Keys to successfully hiring Russian<>English translation services
Advertising and communication agencies have very specific needs when requesting translations from Russian or into Russian. Whether press releases or advertising texts, this type of translation requires not only an extensive linguistic knowledge, but also a good cultural background of each country or region (Russia, in this case) and how words are used.
A good advertising translation is paramount to expanding your target audience of Russian-speaking users. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.
Remember these tips when translating your marketing content from or into Russian:
Know your audience
Before you start translating, decide who your target audience will be. Who do you think will be most responsive to your services or products?
Find out and limit who your target audience is going to be. In this case, if you intend translating into Russian, think about which markets you want to reach. Only Russia…? Or maybe into other territories with large Russian-speaking communitites? Always consider the local and dialectal variations of Russian and how this may impact the recipient.
Also consider the age of your audience, as this will determine the style in the translation. The more you narrow your focus by directly targeting a niche market, the more likely it is that your translation from Russian or into Russian will attract potential buyers.
Consider all types of publications
There are many ways to enter local Russian markets. Expand the type of advertising and informational content to cover all of your company’s social channels.
Press releases and printed advertising material are a classic, but translating your website content into Russian and start publishing articles about products or services can be a great way to reach thousands of readers in Russia.
One option is to start a profile on a social network such as Twitter or Instagram, and specifically target Russians. You can also start an email marketing campaign targeted at Russian!}-speaking countries. Remember to always include these new communication formats in your English-Russian strategies.
Translate and localize (i.e. culturally adapt into Russian)
In the marketing world, localization refers to the adaptation of all elements (from design to cultural references) for a specific audience. A small change in an audience type will increase the response rate and the number of sales.
Even if two groups speak the same language, such as Russian, we may need different translations for each region or country (Russia).
A good localization in Russian helps us solve these problems: from everyday expression to date formats, weight units or forms of address used in Russia, etc.
Take every aspect into account
In an advertising translation into Russian, not everything is text. Remember that there are also graphics, presentations and drawings that can be important to attract the attention of your Russian-speaking users.
Changes in graphics and pictures not only affect the content, but are sometimes necessary for the readability of the translation. Sometimes we will need to make changes to accommodate the reading direction of a language (left to right or right to left), the spacing of a particular alphabet, or any features such as those specific to the Russian language.
Always keep in mind that the space taken up by a translation may increase or decrease with respect to the original text when translating from English into Russian or vice versa.
Do not limit your imagination
When looking for translations in Russian for your advertising content, your initial idea in English may not work when translated into Russian.
It is important to maintain consistency throughout the campaign: it is what will identify your brand, company or product in countries like Russia… Remember that a literal translation of an English witty expression will most probably not work in Russian.
Throughout the translation project, always think about which types of Russian-speaking users your campaign is targeting. Be open to new ideas so your message does not get lost in translation.
More languages…
More language services in Russian:
Can we help?
Get a quote for your Russian translation
A quick overview of the Russian language
Russian belongs, together with Ukrainian and Belarusian, to the group of Indo-European languages of the East Slavic group.
The individualization of these three languages occurred during the 14th and 15th centuries. The undifferentiated language of the East Slavs was renamed Old Russian.
A variant of the Cyrillic alphabet, the Moscow dialect was decisive in the creation of the written language, which in the early eighteenth century was emancipated from the ecclesiastical Slav that had been used since the tenth century.
Lomonosov's grammar and Pushkin's work completed this evolution, and in 1918 the alphabet was simplified.