When doing business with other countries there might be obstacles which includes language. For many companies it may be a case of trying to grow their market share, or increase sales. For other people it could be a case of expanding into another nation. Whatever the case might be, it is crucial that when performing business abroad it is carried out professionally and precisely, specifically in regard to translation services.
Any Business that is conducting e-mail marketing to an international audience must make certain their messages aren’t simply translated accurately but have also taken into account cultural and political issues. Unfortunately it can be challenging for a business to fully represent culturally diverse ideas in e-mail marketing campaigns. It is a very small window of opportunity to catch the interest of someone with e-mail marketing. Most people will browse through their e-mails and can tell in a short time if anything is out of place or doesn’t quite feel right. It is instantly deleted along with several others in all probability.
What is a popular phrase in one nation may be unknown or inappropriate in another. Forget international borders and language for a second. What about domestically? Will a born and bred Londoner use the exact same English as someone from Birmingham, Manchester or Liverpool? Indeed they share the language but the way they will use it is different. The same can be said with the French language. A Parisian will speak French a little bit differently to people from Nice.
In a recent blog post by Today Translations titled “Translation is more about culture than language” which refers to English to Arabic translation, and shows that culture changes language and is the driving force behind its evolution. In addition, it shows that the real key to successful translation is actually the ability to get your message across clearly. It is not about a literal translation, it is actually much more about cultural translation and knowledge. For email marketers, it is not enough to translate your email. Clearly it is advisable to offer a suitably translated landing page and website for visitors to click through to. In addition to this any support materials, for instance white papers, need to be professionally translated and localized.
It also suggested against making use of casual terms including “hi”, which may offend many international readers that will show an absence of professionalism depending on the message being delivered. By using qualified translators and typesetters who are capable of representing aesthetic documents on both paper and electronic format, but also ensuring the material will adhere to the norms of your target countries or regions is a tremendous competitive advantage.
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