speaking audiences may be more receptive to direct messages, while some Quebecois French-speaking audiences may prefer a more nuanced or subtle approach in their advertising. There can be a difference in how each culture responds to different forms of humour and how that humour is delivered in their language. English and Quebecois people may understand cultural references differently depending on their origins. Cultural differences can also affect the content of the messaging. Cultural values can impact how marketing messages are received. A message that resonates with one culture may be ineffective or may even be offensive in another. Marketing agencies must ensure that their translations consider cultural differences and are adapted accordingly.
A unique challenge when it comes to writing for and speaking to people in different languages stems from the unique nuances of language itself. When you try to use translation software, a lot of meaning can be lost in translation. This is because a lot of the things people say mean something different. Not everything we say is literal. Figures of speech, idioms, colloquialisms, expressions and slang are often unique to the language and region that they are used in.
LANGUAGE NUANCES
Different languages have unique idioms, colloquialisms, and expressions that may not have direct translations. This can make it challenging to accurately convey specific ideas or concepts in another language. Marketing agencies must ensure that their translations are accurate and effective while maintaining the original content’s intended meaning and tone.
FRENCH IDIOMS THAT DON’T TRANSLATE WELL INTO ENGLISH:
“Avoir le cafard”– Literally translated as “to have the cockroach”, this idiom means to
feel down or depressed.
“C’est la fin des haricots”– Literally translated as “it’s the end of the beans”, this idiom means it’s the end of the line or things are not going well.
Casser les oreilles” -Literally translated as “to break the ears”, this idiom means to annoy or bother someone with constant talking or noise.
ENGLISH IDIOMS THAT DON’T TRANSLATE WELL INTO FRENCH:
“To kick the bucket”– This idiom means to die, but no direct French translation carries the same connotation.
“To let the cat out of the bag”– This idiom means to reveal a secret or surprise, but there is no direct translation in French.
“To get cold feet”– This idiom means to become scared, nervous or hesitant to do something, but no direct French translation carries the same meaning.
Often in marketing messages, these types of figures of speech are used. But if you were to use an English idiom and translate it into French it would make no sense. The same goes the other way. So, direct translation is not an option if you are using figures of speech and idioms. A new message often has to be created for that language & market to convey the same message.
TRANSLATING INDUSTRY SPECIFIC JARGON
It’s not only about the nuances that make up marketing best practices. Marketing is a unique profession in that you are not only a marketer. Marketers don’t only wear a marketing hat; they have to be a chameleon and become an expert in the industry that they are marketing for.
This presents a unique challenge when it comes to translation. There is not only the layer of translation, but the translator also must understand how to create an effective marketing message but also has to understand the business that they are marketing for. Marketers often become familiar with an industry’s jargon, lingo, and technical terms and use them in their advertising. This is essential when communicating with industry insiders and must be easily understood when educating people outside the business.
However, in some cases, industry jargon or technical terms have no direct translation to Quebecois French, or they use another word to describe the same concept. The same goes for some commonly used French terms that don’t translate to the most frequently used English terms. Below are a few examples.
ENGLISH INDUSTRY TERMS DON’T TRANSLATE WELL TO THE COMMONLY USED FRENCH TERM:
Disruptive technology– This term is used in the tech industry to refer to a new technology that disrupts existing markets and business models. The direct translation would be “Technologie disruptive”. However, in Quebecois French, the term more commonly used is “technologie perturbatrice”.
Lean manufacturing– This term is used in the manufacturing industry to refer to a system of
production that minimizes waste and maximizes efficiency. However, in Quebecois French, this common term is often translated as “fabrication juste-à-temps” which translates to “just in time manufacturing” in English
FRENCH INDUSTRY TERMS THAT DON’T TRANSLATE WELL TO THE COMMONLY USED ENGLISH TERM:
Camionneur-This term is used in the trucking industry to refer to a truck driver, but
the English translation is “trucker”. The more commonly used English expression “Truck driver” translated directly to French would be “conducteur de camion”.
Although some of the direct translations may be technically correct, the terms they directly translate to are not often used by the speakers of the language. It is important to use the terms your audience is usingso that you can develop a genuine connection between your audience and the brand you are marketing. If you don’t speak their language, the people you are trying to communicate with may not understand your message, which could
hinder communication attempts. Clear and engaging communication is essential for marketing.
HOW MARKETING TRANSLATION SERVICES OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES
With all of these challenges in translating marketing communications, a different approach must be adopted. Marketing materials don’t stand to benefit from direct translations; instead, they are adapted to speak to the market that they will be shown in. This combination of adaptation and translation is referred to as transcreation. Transcreation is translating marketing material while simultaneously creating new messaging that works better for the language and culture it is being adapted for. A clever tagline in one language might
produce a different emotional connection in another language. So in this instance, a new tagline in the translated language that appeals to the region’s culture is necessary. This doesn’t just take a regular translator or translation software; it takes a translator specializing in translating marketing materials.
WHAT AGENCIES STAND TO GAIN FROM TOP-QUALITY MARKETING TRANSLATION SERVICES
There are some valuable extras that marketing agencies can get with a professional translation service that offers service in Quebecois French. Some of these these are things you won’t get from AI translators and some things you won’t necessarily get from a French speaker who is not native to Quebec.
Quality Assurance
With marketing translation services, you get quality assurance throughout. If you get a native Quebecois French speaker to do the translation, they ensure it is correctly translated as they are translating it. You get the translation and the quality assurance in one shot.
Creative Adaptations To Translation Challenges
If something doesn’t translate well or doesn’t work, it doesn’t get poorly translated, instead it can get changed or substituted by a creative human who solves problems you didn’t even know you had.
Improved Customer Engagement
By providing marketing messages in the local language and adapting them as needed, marketing agencies can improve customer engagement and build trust with the audience. Customers are more likely to engage with content that is presented in their native language and reflects their culture. This is why there is no room for mistranslated terms or miscommunication in tone, humour, or figures of speech. You want to show your audience that you understand them. Doing so will make it easy to form a connection.
You Maintain Your Agency’s Reputation And Most Importantly The Reputation Of The Brands You Are Working With
If you keep messing up translation, that market may lose respect for your brand as a result. That poses a considerable risk to brands, and that’s why it is worth investing the money to mitigate that risk and ensure that your translations are done 100% right the first time because brand equity takes time and effort and money to build, and it can be wiped out by cutting corners when translating for Quebec French markets.
Choosing 5 Star Translation As Your Marketing Translation Partner
Any good marketer understands just how important it is to form a genuine connection with their audience, and how costly it can be to ruin that connection.
At 5 Star Translation, our team offers high-level English-to-French translation for marketing agencies. If you want to take your marketing efforts to another language and get it right the first time, contact our team today!
