How to adapt ads to local languages

Introduction: Localization ≠ Translation

Translation changes words. Localization changes experience: language, cultural context, legal reservations, visual, currency, date format, reading habits and perceptions of the offer. The conversions are most affected by four things: compliance with expectations, tonality, legal correctness and uniformity of message in the announcement and on the landing.

1) When translation is enough, and when transcription is needed

Translation is enough if the message is factual: "Registration in 2 minutes," "Support service 24/7."

Transcription is needed if creative play on words, humor, idioms, cultural references, a strong emotional "angle." The task is to preserve meaning and effect, not letters.

Recommendation: for key markets, keep a tone of voice guide and glossary (brand terms, legal phrases, invalid words).

2) Tonality and politeness: "you/you," formality, emoji

You/You: German/French/Spanish - both are possible, but by segment and product; Japanese/Korean - high formality.

Emoji: CTR increases in some markets, harm in B2B and conservative markets.

Phrase length: longer in Arabic/German wording; Consider character limits and hyphenation.

3) Legal and compliance parts (mandatory)

Age markings (18 +/21 +), Responsible disclaimers, terms of bonuses/shares - in the language of the market.

Sensitive words: "guarantee," "no risks," "easy money" are more often prohibited.

Local regulators require specific warning and reference formats.

Site policies (Google, Meta, TikTok, etc.) differ by country: check the wording.

4) Visual and symbolism: colors, numbers, gestures

Colors: white - mourning in part of Asia; red is luck in China, a warning in the EU.

Numbers: 4 - unfavorable in China, 13 - in a number of European countries.

Gestures/icons: hands - "OK" going "ring" can be interpreted in different ways; avoid ambiguity.

Text in images: Make sure fonts support diacritics/hieroglyphs and that stubs don't "break" the grid.

5) Currencies, formats, UX locale

Currency and mark: €1,000 vs €1,000; 1. 000,00 vs 1,000. 00.

Date/Time: DD. MM. YYYY vs MM/DD/YYYY; 24-hour format.

Decimal separators: comma/period; affects the perception of prices and fees.

Phone numbers/addresses: local formats, local payment methods on landing.

6) Landings and creatives are one logic

The announcement promises what is immediately visible on the land. Any "substitution" is a fall in CR and complaints.

Title in ad = title in landing hero (localized version).

CTA and offer are formulated the same, the terms of bonuses are nearby.

Bread crumbs/menu/form - localized; auto translation of an interface without QA is not allowed.

7) Localization process: from brief to QA

Steps:

1. Brief to the market: target audience, prohibitions, legal phrases, tone.

2. Glossary/style-guide: fix key terms, taboo, tonality.

3. Draft translation or transcription: 2-3 options for A/B.

4. Legal and brand review: verifying wording.

5. Linguistic QA: a native speaker with experience in advertising texts.

6. Final visual QA: hyphenation, alignment, fonts, RTL languages.

7. Launch and A/B: Don't believe yourself - believe the data.

8. Retro and glossary v2: Transfer winning phrases to the dictionary.

Tools: TMS (Phrase/Smartling/Lokalise), CAT editors, Figma with variable text styles, auto spelling/diacritics.

8) RTL, CJK and layout bottlenecks

RTL (Arabic/Hebrew): mirror compositions, arrow icons, carousels, step order.

CJK (Chinese/Japanese/Korean): short lines, denser typography; avoid "narrow" Latin fonts.

Transfers: turn on soft-hyphen/zero-width space as needed so as not to break blocks.

9) UTM, SEO и hreflang

UTM unified dictionaries: 'utm _ source/medium/campaign/content/term' - in Latin, but the market language in the parameter ('lang = pl', 'market = PT').

hreflang on landings: 'x-default', local variants ('ru-UA', 'pt-PT').

Local meta-information (title/description) - in the language of the market, without clickbait.

10) How to measure localization success

CR (klik→reg) and CR (reg→tselevoye action) by language version.

CTR/VTR for creatives of different languages and keys.

ARPU/Payback D7/D30 by language cohorts.

Complaints/refusals of moderation and reasons (vocabulary/legal block).

Time to first action (lag), scrolling depth, map of clicks on the local land.

11) A/B approach to languages and angles

Test not only translation A vs translation B, but the angle: "tournaments" against "gameplay," "service" against "speed."

Mini-matrix: 2 corners × 2 header options × 2 formats (static/video).

10-20% of traffic is exploration, the rest is to the winner.

Stop if click ≥100 and CR <0.5 × median.

12) Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)

1. Literalism: lost meaning and effect → do transcription.

2. Absence of legal phrases in local language → deviations and complaints.

3. The discrepancy between the offer in the announcement and on the land → an increase in failures.

4. Unsupported fonts/diacritics → "krakozyabra" and mistrust.

5. Ignore RTL/CJK → broken UI, CR drop.

6. Self-translation without a carrier → stylistic errors, cultural blunders.

7. The same frequency/emoji for all → local norms are different.

8. No hreflang/currencies/dates → SEO and UX are affected.

13) Checklists

Before starting a new language version

Market brief (audience, inhibitions, tone, legal formulas)
Glossary and style guide approved
Translation/transcription: 2-3 variants of key headings/CTA
Legal Review and RG/Age Disclaimers in Local Language
Localization of currencies/dates/numbers; market payment methods
Visual QA (fonts, hyphenation, RTL/CJK)
Landing and creative coincide in offer and wording
UTM/hreflang/sitemap updated

After start-up

A/B reports: CTR/CR/ARPU/Payback by language and angle
Moderation deviation logs (reasons, edits, appeals)
Update glossary and copyright templates
Creative rotation plan (burnout/seasonality)

14) Procurement templates

Brief for localization (mini):

CA: segments, insights, taboos
Legal formulas: disclaimers, age, terms of the action
Key: Formal/Neutral/Friendly
Key terms: translations/transcription options
Examples of approved wording/visuals

Header template (secure):

"Play responsibly. 18+. Tournaments of the week and 24/7 support. Terms on the site"

15) 30-60-90 implementation plan

0-30 days - Frame and hygiene

Collect glossaries/style guides for 3 priority languages.

Localize landing (s), set up hreflang, currencies/dates, payments.

Prepare 2-3 corners × 2 copy options for the language, undergo a legal review and linguistic QA.

Start the first A/B, set up CTR/CR/ARPU reports.

31-60 days - Scale and quality control

Add 2-3 more languages or sub-locales (pt-PT vs pt-BR).

Introduce transcription for emotional creatives, collect UGC guide.

Automate TMS, create a glossary in CAT, configure visual QA.

Update payments/address validators for locales.

61-90 days - Robustness and optimization

Rotation of creatives by burnout; extension of formats (video/cards).

Transfer of winning formulations to the v2 glossary; team training.

Monthly audit: legal texts, RG disclaimers, reasons for deviations.

ARPU/Payback matching by language → adjusting budgets.

Localization is about the system, not just about translation: tonality, law, visual, currencies and UX. A strong process (brief → glossary → transcription → QA → A/B → retro) makes advertising understandable and relevant in each country, reduces deviations and increases conversion. Do everything you promise in the ad in the user's language - and the local market will respond to you with the growth of CTR, CR and Payback.