By Liz Elting

Adotas - February 27, 2013

Native ads became the hottest social media marketing tool of 2012. With promoted tweets, sponsored Facebook stories and YouTube videos, advertisers found creative methods to place messaging in front of prospects in unobtrusive, successful ways.

As advertisers set aside larger segments of marketing budgets for native ad campaigns in 2013, they will look for sophisticated ways to measure their returns on investment.

But if advertisers want to use native ads effectively in new, non-English speaking markets, they need current knowledge of both local trends and language usage to reap the same benefits of this content-rich experience. Here are three reasons to use skilled language and localization services for your global native ad campaign:

1. A localized ad is an accepted ad. Already, consumers are growing accustomed to native ads, but they’re also becoming wary. Targeted native ads will continue to be received well in 2013. However, consumers will be quicker to turn on advertisers who cannot communicate with them in their native language. If your intention is to speak in a friendly tone, or as an authority (depending on your ad placement), then your word choices must be similar to the words used by others communicating in that space. If your native ad sounds “foreign,” it will convey a negative message about your brand, which may be more harmful than no message at all.
    
2. Translation and localization help you blend in better. The value of a native ad is that it blends into the surrounding content. They resemble the articles, stories, and posts that draw viewers to social media platforms. Native ads are often more effective than banner or pop-up ads for this very reason. That authenticity is precarious and requires the kind of subtle nuance that machine translation or inexperienced translators are not capable of delivering.
    
3. Get more mileage from internationally-friendly taglines. If you’re going to invest in an international native ad campaign, your plans should include investment in the kind of professional translation and localization that can deliver the creative punch you need. For example, without the help of a localization expert, the tag line “The whole world in your hands” could easily become “The earth is between your hands,” which just doesn’t send the message that was intended. A professional localization partner can help you create a source language tagline that translates successfully for each new marketing campaign, preserving message and the tone of the original. This way, your in-language consumer targets feel welcomed, recognized, and included.

One of the reasons native ads have taken off so quickly is that they have proven to be cost-effective. Even a global campaign won’t bust most companies’ budgets; but a low price tag isn’t worth much without good returns. A company that offers trans-adaptation or trans-creation for marketing copy employs copywriters, skilled translators, and you in the process — guaranteeing that your message will be conveyed successfully on the local level. This is essential for a marketing tool that relies on building engagement through familiarity and trust.