Multilingual Pposter created for VNA Health Care.

Should You Be Creating Multilingual Marketing?

Who is your target customer? In today’s diverse cultural, you might often be marketing to a multilingual audience. You might be losing customers if you do not present information in the language in which the reader is comfortable. A recent article by the Harvard Business Review addressed the question, “Will Spanish Help You Reach the U.S. Hispanic Market?”  Citing the National Hispanic Consumer Study,  “advertising in Spanish can boost both advertising effectiveness and customer loyalty.”  If your marketing is translated or adapted to reach a new audience, your original marketing investment will go even further.

Straker Translations provides some tips to creating translated materials that will engage your audience. First, research your target audience, their needs, and what tone is suitable. Look for a translator with marketing experience. Are you planning to use the same layout for both your English and translated materials? You might find this is similar to the old “10 lbs. of potatoes in a 5 lb. bag.” A Spanish translation of your text might expand the content by 20%. The layout needs to accommodate the increase in content gracefully. The type shouldn’t be too small, or lose your message hierarchy in attempting to get everything to fit. A good design will enhance the presentation of your content.

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As a study from Common Sense Advisory found, 72.1% of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their own language. Similarly, 72.4% of consumers say they are more likely to make a purchase if information is available in their own language. Translating or adapting content to reach a new market makes your initial investment in the original content go even farther. – Harvard Business Review

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Resolution Creative followed the principles of design in creating a multilingual poster poster for VNA Health Care. There is an emphasis; a large image informs the reader that pregnancy services are offered. One dominant image conveys your message more effectively than several smaller images. There is balance and unity among the elements on the page, allowing the Spanish language to retain the same hierarchy as the English, and not become confusing. Color blocking using the VNA brand colors ease the viewers choice of which language to read. This poster was awarded a 2014 Gold Aster Award for Multilingual Advertising. The Aster Awards recognizes excellence in healthcare marketing & advertising.

Sources:
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/02/will-spanish-help-you-reach-the-u-s-hispanic-market-it-depends/
https://www.strakertranslations.com/sts/about-us/articles/three-steps-to-creating-multilingual-promotional-material.cfm