Looking to break into the French market? Pay attention to these important factors first.

France has the world’s seventh largest economy and contains a huge range of famous businesses known across the world.

If your company is looking to tap into a willing audience in that part of the world, there is a little bit more than good translation to get right.

Here’s a brief guide to marketing to a French speaking audience.

Trust Is Everything

French businesses are known to be tight with their current suppliers, wanting to avoid any disruption that affects relationships they have built and nurtured. The same could be said for French customers who are also quite loyal to specific brands and companies.

This means your initial impression is everything when it comes to winning over a French speaking audience. If you win their trust, you will find loyalty, but you have to make enough of a good impression at first to encourage potential customers away from their current brands.

Innovation Is Key

The French don’t tend to value samey companies who offer a different version of what is currently available. If you really want customers to break away from their current brands you have to do a lot of research on the competitors you have. Your products and processes must be innovative enough to stand out as different. When considering a French-speaking marketing campaign it won’t be enough to simply apply any campaign in a well-translated version. It has to be culturally appropriate, and different.

Who Do You Want To Impress?

If you are marketing directly to a customer, an understanding of branding, French culture and competitors is key. If you are going down the route of B2B marketing, your approach has to understand a different side of French culture. Your French business audience operates under a hierarchical culture, which means there will be multiple people to impress before you get to a decision maker. That doesn’t make anybody unimportant, but it does make your B2B marketing campaign more complex.

Small Mistakes Are Big Mistakes

The French are known for being precise, delicate and infinitely detailed in everything they do. For that reason, any small mistakes you make will not be received as minor. They will be considered big mistakes by your audience.

French Language Has To Be Precise

English is spoken well by around 40% of French people, but that doesn’t mean you should market using an English speaker. Instead, any voiceovers, translation and written communication should be in French. Even better, a native French speaker will show a strong signal that you are respectful of your new customer. A native French speaker, or somebody fluent enough to understand the culture as well as the language is the best possible choice for any voice over agency, or other marketing media used.

If In Doubt, Use Skilled Professionals

If you are ever in doubt about how to market to a French audience, the best way to protect your venture is to use skilled professionals. Localised translation, native French speaking voiceover artists or French marketing professionals with an understanding of the culture. Any input that will avoid brand damage, and boost your chances of breaking the French market with your marketing campaign, is valuable and worth your time, energy and budget.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.