So, you’ve launched in France. You had a solid budget, high hopes, but the numbers just aren’t adding up. Your ads aren’t landing, and engagement is low. Sound familiar?
If it does, you’re not alone. The reason is usually simpler than you think: your message isn’t really connecting. It’s been translated, sure, but it hasn’t been understood. It feels foreign, slightly off, and in a market as discerning as France’s, “slightly off” is enough to be ignored.
It’s More Than Just Words
Think about it from your customers’ perspective. Would you trust a website with clumsy phrasing or jokes that don’t make sense? Probably not. You’d click away. That’s the risk you run when you treat the French market as just another box to tick with a generic translation. You’re not just failing to sell; you’re actively looking like you don’t get it, a mistake that can lead to the high cost of poor localisation.
Choosing the Right Tool for the Job
So, how do we fix this? It’s about using the right approach for the right content, which is at the core of my language services.
- Translation: This is your precision tool. Use it for technical specs, legal documents, or internal reports. It’s all about flawless accuracy where there’s no room for error.
- Transcreation: This is where the magic happens for your marketing. That clever slogan or emotional ad campaign? A direct translation will kill it. Transcreation is the art of rebuilding that idea, that feeling, so it hits just as hard with a French audience.
- Localisation: This is the full immersion. We go beyond text to adapt your entire user experience—your app’s layout, your website’s imagery, currencies, and cultural references—so it feels like it was built for France, not just shipped there.
Why Work With Me?
Look, anyone can swap words from a dictionary. My job is different. As a linguist who translates not just from English but also from German, Persian (Farsi), Dari, and Hindi into native French, I live and breathe cultural context. I’m not here to just give you the French words; I’m here to be your strategic partner, the one who tells you, “That won’t work, but this will.”
If you’re tired of guessing why your brand isn’t clicking with the French market, let’s have a real conversation.
Drop me a line, and we can figure out a plan that actually works. No buzzwords, just a straightforward strategy.
Clément Dhollande French Translator and Tutor 