It is important to identify your target audience
All business documentation is directed at one or more groups of stakeholders. Understanding who the target audience is will help you shape the type of translation required. If you are producing a marketing campaign, for example, you will need a different kind of translation than you would if you were merely translating a document for internal informational purposes.
The simple matrix below helps classify documents by business needs. It allows you to quickly identify what the real priority is for each project.
Corporate translations can be classified in terms of use, purpose and format.
Thinking about the use, purpose and format of documents will help you determine if they need to be highly polished. All marketing collateral, for instance, should be stylish and well-written. Whereas HR documentation for internal use, for example, does not need to be of the same standard.
Furthermore, for marketing copy the translation can be quite ‘free’. Meaning that it is more important to get the message across, than it is to be word-for-word literal.
A document for internal use, which aims to motivate and inform, will obviously cost less than a document for external use, which will be published and needs to be 100% accurate. Keep in mind that translations need to be equivalent to the original and appropriate for a given use.
Our job as suppliers is to assign the right translator for your project. All our translators are, of course, qualified and native-speakers of the target language. However, we have some translators who are also doctors or engineers. Other translators are more gifted with rhetoric – they have a good style! Choosing the right translator, with the right style and/or the necessary technical expertise is vital.
In conclusion
Identify your target audience, be clear about the type and level of translation you require, and communicate this to us. We will take care of the rest!
Contact us for a quote!
