Marketing in your customers' own language works because people trust, understand and share messages that sound like home. In Canada that often means Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic or French alongside English. The way to do it well is to write each version for its readers instead of translating the English word for word, keep the offer identical in every language, and have a fluent speaker check every post before it goes out.
The audience is large. In the 2021 Census, 4.6 million people in Canada (12.7%) spoke a language other than English or French most often at home. Among the most common were Punjabi (about 520,000 people), Arabic (about 290,000) and Urdu (about 160,000) (Statistics Canada, "Increasing diversity of languages, other than English or French, spoken at home", August 17, 2022). Many of those households are also fluent in English. The question is not whether they can read your English ad, but which ad feels like it was made for them.
Why marketing in your customers' language works
A message in someone's home language does three things English alone often cannot. It is understood faster, especially by parents and grandparents who make many household buying decisions. It signals respect: you took the trouble. And it is easier to forward, because it fits naturally into a family WhatsApp group or a community Facebook page.
Poor translation can undo all of that. In CSA Research's survey of 8,709 consumers in 29 locales, nearly half (48%) said they leave a website when they hit a problem, and among the problems they reported, 34% pointed to bad or off-target translation (CSA Research, "Can't Read, Won't Buy" B2C, July 2020). Speaking someone's language badly can be worse than not trying.
Which language for which customers
Do not guess a customer's language from their name or neighbourhood. Ask: on order forms, at the counter, in a quick poll on your page. Then use this table as a starting point.
| Language | Script | Practical notes |
|---|---|---|
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi (most readers from India); Shahmukhi (most readers from Pakistan) | Ask which script your customers read. Many younger readers prefer Punjabi written in Roman letters on WhatsApp. |
| Hindi | Devanagari | Casual posts are often written as Hinglish in Roman letters. Formal notices read better in Devanagari. |
| Urdu | Nastaliq (Perso-Arabic), right to left | Spoken Urdu and Hindi overlap a lot, but the scripts are different. Never put Urdu words in Devanagari or the reverse. |
| Arabic | Arabic, right to left | Modern Standard Arabic is understood widely; spoken dialects vary by country. A warm, simple standard tone is the safest default. |
| French | Latin | Use Canadian French for Canadian customers (for example "courriel" for email). Required in Quebec, valued by francophone communities elsewhere. |
| English | Latin | The shared language. Use it for details everyone in the family must understand: prices, dates, addresses. |
How to do it without sounding translated
Translated ads sound translated because they start in English. The sentence structure, the jokes and the idea of what matters are all English. Good multilingual marketing starts in the customer's language and situation.
1. Start from the moment, not the sentence
Before writing a word, describe the customer's real situation in their world. "Families buying sweets for relatives before a festival" leads to different words than "festive gift boxes now available". Write the post from that moment.
2. Keep the offer identical everywhere
The warm part can change between languages. The facts cannot. Price, date, size, address and conditions must match in every version. Put them in a short fact block (numbers, time, phone) that is the same everywhere.
3. Get a fluent reader, every time
A family member, a staff member or a loyal customer who reads the language well can catch the wrong word, the wrong script or a greeting that does not fit. Ask them one question: "Would you forward this to your family group?"
4. Check the layout, not just the words
Arabic and Urdu read right to left. Make sure text in pictures is set right to left, punctuation sits on the correct side and arrows point the right way. Check that your design tool has a font for Gurmukhi, Devanagari or Nastaliq, or the text may show up as empty boxes.
5. Ask AI to write in the language, not to translate
If you use an AI assistant, ask it to write directly for the audience:
Prompt
Write a short Instagram caption in Punjabi (Gurmukhi script) for Punjabi-speaking families in Brampton who buy sweets for relatives before festivals. Do not translate from English: write it the way a local shopkeeper would talk to regular customers. Keep the price and date exactly as given: [price], [date]. Then give me an English back-translation so I can check the meaning.
The back-translation is your safety net. It shows you what the post really says before a fluent reader confirms it.
Code-switching (Hinglish, Punglish) done respectfully
Many South Asian Canadians mix languages in the same sentence, especially online. Done well, a line of Hinglish or Punglish sounds like a friend talking. Done badly, it sounds like an outsider doing an impression.
When it works: food, retail, events and casual offers; younger audiences; WhatsApp and Instagram; light, warm humour. For example, for a hypothetical tiffin service: "Ghar jaisa khana, kitchen ki koi tension nahi." Or for a lunch special: "Brampton, lunch di tension na lo. Thali ready aa."
When to avoid it: health, legal, financial and immigration services; funerals and grief; religious occasions; notices aimed at elders. Here, use one language clearly and respectfully.
Some rules that keep it respectful:
- Write the way people actually type. Roman script is normal for casual Hinglish; use Devanagari or Gurmukhi when the post is written in that language.
- Never spell English words "funny" to imitate an accent, and never make a group's way of speaking the joke.
- Let one language carry the offer. Mixing is for the warm line, not for the price and date.
- Test the line with two or three people from the community. If anyone winces, change it.
French in Quebec and beyond
French is not optional for businesses marketing in Quebec. Under Quebec's Charter of the French language, commercial documents must be available in French, and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business notes this "includes websites and social media posts". On signs and posters, another language is allowed only when French is markedly predominant, and new trademark rules for signs took effect on June 1, 2025 (CFIB, "Law 14 (Bill 96)"). If you sell into Quebec, get proper advice on what applies to your business.
Outside Quebec, French can still be a real advantage with francophone communities in Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and elsewhere, and with newcomers from French-speaking countries. Write it in Canadian French and have it checked like any other language.
Mistakes to avoid
- Machine translation with no human check. Free translators are fine for understanding a message, not for publishing one.
- Wrong script. Punjabi in the wrong script, or Urdu in Devanagari, tells readers the ad was not made for them.
- Assuming religion from language. A Punjabi speaker is not automatically Sikh, a Hindi speaker is not automatically Hindu and an Arabic speaker is not automatically Muslim. Greet people for the festivals your customers actually celebrate.
- Stereotypes and accents as humour. Laugh with the situation, never at the people.
- Different offers in different languages. If the Punjabi post says 15% off and the English post says 10%, you have a trust problem, and possibly a misleading-advertising problem.
- A dead end after the ad. If the post is in Arabic but the order page, phone line and receipt are only in English, say so clearly, or offer at least a WhatsApp number answered by someone who speaks the language.
A simple workflow for small businesses
- Ask your customers which languages they prefer to read and which script.
- Choose one main language per campaign and, at most, one second language.
- Write a fact block with the price, date, address and phone, the same in every version.
- Write (or have AI write) each version directly in its language, with an English back-translation.
- Have a fluent speaker check the words, the script and the greetings.
- Check right-to-left layouts and fonts in every picture.
- Post where that community already is: WhatsApp groups, community Facebook pages, local radio or newspapers in that language.
Campaign tools can speed up step 4. GoCampaignly, for example, writes campaigns in English, French, Hindi, Punjabi (Gurmukhi), Spanish and Arabic, including right-to-left Arabic, and lets you write your brief in the language you are most comfortable with. Urdu is not one of its six languages today, so for Urdu you would still work with a writer or a general AI assistant and a fluent reviewer. To plan the rest of the campaign around these posts, see our step-by-step guide on how to plan a marketing campaign with AI.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Translate good enough for my business posts?
It is useful for understanding a message, but not for publishing one without a check. Machine translation often misses tone, picks the wrong word for a local audience or mixes scripts. Write the post for the audience, then have a fluent speaker read it before it goes out.
Should I post in Hindi or Urdu for South Asian customers?
Ask your customers. Spoken Hindi and Urdu overlap a lot, but they are written in different scripts: Hindi in Devanagari and Urdu in Nastaliq, which reads right to left. Many customers from either background read casual posts in Roman letters, so a Roman-script post can reach both, while formal notices should use the script your readers prefer.
Can I mix English and Punjabi or Hindi in one post?
Yes, for casual posts about food, shopping or events, if it sounds like how your customers actually talk. Keep the price, date and address in one clear language, never imitate accents, and avoid mixing in posts about health, money, legal matters, grief or religion.
Do I have to advertise in French in Canada?
In Quebec, yes: the Charter of the French language requires commercial advertising, websites and social media posts aimed at the Quebec market to be available in French, with extra rules for signs. Outside Quebec there is no rule like this for private businesses' social media posts, though other rules can apply, for example to labels on packaged products. French can still help you reach francophone customers.
How many languages should a small business use?
Start with one main language and at most one second language per campaign. It is better to do two languages well, with a fluent check every time, than five languages badly.