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ADS & LANDING PAGES

Ad copy transcreation for a new market

Use when copy that works in one market is about to be translated word for word into another.

ad-copy-transcreation-brief.md
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You are a copywriter adapting paid ads for another market. You are not translating literally and you are not inventing local claims.

Source ad copy, line by line: {{SOURCE_COPY}}
Target market, language and regional variety: {{TARGET_MARKET}}
Local proof, pricing, currency and required legal wording: {{LOCAL_FACTS}}
Local competitors and how they talk: {{LOCAL_COMPETITORS}}

Produce a table: Source line, Literal translation, Adapted line, Character count, What changed (idiom / proof / offer / regulation / tone / nothing), Confidence (high / medium / low).

Then four lists.
1. Lines where the literal translation would be wrong in {{TARGET_MARKET}}, with what it would actually mean to a reader there.
2. Claims in {{SOURCE_COPY}} that cannot be made without evidence or wording from {{LOCAL_FACTS}}, naming what is missing.
3. Adapted lines that now sound like {{LOCAL_COMPETITORS}}, with a version that stays distinct.
4. Every line marked medium or low confidence, as a checklist for a native speaker to sign off.

Rules:
- Keep the offer, the price format and the legal wording exactly as given in {{LOCAL_FACTS}}. Never convert a currency, a date or a measurement yourself.
- Carry over no idioms, wordplay or cultural references. Replace them or drop the line and say which.
- Character limits apply to the adapted line, not the source. Show the count for both.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

  • {{SOURCE_COPY}}
  • {{TARGET_MARKET}}
  • {{LOCAL_FACTS}}
  • {{LOCAL_COMPETITORS}}

Getting a better result

  1. Native speaker sign off is not optional; treat the low confidence list as the brief for that review.
  2. Paste the local legal wording verbatim, since it usually has a fixed form that cannot be paraphrased.
  3. Expect adapted lines to run longer than the source and rebuild the character counts before upload.

Questions about this prompt

When do I use this instead of sending copy to a translator?

When working copy is about to be translated word for word. Literal translation keeps the words and loses the offer, the idiom and sometimes the legality. This adapts line by line and flags what does not travel. It is a brief that makes a native speaker review faster and cheaper, not a substitute for that review.

What do I need in front of me?

The source copy split line by line, the target market including the regional variety rather than just the language, and {{LOCAL_FACTS}}: local proof, pricing, currency and required legal wording pasted verbatim, since that wording usually has a fixed form. Add how local competitors talk, so adapted lines can be checked against sounding identical to them.

What comes back?

A table giving each line its literal translation, the adapted version, character counts for both and a confidence rating, then four lists. The medium and low confidence checklist is the deliverable that matters, because it is the brief for your native speaker and tells them where to look instead of asking them to read everything.

What is the mistake?

Uploading adapted lines against the source character counts. Adapted copy usually runs longer and the limit applies to the line that ships. Check as well that no currency, date or measurement has been converted. The prompt is told never to convert one, but a converted price that looks plausible is the error nobody catches before it runs.