Marketing Translation Services: Types and How They Work

Marketing translation services adapt campaigns, websites, ads, social posts, and print materials for other languages and cultures, combining translation with localization and transcreation so the message persuades local audiences instead of just reading correctly.

It matters commercially.

In a 2020 CSA Research survey of 8,709 consumers in 29 countries, 76% of online shoppers said they prefer to buy products with information in their own language, and 40% said they never buy from websites in other languages.

The most effective services pair AI translation for speed and cost with native-speaking linguists who catch cultural nuance.

Why does marketing translation matter?

Marketing translation matters because buyers trust and buy from brands that speak their language. CSA Research found that 76% of online shoppers prefer product information in their native language, and 75% are more likely to buy again from a brand whose customer care is in their language.

Literal translation can also backfire. In a well-known example, Braniff International Airways' "fly in leather" campaign, promoting its leather seats, was translated into Spanish as "vuela en cuero," which many Spanish speakers read as "fly naked." The words were technically correct, but the meaning was not. Localization and transcreation catch these problems before launch.

What is the difference between marketing translation and marketing localization? 

When it comes to translating marketing content, there are many details to consider. Two terms that often float around are marketing translation and marketing localization.

Companies leverage marketing translation to convert their source language marketing materials, campaigns, and resources into a target language. For example, a company might translate a brochure or web page from English into Chinese, French, or German.

The downside of general translations is that you risk offending, confusing, or emotionally detaching yourself from a local audience if you don’t keep their cultural complexities in mind.

That’s where localization comes in. Marketing localization focuses on translating and branding content with local nuances, audience perceptions, and cultural considerations in mind to connect with audiences on a local, native level.

Marketers can miss the mark with their campaigns if they don’t localize translations because these translations might discourage audiences from becoming customers. Localized translations offer a more successful approach to local market communication.

Once your marketing team decides to take a localized approach to translations, they can dive into different types of marketing translation services to create more effective marketing campaigns and extend your company’s reach.

What marketing content needs translation? 

The marketing content that most often needs translation is website content, online ads and SEO content, social media, print materials, and customer support content.

To implement a marketing translation process that works, consider your translation needs and services. Below are some common areas to consider:

Website translation

Customers are more likely to find you online than anywhere else in this digital world. Even if you run a brick-and-mortar company, consumers will first search for you on Google or social media.

That's why it's important to have a personalized website for each target audience. Your website landing pages, home page, blog articles, and other customer-facing marketing content should resonate with each local audience you cater to.

That's not easy when you are targeting dozens of different audiences. An efficient translation management solution and professional language services can be the difference between juggling marketing campaigns in different languages and creating a highly targeted marketing campaign that connects with each audience.

Another translation challenge is providing the correct webpage for each local audience. Smartling’s Global Delivery Network solves this issue by providing each viewer with a localized website version for an authentic, local experience every time.

Online ads and SEO translation

Online advertisement translation isn’t easy. Each word should move the viewer forward. If the translation is effective, viewers will take action. But one strange phrase or incorrect meaning can scare audiences away faster than a spider hanging from the ceiling. Anyone can spot an ad that doesn’t feel quite right.

Great marketing ad translations involve transforming and localizing the original campaign’s content so it moves locals to action.

Marketers need to localize their search engine optimization (SEO) initiatives, too.

Your team should ensure that digital marketing translations—whether they’re meta descriptions or discoverable localized articles—are as effective for multilingual audiences as they are for your English-speaking audience. This process requires localization and transcreation (a combination of translating and creating copy to fit the local audience).

Social media translation

Social media is one of the fastest-moving forms of marketing. There's enormous pressure to keep audiences happy by posting consistently and often, and your social media team has to constantly engage with users.

Engagement might be straightforward in English, but imagine nurturing audiences in Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, and many other languages. It's almost impossible to manage high-quality translations in this situation, let alone connect with users on a personal level.

Social media marketing translations provide quick and accurate communication with users and audiences on a scalable basis. For example, a marketing team can post an image to its French Instagram account with a localized description and interact with users in their native language—all inspired by an original post the brand published on its English language account.

Physical material translation

Depending on audiences’ culture, age group, setting, and other factors, your company may need to translate brochures, banners, signs, press releases, and other marketing documents.

As a marketer, you want to ensure that these translations are accurate and localized, especially given the high costs of printing and organizing materials. One simple mistake can be costly, and you could lose sales with poorly translated materials.

Customer support translations

Healthy marketing involves supporting, engaging with, and nurturing worldwide audiences. When a potential customer contacts your marketing or sales team, you’ll want to ensure that you are equipped to help them make the right purchasing decision.

Leads and prospects begin the buyer's journey, and translations can help your team facilitate customers’ decision-making during the buying process.

Other marketing communication translations

Marketing translators aren't limited to the content types in this list. There are many kinds of translations, and they all stem from one critical need: communication.

Effective marketing is all about communicating and connecting with audiences. Whether in a personal conversation, an email, or a video script, you should be able to communicate accurately, effectively, and quickly in each target language.

How do marketing translation services work?

Marketing translations should ideally involve both technology and human expertise. An AI-powered human approach makes translations affordable, fast, and highly accurate.

Marketing translation services typically work in four steps:

AI or machine translation produces a first draft, native-speaking marketing linguists adapt it for the local audience, reviewers check it against the brand style guide and glossary, and the final copy is published in each market.

It also employs linguists to localize translations for each target market. These translators are native speakers who understand cultural nuances—not just the language or local dialect—deeper and more intimately.

The most effective marketing and localization services leverage these advantages to create professional translations that boost your marketing efforts.

How do you choose marketing translation software?

As you search for the right marketing translation solution, consider costs, accuracy, and the tech stack you need to implement your strategy.

• Integrations: connects to your CMS, marketing automation, and design tools.
• Transcreation support: gives linguists room to rewrite, not just translate.
• Brand controls: applies a style guide and glossary to every language.
• Review workflow: lets local marketers approve copy before it goes live.
• Visual context: shows translators where the text appears.

For example, you don't want to juggle multiple translation solutions and services. You already have to manage multiple cultures and target languages, so you don't want to complicate the process even further.

Instead, you should find a solution that provides all the tools and translation services you need. Doing so consolidates the process and makes translations much more efficient and accurate.

The best solution is one that provides end-to-end services and takes a holistic approach to your marketing translation, such as AI-powered human translation. This process leverages machine translation’s speed and affordability and linguists’ nuanced expertise for greater accuracy and speed.

How Smartling makes marketing translation easier

Smartling is the AI-powered human solution for marketing translation strategies. (Source)

With Smartling AI-Powered Human Translation services, you can translate your marketing campaigns and materials to connect with all your target audiences, no matter their language or background. As the premiere all-in-one marketing translation solution, Smartling makes it more possible than ever to streamline marketing content for localized translations, management, and deployment.

Smartling’s Neural Machine Translation Hub chooses the right machine translation engine for each project to achieve the best results, and its translation management system can also optimize your translation workflow and more effectively facilitate team collaboration. These tools, combined with Smartling's professional management and translation services, can provide you with high-quality, localized marketing translations at scale.

Book a meeting with Smartling today to discover how you can supercharge your marketing strategy for higher conversions and greater engagement with a global audience.