Multilingual copywriting services transform text into EXPORTS & SALES

Good multilingual copywriting elevates accurate translation to invisible translation.

Of course our translation is accurate, and of course it’s fully-reviewed and ready to use. But sometimes, that isn’t enough. And that’s where our multilingual copywriting comes in – an optional service that lifts your translation to the next level.

Does copywriting actually matter these days?

Yep. And this great post explains exactly why yes, it matters. A lot.

Persuasive, absorbing copy – a great marketing piece or sales brochure – doesn’t just happen. The author revises the text many times, re-arranging, deleting, restoring, and massaging the text until it’s perfect.

Now, how to keep that same perfection when translated?

Where does multilingual copywriting fit?

So you need that sales brochure for another country. It needs translation – but in translation, several factors will impact your beautiful text.

Many target languages are fundamentally different from English – in fact, almost all are. We’re not just talking about different words; the whole structure and grammar will often drive the translation very far away from the source. Word order frequently changes dramatically even in a “similar” language like French, and many languages lack the terminology you use. And that’s just for starters.

On top of that the translator is against the clock, and paid by the word – they don’t have time to polish the text to perfection, or often anything like it. So the translation will be generally accurate, but will typically be clunky and awkward, and – since no-one’s perfect – may contain errors.

Those errors are why here at Lifeline, everything we do gets revised and reviewed. Note that very many “translation” agencies don’t do this…!

So you have an accurate translation of your masterpiece – but it’s likely a long, long way from what you really need for that campaign. Let’s fix that.

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Deep in thought… this copywriter is mulling half-a-dozen variants of the text onscreen. All are “OK” – but she wants the one that’s GREAT.

The translator’s skill lies in accurately rendering content in one language into content in another. Most aren’t wordsmiths, and lack the skills needed to create amazing text- even if they had the time, which they don’t.

The copywriter’s skill is wordsmithing. With more time, and the education and training to write beautifully, they can ELEVATE a translation into the PERFECT text in-language.

The roles are complementary, with different skillsets and mindsets.

That’s why, for PERFECT translation, multilingual copywriting is a must. And it costs much less than you probably think.

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    So, the translation’s been revised…

    … checking the translation for accuracy. Did the translator make any errors? Did they misunderstand any content? Or leave any typos? The reviser checks for these, so the revised text will be more correct than the original translation.

    But revision doesn’t re-write content, so the brochure’s text will be accurate, but is likely still “clunky” and not nice to read. So…

    … it’s then been reviewed.

    The process of ensuring the text is “nice”, reading naturally and easily. It may still sound “translated” but will be good to go as a translation. For most text, that’s all that’s needed. But remember that many translation agencies neither revise nor review – always check. But for our sales brochure, we need perfection.

    Now you need multilingual copywriting.

    The English copywriter will have spent many hours on even a short piece. To deliver the same impact in the translated language, the multilingual copywriting process needs the same effort by another copywriter – one whose mother-tongue is that of your target market.

    So our multilingual copywriting calls on a whole OTHER supplier base. Just as you used an English copywriter, we call on our network of professional mother-tongue copywriters in target languages. So your foreign sales prospects will enjoy a sales brochure every bit as perfect as your English original.

    Finally, please – typeset it properly!

    Few things frustrate translators and copywriters as much as seeing their hours and hours of work dumped into InDesign or Quark pages by someone with zero understanding of the language’s presentation, and who cares even less. But if you ignore the very different presentation rules in the language, that brochure you’ve spent so much on is pretty much guaranteed to flop.

    We’re consistently baffled when we encounter this, and it happenjs a LOT more than you’d think. A lot of money’s obviously been spent on translation and multilingual copywriting, but most of that value is destroyed when the product isn’t accepted in the target market. Thankfully, it needn’t be that way – our expert multilingual typesetting services are happy to help, for much less cost than you might think.

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    Full Corporate Member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, we’re also an accredited Member of the Association of Translation Companies, and are ISO 17100 and ISO 18841 accredited. You’re in safe hands.

    So for a better language solution for your needs, drop us a few details (in total confidence of course) and we’ll get straight back to you.
    Or, just give our helpful team a call on UK Freefone 0800 783 4678 (Intnl 0044 1772 558858).