How to translate to Spanish for a localised marketing campaign

Last update: 28 December 2020

Having an optimised content and a website blinded against fast-changing algorithms is pretty much a gain. However, for those who run marketing campaigns in more than one market, content optimisation will need more than optimisation to achieve objectives, especially when those markets don’t speak English. If you’ve had headaches addressing a multilingual SEO strategy in Latin American markets, thinking how to translate to Spanish, but more importantly: how you can assure the content makes sense locally, look at the following advises. They are here to help!

Translate to Spanish and penetrate LatAm markets through 5 considerations

1. Avoid translation engines

2. Locate your target as much as you can

3. Apply a localisation strategy with balance

4. Do research about the region

5. Invest in a local team

1. Avoid translation engines

When holding a conversation, most of us can tell whether somebody has a native accent. The same thing happens when reading a blog post. So don’t leave an automatic translator to play with your brand’s image: the matter at stake is the well-known concept EAT in the SEO community (Expertise, Authority and Trust) among other marketing implications that put the brand at risk, especially when it comes to reaching new markets.

Of course, even Spanish translations or content written by native speakers have had grammar mistakes, ¡We’re humans! And there is nothing we can do about this yet. However, readers like you and I can tell the difference in grammar mistakes made by translation engines and native writers. So do try to avoid machines, no matter how smart we think they are.

I will tell you why: compare this article about international students published by The New York Times in American English, and the localised version in Latin American Spanish. Now copy and paste one paragraph into an internet translator, and compare the Spanish version written by NY Times and the automatic version. Fair enough!

2. Locate your target as much as you can

As mentioned previously in a Spanish copywriting discussion, Latin American grammar is as diverse as its culture. For the fifteen Spanish markets I have worked for, there are more than fifteen ways of referring to someone as “mate”, even though the language is the same one. Whether is a call to action strategy, an inbound technique or an advertising page, make sure to locate your target as much as you can first.

By locating, I mean going beyond the Latin American region: look at the specific country and the city and towns if possible. The vocabulary varies drastically between countries, and also with some significance among national regions and towns. A great example I can bring for this tip is the strategy executed by MTV. A worldwide brand has a localisation strategy on social media organised not just by region but also by country.

Below you will see a single post from MTV for the Argentinian market which has at least four words in Spanish that don’t necessarily make sense in any other Latin American country. Yes, most of the Spanish speakers would be able to understand what the full copy is about. However, only local people could be able to feel identified with it.

3. Apply a localisation strategy with balance

My advice is, as most of the things in life, to not take things to extremes. Dr Michael Kourtoubelides, my former professor at Middlesex University London, once said: “glocalisation can be a good strategy for international branding and cross-cultural communications” and so it’s what most of the international brands do to succeed in Latin America.

There is nothing wrong with foreign products, stories and identities. Actually, and depending on the product category, the more international the brand is, the higher the trust is from consumers: French fragrances, American burgers, Argentinian steak, or Italian handbags. But here is the issue, focusing extremely on a 100% globalised campaign will not guarantee a warm welcome from local audiences — neither abusing of local vocabulary.

This is what glocalisation is about: a polite solution to overcome global brands in local markets. In other words, it is a balance that marketers should execute carefully: not every market is familiarised with every trendy word and not every market welcomes local slangs or jargons. A great example I can bring to the table is the strategy executed by Virgin Mobile in Chile.

They approach glocalisation thoroughly, below you’ll see one copy with around six words in English and two localised words: and that’s fine! We know then that Virgin is an international company, but we also know it is a cool, international company (regardless of the quality of service that I am not aware of).

4. Do research about the region

In Spanish speaking countries, standardised grammar rules are under control of local cultures, and I’m not making this statement on my own, it is also expressed by the RAE (In English: Royal Spanish Academy), when explaining how the rules are determined implicitly by every community. This is: first, another reason why the Spanish translation done by engines is not good enough for marketers, and second, it accounts for the need to research about the local culture and how every population has adapted the Spanish to their context, needs and wants.

So don’t be afraid of communicating something that is approved by local grammar rules and might not make sense at a standardised level, if you’re only addressing content to one specific region: go for it. As long as the localisation strategy is based on research and not on machines that translate to Spanish, the message will touch people’s hearts.

So once again, please don’t go too far with slangs or overuse of vocabulary, not only will be exhausting for readers but because there is a second issue we haven’t looked yet: the way social classes work in Latin America. Let’s put it this way, one of the Mexican Spanish considerations is that vocabulary and grammar can identify social status (for better or worse), and the resonance of your message can also be labelled and, therefore, less effective.

5. Invest in a local team

Finally, if your goals with Spanish speaking countries are long-term focused, invest in a local team of experts. They will not be an automatic dictionary with quick answers to every concern raised from the headquarters, yet they will be able to execute proper research to find out the most suitable solution by looking at local and trustworthy sources.

On the other hand, the marketing team will have the chance to test the likelihood of empathy that can result from the topics your brand will share on the internet and make the appropriate adjustments because what works in one country will not necessarily work in another. No matter the type of contract your business prefer the most important thing is to let them know what your brand is about to what extent the brand falls within the range of local and global. For LatAm markets queries, contact me to further discuss the localisation strategy according to your specific brand essence and product category.

Next time you run a digital marketing campaign in Latin American markets take into consideration these tips that will make more accessible the multilingual SEO strategy. Locate your target as much as you can, find a balance between global and local influences and do some research about the culture; it might give you insights to excel in search engines.

Written by Harold Mosquera