If you are ever wondering how important professional editors and copy editors are, think of those international billboard blunder photos you see on Facebook. They all have one thing in common: they involve non-English speakers reaching for an English word that doesn’t do the ad campaign any favors. In fact – if the word is really wrong – it can damage the company’s image. (There are some classics right here, for instance.)
We laugh at these major word mistakes. But without a professional editor or copy editor, for the marketing teams behind these products or services, it means big company dollars – and potentially jobs. Not only is the funding for that ad campaign a waste of money, but profits are at risk by inadvertently using a word the company definitely did not mean to use. (Like this.) Sigh.
Hire a copy editor. We edit translated copy for global marketing clients who are intent on a strong U.S. market presence, but want the credibility and security of knowing their marketing will resonate. And it can’t resonate if it’s laughable. (Well, it will resonate, but not for the right reasons.) Colloquialisms, for instance, are minefields of risk, as Jessica Kane points out in this post. And translators aren’t guaranteed to use them correctly.
Money spent on doing it right the first time, by hiring a copy editor to go over your translated content, won’t just ensure marketing dollars are spent wisely. It will ensure an error doesn’t cost you money or hinder your company’s reputation.