Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out!
Look, I get it. You're trying to crack the Prague market and you're worried your ad copy is getting lost in translation, not hitting the right cultural notes. It's a valid concern, but I'm going to be blunt: you're probably focusing on the wrong problem right now.
You think the issue is about understanding Czech sensibilities. And yeah, that matters. Eventually. But it's the last 10% of the job, not the first 90%. The real problem, the one that's actually costing you money, is almost certainly your core message. Get the psychology of your offer and your customer's pain right, and the message will be powerful in *any* language. Get it wrong, and the most culturally nuanced translation in the world won't save you.
We're going to put the Czech phrasebook down for a minute and talk about what really makes people click, and buy, and care. It's not about being perfectly Czech; it's about being painfully relevant to a human being's problem.
TLDR - The Quick and Dirty Version
If you're short on time, here's the gist of it. Don't read this and skip the rest though, the devil's in the details.
- Stop Targeting Demographics: Your customer isn't "a 35-year-old in Prague". Your customer is a person staring at a specific, expensive, career-threatening nightmare. We need to define that nightmare first.
- Use Proven Frameworks: Good copy isn't art, it's engineering. We'll use simple but powerful frameworks like Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) to build a message that works on a psychological level, before you even think about language.
- Your Offer is the Real Ad: The best copy on earth can't sell a rubbish offer. Your "Request a Demo" button is probably killing more conversions than your Czech grammar. We need to build an offer that delivers value upfront.
- Localise, Don't Just Translate: Once the core message is sorted, you don't need a translator. You need a Czech marketing copywriter who can adapt the *concept* and *psychology*, not just the words. There's a massive difference.
- Interactive Tools Inside: I've included a couple of tools in this letter, including a calculator to figure out what you can *really* afford to pay for a lead. It might surprise you.
Your ICP is a Nightmare, Not a Postcode in Prague
Right, first things first. Let's tear up your current idea of a customer profile. I'm willing to bet it looks something like "Businesses in the tech sector in Prague with 50-100 employees" or "Women aged 25-40 living in the city centre".
This is utterly useless. It tells you nothing of value and leads to the kind of generic, wallpaper ads that get ignored in every culture on the planet. To stop burning cash, you have to define your customer by their pain. Their specific, urgent, expensive nightmare.
Your Head of Sales client isn't just a job title; she's a leader terrified of missing her quarterly target again and having to explain it to the board. Your eCommerce customer isn't just a "fashion lover"; she's frustrated that nothing she buys online ever fits properly and she's sick of the hassle of returns. Your ICP isn't a person; it's a problem state.
Once you've isolated that nightmare, everything changes. Your entire marketing strategy gets a backbone. You're no longer selling a product; you're selling a way out of the nightmare. That's a message that transcends language. A person in Prague who is about to miss their sales target feels the exact same professional dread as a person in London or New York. The emotion is universal. That's what we target.
Get this bit right first, or you have no business spending a single koruna on ads.
The Wrong Way (The Money Pit)
(e.g., "People in Prague")
("Our software has AI integration!")
("Náš software má integraci AI!")
The Right Way (The Profitable Path)
("My team wastes 10 hours a week on manual reports.")
("Stop wasting time on reports. Get instant insights.")
(Adapt the concept to Czech culture)
We'll need to look at building a message they can't ignore
Once you know the nightmare, you can build the message to wake them up. Don't try and be clever or creative. Just be clear. The best way to do this is with proven copywriting frameworks. They're like recipes for persuasion. Here are two of the most powerful.
Framework 1: Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS)
This is the workhorse of direct response advertising. It's simple, brutal, and effective. You're not selling a service; you're selling a good night's sleep.
- Problem: State their nightmare back to them, clearly and directly. Use the exact language they would use.
- Agitate: Pour salt in the wound. Twist the knife. Remind them of the consequences of not solving this problem. What happens if they do nothing?
- Solve: Introduce your product or service as the simple, obvious way out of the pain you've just amplified.
Example for a B2B Service (Fractional CFO):
(P) Are your cash flow projections just a shot in the dark?
(A) Are you one bad month away from a payroll crisis while your competitors are confidently raising their next round? That uncertainty keeps you up at night, stopping you from making the bold moves you know you need to make.
(S) Get expert financial strategy for a fraction of a full-time hire. We build dashboards that turn uncertainty into predictable growth. See exactly where you stand, and where you're going.
Framework 2: Before-After-Bridge (BAB)
This one is great for SaaS or anything that creates a clear transformation. You're not selling a platform; you're selling the feeling of relief.
- Before: Paint a picture of their world with the problem. The frustrating, inefficient, stressful status quo.
- After: Paint a picture of their world *after* your solution. The calm, efficient, successful future they want.
- Bridge: Position your product as the bridge that gets them from the "Before" state to the "After" state.
Example for a B2B SaaS (FinOps Platform):
(B) Your AWS bill just arrived. It’s 30% higher than last month, and your engineers have no idea why. Another fire to put out, another stressful meeting with finance to explain the overspend.
(A) Imagine opening your cloud bill and smiling. You see where every dollar is going. Waste is automatically eliminated, and you're actually under budget. Your finance team thinks you're a genius.
(S) Our platform is the bridge that gets you there. In 15 minutes, it connects to your cloud account and shows you exactly where to save money. Start a free trial and find your first £1,000 in savings today.
These frameworks force you to be customer-centric. They're not about your company or your features. They are 100% about the customer's world and their problems. A message built this way is 90% of the way there before you even think about translating it.
I'd say you need to nail the offer before the ad
This is another big one. You could have the most psychologically potent, perfectly localised ad copy in the history of Prague, but if it leads to a weak offer, you've wasted your money. The best copy in the world can't sell something people don't want to do.
And the most common failure point in all of B2B advertising is the offer. Specifically, the "Request a Demo" button.
It is perhaps the most arrogant Call to Action ever conceived. It presumes your prospect, a busy decision-maker, has nothing better to do than book a 45-minute slot in their calendar to be sold to by a junior sales rep. It's high-friction and low-value. It screams "I want to take your time before I give you anything useful." It instantly positions you as just another vendor.
Your offer’s only job is to deliver a moment of undeniable value—an "aha!" moment that makes the prospect sell themselves on your solution.
If you're a SaaS company, the gold standard is a free trial or a freemium plan. No credit card details. Let them use the actual product. Let them feel the transformation from the "Before" to the "After". When the product proves its own value, the sale is just a formality.
If you're not a SaaS company, you're not exempt. You must bottle your expertise into something that provides instant value.
- Marketing Agency? Offer a free, automated SEO audit that shows their top 3 keyword opportunities.
- Data Analytics Platform? A free 'Data Health Check' that flags the top issues in their database.
- Corporate Training? A free 15-minute interactive video module on 'Handling Difficult Conversations'.
- For us, as a B2B advertising consultancy? It's a 20-minute strategy session where we audit failing ad campaigns completely free.
You must solve a small, real problem for free to earn the right to solve the whole thing. A great offer makes the ad's job easy. A bad offer makes it impossible.
And this all ties into what you can afford. People get obsessed with low-cost leads. The real question isn't "How low can my Cost Per Lead go?" but "How high a CPL can I afford to acquire a truly great customer?" The answer is in its counterpart: Lifetime Value (LTV).
Affordable Lead Cost Calculator
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): £10,000
Max. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): £3,333
Max. Affordable Cost Per Lead (CPL): £333
Suddenly that £250 lead from a perfectly targeted ad doesn't seem so expensive, does it? It looks like a bargain. This is the maths that unlocks aggressive, intelligent growth. It frees you from the tyranny of cheap, low-quality leads.
You probably should focus on localisation, not translation
Okay, so let's assume you've done the hard work. You've defined the nightmare, you've built a core message using PAS or BAB, and you've created a high-value, low-friction offer.
NOW we can talk about Prague.
And the key here is to understand the massive difference between translation and localisation.
- A translator changes words from English to Czech. They ensure grammatical correctness. They are a human dictionary. This is what you use for a technical manual, not a persuasive ad.
- A localiser (specifically, a marketing copywriter) adapts concepts. They understand the psychological intent behind your PAS framework and find the best way to express that *idea* to a Czech audience. They know the idioms, the cultural references, the specific turns of phrase that will make the message feel native, not just translated.
A literal translation of "Pouring salt in the wound" might make no sense in Czech. A good localiser would find the equivalent Czech idiom for making a bad situation worse, preserving the *intent* of the "Agitate" step. A literal translation of your "After" state might sound arrogant or boastful in a culture that values modesty. A good localiser will rephrase it to sound aspirational but grounded.
Don't just hire any Czech translator on Upwork. You need to find a Czech copywriter or a marketing agency with copywriting services. Give them your core English message and the framework behind it. Explain the "nightmare" you're solving. Your brief to them isn't "please translate this text." It's "please recreate the psychological effect of this text for a Czech audience."
Core English Message
"Our software stops the nightmare of manual reporting."
The Process
(Literal Word Swap)
(Conceptual Adaptation)
Final Czech Message
(Sounds robotic, foreign, misses the point)
(Feels native, persuasive, and relevant)
You'll need the right platform to deliver the message
Finally, with your nightmare-focused, psychologically-sound, expertly-localised message and high-value offer in hand, where do you put it?
The platform choice comes back to the ICP's nightmare. How aware are they of their problem?
- Are they actively searching for a solution? If your customer knows they have a problem and are typing things like "software for lead generation" or "electrician near me" into a search bar, then you need to be on Google Ads. You're capturing existing demand. This is often the best place to start for B2B or services. The intent is high, so people are closer to buying.
- Are they unaware they have a better solution, or not actively looking? If your customer is just scrolling through their day, you need to interrupt them and make them problem-aware. This is where platforms like Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and LinkedIn come in. You're creating demand. This is where your PAS and BAB copy shines, grabbing their attention and showing them a problem they didn't even realise they could solve so easily.
For B2B, LinkedIn can be a goldmine if you need to reach specific decision-makers in specific industries. The targeting is second to none. I remember one campaign we ran for a B2B software client on LinkedIn; by targeting the right job titles and industries, we were able to get highly qualified leads for just $22 each, which for their high-ticket service was an absolute steal.
For B2C or some types of B2B (especially software), Meta can be incredibly powerful. The algorithm is ridiculously good at finding people who will convert. We've had some staggering results for clients on Meta. For one B2B software client, we generated 4,622 registrations at only $2.38 per registration. For another, we generated over 5,000 software trials at just $7 a pop. That's the power of combining a great offer with a platform that can find the right people for it.
| Factor | Google Ads (Search) | Meta / LinkedIn Ads (Social) |
|---|---|---|
| Audience State | Problem Aware / Actively Searching | Unaware / Passively Browsing |
| Your Goal | Capture Existing Demand | Create New Demand |
| Targeting Method | Keywords (User Intent) | Demographics, Interests, Behaviours (User Profile) |
| Best For... | Urgent services, B2B solutions with clear search terms, eCommerce for specific products. | New products, visual products (eCommerce), B2B SaaS with a strong offer, anything requiring education. |
| Analogy | The helpful shop assistant who appears when you ask for something. | The compelling window display that makes you stop and walk into the shop. |
The Action Plan - Bringing it all together
Right, that was a lot to take in. So here's a simple, step-by-step plan. Forget about the Czech translation for now and follow this process. This is your roadmap.
| Step | Action | Why It's Critical |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Define the Nightmare | Interview your best customers. What was the specific, urgent, expensive problem they had right before they found you? Write it down in their exact words. This is your ICP. | This is the foundation. Without a deep understanding of the pain, your message will be generic and powerless. |
| 2. Engineer Your Offer | Based on the nightmare, create a high-value, low-friction offer. A free trial, a valuable PDF, a free audit, a useful tool. Something that solves a small piece of their problem for free. Ditch "Request a Demo". | A great offer does most of the selling for you. It builds trust and demonstrates your value before asking for a commitment. |
| 3. Write Core Copy (in English) | Using the PAS or BAB framework, write the ad copy in English. Focus entirely on the nightmare and how your offer is the bridge to the 'after' state. Keep it simple, clear, and direct. | This ensures the psychological structure of your message is sound before language becomes a variable. It's your master blueprint. |
| 4. Hire a Localiser, Not a Translator | Find a Czech-native marketing copywriter. Give them your English copy and explain the framework, the nightmare, and the offer. Ask them to recreate the *persuasive intent*, not just translate the words. | This is the step that makes your message feel native and culturally intelligent, ensuring the psychological triggers work for a local audience. |
| 5. Test on the Right Platform | Based on your ICP, choose your starting platform (Google for active searchers, Meta/LinkedIn for passive browsers). Launch a small, controlled test with your new localised ad and offer. | The best strategy is useless without execution. This is where you gather real-world data and see if your assumptions were correct. |
| 6. Analyse & Optimise | Look at the data. Are people clicking? Are they taking up your offer? Don't just look at the cost per click, look at the cost per *valuable action*. Double down on what works, kill what doesn't. | This is how you turn a good starting point into a scalable, profitable customer acquisition machine. |
Why you might want some expert help
Look, the framework I've laid out is straightforward, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Execution is everything.
Getting the "nightmare" definition right takes a knack for asking the right questions. Crafting the perfect, irresistible offer is part art, part science. Managing the localisation process, briefing copywriters, setting up campaigns with the right technical structure, and then interpreting the data to make smart decisions... it's a full-time job. And it's our full-time job.
We've seen these principles transform businesses. I'm thinking of a medical job matching SaaS client who came to us with a Cost Per User Acquisition of £100. By restructuring their campaigns around a clearer message and better targeting, we brought that down to just £7. That's not a small tweak; it's a fundamental change in business viability. We helped another software client get over 45,000 signups across Meta, TikTok, and Google by applying these kinds of focused strategies.
This is what we do. We build and scale paid advertising systems that work, because they're built on a solid foundation of customer psychology, compelling offers, and relentless testing.
If you'd like to have a chat, we offer a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session. We can take a look at what you're doing now, and I can give you some concrete, actionable advice on how to apply this framework to your specific situation in Prague. No hard sell, just a genuine attempt to help.
You can book a time that works for you here: Book a Free Strategy Session
Either way, I hope this has been useful and has given you a new way to think about the challenge ahead. Stop worrying about the language and start obsessing over your customer's pain. Get that right, and the rest will follow.
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
