Instead of asking yourself whether or not your business can afford transcreation, you should ask yourself: can you afford to ignore the millions of local customers who want to access information in their own language?
Over 79 million potential customers in the US and Canada speak a language other than English. The US Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey reports that 67.8 million people in the US speak a language other than English at home. In Canada, the 2021 census revealed that about 11.6 million Canadians speak a language other than English at home.
Combined, that’s a market larger than the entire population of the UK. Customers are much more likely to purchase from you if your marketing campaigns speak their language.
Transcreation: More Than Just Revenue
Speaking to customers in their own language is one of the key ways to break into new markets: one study found that 76% of online shoppers prefer products and services marketed to them in their native language.
Transcreation is, however, more than just higher revenues. It ensures your message resonates positively with your target audience.
- Machine translations that do not make sense in other languages hurt your brand. One famous example is KFC’s “Finger Lickin’ Good” slogan, which the company accidentally translated to “Eat Your Fingers Off” in Chinese.
- Mistranslated terms and conditions, employee agreements, and PR can create legal and compliance risks. That was evidenced by Sharp, whose mistranslated press coverage communicated doubts about the brand’s stability in Japanese – even though the company was doing fine.
- A lack of compliance with regional laws; for example, the Charter of the French Language in Quebec. This law requires you to translate contracts, labels, and product descriptions into French.
Transcreation is also part of a more strategic approach to marketing – one that some brands miss out on all too often.
Translation and Adaptation: Essentials in Your Marketing Budget
Ideally, B2C companies should be spending 5-10% of their revenue on marketing.
However, a lot of that budget goes towards Google Ads that cost up to $10,000 per month targeting high-impact English words. Programmatic ads often end up on low-quality websites that post clickbait content to boost ad revenue, but the ads don’t generate much return on investment.
Transcreation of your ads is often a better growth investment. Instead of fighting for limited ad space on English websites, targeting non-English keywords on Google Ads and multicultural ads on the right social platforms is considerably more cost-effective.
Non-English keywords cost less because they are less competitive, and multicultural campaigns offer a more targeted approach.
LAT helped a real estate developer in British Columbia reach out to the Korean market by advertising their new residential project on Facebook in the Korean language.
In order for this to work, you’ll have to tap into these markets more strategically. That means understanding the cultural nuances surrounding your campaign, tapping into local markets on cultural holidays, and localizing content to serve your target demographic.
Three Tips for Multicultural Marketing
Translation is an important part of a broader multicultural marketing strategy that requires expertise. You need to know what platforms your audiences use when they are most likely to purchase from you, and how your brand can have more impact.
Tip #1: Drive growth by branching out into new platforms
It’s easy to forget that your ads might get the most attention on different social platforms and websites than what you are used to.
For example, LAT Multilingual recently partnered with Baidu to help businesses build brand awareness with Chinese customers.
Tip #2: Consider the holidays celebrated by your target demographic
Cultural holidays like Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Eid are popular gift-giving holidays, but many brands stick to special holiday messaging on holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. That’s a huge, missed opportunity to drive more sales throughout the year.
Tip #3: Don’t forget the rest of your customer journey in mind
Ads in multiple languages are a good first step but remember to consider what happens when customers click on your ad. Are they directed to an English website, or a landing page in their own language? What happens if they need customer support for their purchase?
For complete end-to-end multilingual marketing, we also offer French and Chinese language customer service to boost brand loyalty and create repeat customers.
The True Value of Transcreation
Professional transcreation allows you to open doors into new markets, enhance your customer experience, and position your brand for global success.
Make sure to steer clear of the legal ramifications and costs associated with poorly translated content. This is a massive risk with generative AI tools that cannot consider cultural context or the nuances of meaning in multiple languages.
Do not let language barriers hold your business back. Partner with LAT Multilingual for professional translation, adaptation and transcreation services and unlock the potential of your true market. Your next big opportunity might be just a few (translated) words away.
