How To Optimize Mobile Copywriting in China

With over 550 million users accessing mobile content on their smartphones on the go, the need to optimize mobile copywriting has become a pressing need.

Growing use of mobiles has created an opportunity for businesses to advertise more. While smart phone usage may have increased exponentially among Chinese, they still prefer designs and language that suit their local tastes.

Even though it cannot be denied that optimizing mobile copywriting in China is a promising plan, it should be done while keeping marketing strategies localized.

Here are a few tips on how to best optimize mobile copywriting in China.

Succinct Phrasing and Brevity of Expression

A large majority of people accessing smart phones in China do so while commuting to work. People who quickly scroll down their newsfeed for daily updates as a morning ritual can only be attracted with online content that is readable and catchy. Shorter sentences and stronger words are preferred.

Chinese readership has shown a liking for text that combines short sentences and sub-sentences instead of run-on sentences that seem like a tirade.

Clear Communication of Intended Meaning

When translating into Mandarin Chinese, a translator must know the importance of communicating the intent as clearly as possible. Ambiguities and innuendoes don’t sit well with the Chinese.

Sometimes, verbs with fewer Chinese characters can express the implied meaning of the source content better.

Active Verbs Convey Best

As does every language, the rules of communication in Chinese differ from that of English. An average Chinese user would respond to a tagline worded in active voice better because it is more impactful and direct.

Active voice is also great to use if you want to urge your reader to action! Passive voice, on the contrary, is perceived negatively as it is commonly used to convey negative feelings.

For instance a Chinese layman will understand the sentence “she is loved by them” as “she doesn’t appreciate his love or takes it for granted”.

This is not the kind of afterthought you want to leave your potential consumers with!

Chinese Proverbs Go A Long Way

Using idioms and proverbs native to Chinese language serve as great ways of localizing your mobile content. Chinese proverbs immediately develop a connection with the target audience based on shared history and cultural origins.

This not only makes the audience more receptive to your mobile copywriting but also enhances the readability of content.

Local Branding and Trade Names

According to research, Chinese people retain brand names in their native language more, and easily forget ones in English. Thus, local brand names play a pivotal role in the expansion of business in Chinese markets.

Care should be taken when translating brand names from Western languages to Mandarin in order to ensure that they convey the intended brand image accurately. A few examples of successful translated brand names include:

• Tasty & Pleasant(Coca Cola)
• Gallop (Mercedes-Benz)
• Good For Home(Ikea)
• Work For Your Food(Mc Donald’s)

Are you ready to go Chinese with your mobile content?

Don’t worry, we have you covered.

LIMPID provides excellent translation services from English to Mandarin Chinese which help localize business strategies and produce mobile content accurately for the target audience. We offer Mandarin Chinese voice overs as well as translations of e-mails, mobile content and other texts into Chinese.

To get in touch, contact us now!