Companies that have set their minds on selling products in countries besides their own face considerable global communication challenges. The rise of digital marketing has made it easier for businesses to promote their products around the world while eliminating the need to base their business in the country.

Cultural Communication Challenges

However, companies need to ensure that any content, like technical information about the product fits with the laws set out in the foreign country for the use of certain products. The way communication takes place has to be culturally appropriate as well.

Localisation of Communications

To be able to market products well in the countries that the business has chosen, communication needs to take place in the local language. This doesn’t mean the business sieves through its staff to try to find someone who is fully bilingual or partially bilingual in the language pair to do the translation job. Creating communication which suits the local market requires more than just a simple word for word translation.

Advertising has to be done in such a way that it fits in with how the local market thinks. Product descriptions will need to comply with local laws and regulations. This is when an experienced translation agency with local translators who are familiar with the language and its nuances of the country that is to be targeted. This ensures that the right colloquialisms are used in any advertising campaign which potential customers will understand.

Companies must also be aware of the correct written and verbal communication that needs to be used. There is always a possibility that some language that seems straightforward in the source language may even draw offense if directly translated into the target language. This is a significant international communication challenge. Colour is one aspect of marketing material that is important to consider. Some countries like Thailand for instance with a Buddhist majority may be offended if yellow was used in commercial advertising material.

Trying to access new markets overseas is never as simple as it seems. It’s not just the question of going on the internet and translating product information and advertising material into several languages, as there are other ways products can be advertised overseas. In countries which are used to business adverts, articles in newspapers about the product translated into the appropriate language using the correct and most culturally appropriate wording are a good way of spreading information about a new product.