New markets made easy!
When you’re adapting your advertising or product information for a new market, how do you get the best out of your language services provider (LSP)? Talk to your LSP as soon as you decide to take your product or service to a new market and check out these 5 things your linguist needs to know for best results and turnaround:
Where is your new target market
1) Where specifically is your new target market? Do you need UK English just for the UK, or as a general lingua franca for the European market too? Knowing exactly where the product will be advertised will help the linguist make the right choices for aspects 2) to 5).
Check connotations in your target market
2) “What did you say your product was called?” Check with your LSP that your brand name has positive connotations and meanings in your target market. (Several models of cars have failed this test!) Your LSP will get inventive and suggest alternatives if needed. We’ll also check if any slogans or plays on words in your advertising material need adapting to fit the target market culture.
Adapting the product
3) Product details. Your LSP will want to ensure all details on the product description are localised. Think about which parts of your product or service have been adapted for your target market. Are electrical plugs and voltages the same? Are the indicators on the same side of the car steering wheel? Are measurements metric or imperial? Do your notebooks open from right to left for the Arabic-speaking market? Knowing these kind of details will help your linguists adapt your user guides and product descriptions accurately.
Customer Service Offering
4) Service details. Similarly, your LSP will ask: Are the customer service contact details the same? Which hours are helplines open, including the relevant time zone? Are there any changes needed to the countries and jurisdictions mentioned in your terms and conditions or product warranties? Which currencies need to be used? Do you have any local achievements or awards you wish to highlight?
Translation or localisation
5) Language translation or localisation. Per piece or per unit or each? Outlet or socket? “Have your partner help” or “Ask your partner to help”? A native speaker understands a regional variation of their language quite easily, e.g. English as spoken in the UK, US, India, South Africa or New Zealand, but using the variety that most resonates with customers will create a closer connection. Your LSP will adjust all vocabulary, phrasing, spelling, punctuation and grammar to the regional variety you need. If the text needs to be translated from another language, we will ensure the correct varieties are used for your specific target markets.
Sending this information to your linguists when scoping the project with them = faster turnaround and better marketing for your new customers.
Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash.