Marketing Collateral Localisation For Banking, Finance And Insurance Businesses

Banks and companies in the finance and insurance sectors require professional localisation agencies to translate and adapt their marketing documents in order to succeed. This is not only indispensable in foreign markets, but also helps them reach speakers of minority languages in their home countries, thereby attracting attention and increasing sales – as long as all such marketing collateral is translated/localised with the highest quality standards. But what does quality actually mean in this context? This article will discuss several key aspects.

Demonstrating reliability through language

In the field of banking, finance and insurance services, reliability and integrity are paramount. These key values must be conveyed in each and every piece of marketing collateral, including company brochures, product information booklets, posters, press releases, event collaterals, flyers, online banners, newsletters or any other type of document. Readers have to feel that everything about the company is centred on integrity, professionalism and respectability – and language plays a crucial role to achieve this.

A clear no go, for example, would be wrong usage of industry-specific terms. Clearly, nobody would trust a company that does not seem to understand its own business, but that is exactly the idea that readers might have, when, for example, a product brochure by a financial service provider uses banking terminology incorrectly. Also other imperfections, such as spelling or grammar mistakes can easily create the impression that the bank or finance/insurance company behind marketing collateral is not as professional or reliable as it should be.

Quality translation service agencies have well-established concepts in place to ensure correct terminology usage and other linguistic standards, such as the TEP sequence (translation followed by editing and proofreading by three different linguists), strict selection criteria for translators, quality assurance checklists, etc.

Let your documents speak the language of marketing

Notwithstanding the necessity to demonstrate that a bank, finance or insurance company is trustworthy, professional and serious about its business, as illustrated above, marketing collateral must still be catchy and attract readers’ attention. Particularly B2C marketing documents (for example ads for financial/insurance products aimed at students or young families) must never sound dry or dull.

Finding the right tone and conveying subject matter accurately while still using marketing style is a true challenge that not all linguists can master. Generally, PR and advertising translation services on the one side, and banking/finance/insurance translation services on the other side, require two very different skillsets. In PR and advertising translation, transcreationand copywriting, language professionals have to be able to convey emotions, captivate attention, etc. In insurance or financial translation services, however, it is all about accurately conveying complex industry-specific concepts, preciseness and attention to each and every detail (please click here to learn more about challenges of financial document translation and banking translations services). As you can see, a good marketing translation for banking, finance and insurance companies must demonstrate subject matter expertise and at the same time sound interesting and catchy.

Develop tailor-made solutions for specific contexts and settings

Marketing campaigns must always take into account the specific conditions of regions in which they will be used. In the localisation process, various aspects have to be considered, including cultural norms in terms of traditions, symbolism, etc., but also the present day situations of different countries.

For example, imagine that a bank or finance service company wants to approach new foreign markets and offer saving plans for seniors. One key question to them would be what people in different cultures actually save money for. In wealthy nations in which the majority of elderly residents are guaranteed rent payments, they might save money for traveling, luxurious goods, electronic equipment, etc. In other countries, people often put money aside to cover more basic living needs. That is why images of cruise liners, expensive cars, etc. can work perfectly in one market, but will not necessarily be appealing in others.

Generally, imagery of marketing collateral should always be checked to make sure that it fits into the targeted market. For example, you have certainly seen advertising campaigns for financial services in which coins are depicted prominently. If you took such a campaign to a nation like Vietnam, people would immediately recognise that it was designed abroad without much knowledge of the country – because no coins are used there.

Clients might not necessarily be aware of problems like that. However, a full-service localisation agency will be able to carry out checks for such cultural and country-specific issues upon request and also provide photography and other creative services to deliver turnkey marketing collateral localisation solutions, including suitable imagery, adaptations of colours to local preferences, etc.

There are also many cases in which text content has to be revised. For example, as a lot of terms of the banking, finance and insurance sectors are very specific, it is recommendable to check how well they are actually understood in the target markets. To residents of the USA and many European countries, for instance, insurances are a part of everyday life and the general public usually has some basic understanding of terms like “insurance deductibles”, “force majeure”, etc. However, imagine that a poster, which says that there is an insurance product with no deductibles, is translated perfectly correctly into another language, but then that poster is used in a country, in which only few people have ever heard about “deductibles”, even in their native language – of course it would not be effective. In such cases, localisation agencies can work with you and help you develop alternative text content, explain concepts that readers might be unfamiliar with in a more comprehensible way, or develop other strategies that suit the local settings.

As a general rule, since international marketing is never about simply transplanting a strategy 1:1 from one region to another, all marketing documents should be examined carefully and adapted. Full service localisation agencies can offer their expertise and insights into different countries and societies to develop tailor-made solutions for your marketing collateral together with you.

Select a quality localisation service agency to succeed

As you see, marketing collateral translation for banks, finance and insurance companies is a really challenging process, which requires industry-specific translation expertise, marketing writing skills, careful adaptations of documents to local settings, etc. To make sure your marketing efforts are worthwhile and actually work in the markets you are targeting, it is extremely important to choose an experienced language service provider that puts quality first and offers a broad spectrum of add-on services.

We at elionetwork are proud of our turnkey marketing collateral localisation solutions. As both PR/advertising translation and insurance/banking/finance translation belong to our focus areas, we truly understand what it takes to make your campaigns work. Please get in touch now to discuss your localisation needs!