The Value of High-Quality Translation to your Brand

When considering your options and deciding who ­- or what – will be tasked with your next translation assignment, it’s important to know exactly what your options are and to understand their limitations.

Translating outbound materials to align with a brand’s tone, voice, and values is crucial for maintaining a cohesive identity across different languages and markets. Here are some key points to ensure a high quality of translation that aligns with brand guidelines:

1. Understand the Brand Voice: Before starting the translation, familiarize yourself with the brand’s style guide. This includes understanding the brand’s tone (formal, informal, friendly, and authoritative), target audience, and core messaging.
2. Cultural Relevance: Consider the cultural context of the target audience. A word or phrase that works well in one language may not resonate the same way in another. Adapt the content to fit local customs, idioms, and cultural references.
3. Consistency: Maintain consistency in terminology, especially for technical or specialized content. Create a glossary of key terms and phrases that are consistent with the brand’s language and preferred expressions.
4. Quality Assurance: After translation, review the text for grammatical accuracy, clarity, and fluency. Ideally, have a native speaker or a professional editor review the translated material to ensure it reads naturally.
5. Feedback Loop: Establish a system for stakeholder feedback to continuously refine the translation process and better align it with brand needs.
6. Brand-Specific Terminology: Identify any brand-specific terms or product names that should remain unchanged or be translated in a particular way to maintain brand recognition.
7. Emotional Impact: Pay attention to the emotional tone of the original content. Ensure that the translated text evokes similar feelings and responses in the target audience.
8. Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Be aware of any legal terms or regulatory compliance issues that might affect the translation process. This is especially important in highly regulated industries.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your translated articles not only convey the original message but also resonate with the target audience while staying true to the brand’s identity.

The introduction of AI translation tools to the marketplace is without question a game changer, but does AI really tick all your boxes?

If a less-than-premium-quality translation will have a negative impact on your brand, it’s worth considering bringing a human skillset into your translation workflow. The translation and localization landscape is changing and evolving at a rapid pace and some of the technology available is remarkable, but let’s not forget the value of high-quality output to your brand.