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Is your company's commercial communication consistent?

Published on 09/06/2020

According to a 2018 study "Spanish companies with international activity" by INFORMA D&B S.A.U., 7.78% of Spanish companies included in its database have international activity. Of all of them, many apply marketing tools, highlighting websites, advertisements and marketing documents as the most frequent strategies.

Commercial communication is of decisive strategic importance to the company. You must attract, convince, capture and eventually retain your customers. For this purpose, a company usually implements all the necessary strategies and processes at the local, i.e. national, level.

From a meticulous work to design the image of the company to the elaboration of slogans, editorial lines or even style guides, to achieve the creation of an identity. The objective is to adapt this identity, and its meaning, through a coherent and targeted global commercial communication.

For more information, see the study "Spanish companies with international activity".

1. Marketing translation and its peculiarities

Marketing translation and its peculiarities

Firstly,translating commercial or marketing documents is completely different from translating, for example, a blog post or a legal document. Below, we show you the peculiarities of marketing translation, which is indispensable for maintaining good commercial communication at a global level.

1.1. Beyond the peculiarities of specialized translation

Apart from the obvious particularities of specialized translation (knowledge of both cultures, analysis of grammatical elements, context and terminology, etc.), marketing translation has other characteristics that must be taken into account in order to achieve consistent global business communication .

Commercial communication at a global level

In fact, the field of marketing translation encompasses a large number of contents and communication tools, which are varied and depend on the recipient. However, from the cover letter to the market research, including the advertising tools, all formats share the objective of convincing the target audience. Some will even have to draw attention to themselves and incite action. In other words, they are both bearers of meaning and information.

Words, expressions and even writing style are interrelated elements that directly influence customer behavior.

1.2. Specific experience of the translator

All these linguistic and cultural peculiarities of specialized translation force the professional translator to have a double-edged sword, i.e. to have specialized translation, marketing and communication skillsat the same time.

Competencies

In particular, the marketing translator must have knowledge and skills in the following areas:

  • Linguistic
  • Marketing
  • Communication used in local companies in each country
  • Translation requirements in the target country
  • Trade legislation in force in each country
  • Finance
  • Etc.

2. The need for localization when translating

In addition to those we have already mentioned (national laws, national communication, etc.), consistent international business communication also involves taking into account localization, i.e. adapting marketing content and documents to the culture of the target country.

Target country

In an English-speaking country, for example, it is not enough to simply translate content into English. All content, including the most widely used local expressions or cultural references, for example, will have to be adapted to have the same effect as the original content in the source language (causing interest, making the potential customer feel identified, etc.)

See also: Interculturality: an obstacle in international business

Many aspects must be taken into account to maintain consistent international business communication . The interest and confidence of customers, the maintenance of the company's image and the success of the objectives set will depend on this consistency. This type of project, rich and complex, requires a professional translator specifically trained in marketing and commercial communication.

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Josh Gambin's picture
Josh Gambin

Josh Gambin holds a 5-year degree in Biology from the University of Valencia (Spain) and a 4-year degree in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Granada (Spain). He has worked as a freelance translator, in-house translator, desktop publisher and project manager. From 2002, he is a founding member of AbroadLlink and currently works as Marketing and Sales Manager.

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