All businesses should consider having their digital marketing material translated when they sell to non-English speakers, and this is particularly the case on the French market. In this article, we will examine the reasons behind this need, and the edge it would give you over only-English websites and online content.
The French: not so good with English!
French people are notoriously bad at languages. But how does that make it a barrier for your vegan business to sell in France? Well, according to the European Commission:
· 47.1% of French people never use a language other than their mother tongue to search or buy products/services, and
· 92.8% of them state they always visit a website in their language when given the choice.
This means a. that you are losing half of your potential clients if you don’t have your website translated in French and b. that you would give a much better image if your digital material were available in your prospects’ mother tongue.
Your image depends on your written content
The good image of your vegan business is important to sell especially since, for a French audience, you are a foreign vegan business. So, how to maximize your image and credibility, to reassure your prospect of your legitimacy?
You can rely on the translation of your digital marketing material: in your readers’ eyes, this will make you approachable, reliable, and respectful of them. Where should you start? First, you would need to have your website translated, especially your products and services’ descriptions: this is where your prospects choose if they will buy or not.
Communicate in French
Besides having your products and services’ descriptions translated, the focus should be put on communicating in French with your clients.
To do so, you could start with the information regarding delivery and the FAQ. This will lower the possibilities of a prospect leaving your website because they can’t find the answer to a question in their language, or sending you a question in French you won’t understand.
Indeed, the time it takes to send the question to your translator, have it translated, write an English copy of the answer, have it translated in French, and finally sending it to your prospect, you may run the risk of losing them.
Pro tip: on the translated version of your website, you could put a note beside your email address and/or contact form, stating that you will get back to your client within X days: this way, they will know it will take a bit of time for them to receive an answer, and thus will be more inclined to wait for it.
Put your vegan business on top of Google
To be searchable and findable on the French version of Google, you need to have your website translated with SEO in mind, much like when creating the original version of your vegan business’ website. It means using the right keywords in your digital marketing material, having a .fr or .com/fr address, and consider the French cultural aspects.
Pro tip: to rank well on Google’s results pages, special care should be put in the translation of the meta titles and meta descriptions: these are the first elements your prospects will see about your vegan business when doing their online research.
To increase the chances of your vegan business to stand out in the growing French vegan and plant-based market and to turn your prospects into buyers and loyal clients, the translation of your digital marketing material, especially your website, is essential.
Do you have a question about your translation needs? Feel free to fill in the contact form or to email me at marion.bazzoli@orange.fr
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