In today’s world of convergence and multi-platform business operations, 45.6% of the US-businesses are looking to open new markets and expand existing operations overseas (42%).  With more and more businesses looking to expand their reach into foreign markets, the ability to engage with clients from different cultural backgrounds has become increasingly important. The ubiquity of the globalization processes and the rapid growth of the localization industry have been major prerequisites for the development of the relatively new transcreation industry. Used mostly by marketers and advertisers, the term ‘transcreation’ refers to the ability to not only translate a message’s content from one language to another, but also to preserve its original meaning, tone and context. For international businesses, transcreation is the marketing solution which guarantees the transmission of one cohesive brand message across multi-lingual markets.
 
Transcreation and Globalization
When exploring the different points of entry into global markets, a company needs to be able to differentiate and position itself as an organisation that local audiences can trust and rely on. Previously, marketers have utilised translation and localization to communicate the brand’s message with foreign audiences in their native language. However, with transcreation, they have the ability to not only translate content into another language, but to emotionally engage the targeted audience by accurately re-creating the meaning and intent of a message.

Transcreation and Digital Marketing Content
Regardless of the industry a business operates in, marketing content remains a crucial part of engaging customers with the product and improving sales. In today’s product-saturated environment, however, content needs to serve multiple functions- to entertain, inform, engage, be memorable, and, above all, sell. The difficult task of crafting such complex material can be made much easier through ‘creative translation’, or transcreation, which will take your website’s pre-existing content and modify it to the standards of the foreign audience you wish to reach.

Transcreation Vs. Translation and Localization
These three interrelated marketing strategies, all an integral part of the globalization process, differ in levels of specificity and accuracy. While translation is mostly concerned with communicating the meaning behind the words of a message in different languages, it doesn’t necessarily prioritize the emotional value of the written content. Similarly, localization is efficient in accurately translating content and interpreting imagery for the foreign audiences. However, if you were to ask for a solution that combines linguistics, imagery and an understanding of a market’s cultural background, then transcreation is what will bring you optimal results. While this service may be higher in price, it is definitely a worthy investment, as it restructures your brand’s product message to fit the interests and ideas of the new foreign market. Today’s consumer is much less susceptible to the influences of advertisers, which is why, in your marketing campaign, it is important to aim for not only linguistic coherence and clarity, but for emotional engagement that would establish a deeper connection between your business and potential foreign clients.
Transcreation and SEO strategies
While focusing on bringing out an accurate and compelling brand message internationally, many companies neglect optimising their websites’ keywords and homepages according to the market they are targeting. Simply translating the content and keywords into a different language is not enough for a website to gain enough traffic. However, transcreation allows for content to be customised according to the target audiences’ activity on the web, taking into consideration their search engine preferences and the popularity of certain keywords. This will ensure higher click-through rates and will signify to the search engines that your content is relevant to what people are searching for on the web, which will build up your domain authority and attract new visitors.

Defined more as a marketing tool rather than a linguistic one, transcreation provides multifaceted marketing solutions for businesses looking into international expansion. What makes the service so innovative and desirable is the fact that it adapts images, logos and text with the aim of increasing engagement and reaching the targeted audience. Long gone are the days when website localization could be executed solely with the help of machine translation software and simple translation practices. While working with skilled linguists and translators is still a big part of the transcreation strategy, it is important to realise that product differentiation today largely depends on the level of customisation a business is willing to offer to their local and foreign customers. The best approach for delivering your marketing materials to a global audience is, therefore, through the experience of skilled professionals who carry an understanding of an audience’s cultural background.