Marketing Messages are Getting Lost in Translation
By Versava Research Team
Translation tools are everywhere, but they're not all created equal. As we've built Versava, we've become increasingly aware of the gap between automatic translation and truly effective localization. To put this to the test, we conducted a straightforward comparison using our own website.
We compared the English version of our landing page with two Spanish versions:
- Google Chrome's automatic translation
- Our own carefully crafted Spanish version
The differences were more telling than we expected.
The Setup
Our experiment was straightforward:
- Baseline: Original English landing page for Versava.io
- Test 1: Chrome’s automatic Spanish translation
- Test 2: Native Spanish version written specifically for Spanish-speaking audiences
The goal wasn't to create an unfair comparison, but to see whether automatic translation could truly capture the nuance that marketing content requires.
First Impressions: Headlines That Connect
| English | Chrome | Versava |
|---|---|---|
| Your Content. Every Language. | Tu contenido. En todos los idiomas. | Su contenido. Todos los idiomas. |
Chrome’s version is grammatically correct, but it mixes formal and informal address inconsistently. Our version maintains a consistent tone that feels more natural to native speakers.
| English | Chrome | Versava |
|---|---|---|
| Imagine readers from Tokyo to São Paulo discovering your content in their native language. | Imagínese a lectores desde Tokio hasta São Paulo descubriendo su contenido en su idioma nativo. | Imagina que los lectores de Tokio a São Paulo descubren tu contenido en su idioma nativo. |
Chrome’s translation reads like a literal conversion, while ours flows with the rhythm and expectations of Spanish marketing copy.
Problem Statements: Urgency Gets Lost
| English | Chrome | Versava |
|---|---|---|
| You're missing out on millions of potential readers. | Estás perdiendo millones de lectores potenciales. | Te lo estás perdiendo en millones de lectores potenciales. |
Chrome’s version is accurate but lacks the conversational tone and urgency of our version—both of which are essential in persuasive marketing.
Brand Voice: Where Intensity Matters
| English | Chrome | Versava |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome's translator mangles context and business terms. | El traductor de Chrome altera el contexto y los términos comerciales. | Traductor de Chrome destroza el contexto y los términos comerciales. |
The word “altera” (alters) is softer; “destroza” (destroys) carries the original’s intended intensity and aligns with our deliberate marketing tone.
Technical Details: Formality vs. Accessibility
| English | Chrome | Versava |
|---|---|---|
| One line of code — just copy and paste. | Una línea de código: simplemente copie y pegue. | Una línea de código - solo copia y pega. |
Chrome’s choice of formal language (“copie y pegue”) is grammatically correct but feels distant in a developer context. Our informal tone better matches how developers naturally communicate.
The Broader Implications
These examples highlight a key limitation of automatic translation tools: they prioritize grammatical accuracy over persuasive impact.
Chrome correctly converted our words into Spanish, but it could not preserve the strategic marketing decisions behind them. Context-aware translation considers why certain words were chosen in the first place, not just how to translate them.
What This Means for Businesses
For companies serious about international expansion, these small differences add up quickly.
A landing page that loses persuasive nuance in dozens of places can significantly reduce conversions.
Machine translation is valuable for quick comprehension, but it falls short when precision and motivation matter.
This study reinforced our conviction that effective translation requires understanding both the message and the intent behind it—a philosophy built into Versava from the start.
Learn more at versava.io
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