How to Manage Your Company’s Multilingual Social Media Accounts
Is there any international company today that isn’t reaping the benefits of a multilingual social media presence? The big ones are indeed doing so, but they aren’t the only ones. Today, even small businesses and professional freelancers are open to global trade. And they know that social networks are among the most efficient channels to advertise their products and services and boost brand awareness.
The best thing about all this? The reach is almost limitless. You just need the right people behind the content, a posting schedule, a regular metrics analysis, and there you go. Now you can reach any country almost as quickly as you can connect with your local buyers.
Put like that, it sounds like a straightforward task, right? And it’ll be if you implement and follow an appropriate multilingual strategy. So, to help you develop that winning plan, we put together this guide.
Ready to learn some tips?
About Language and Translation
Here we group all tips on creating compelling and understandable multilingual content.
Translate and Localise
This is one of the most important aspects. After all, the success of many other elements of the strategy will depend on how your multilingual social media audience reacts to your posts. Translating ensures that a greater number of followers understand your message. And localising, more people empathising with your content. Make sure you’re transferring not only the words but also the ideas and emotions. And, equally important, keep your message consistent across all languages and communication channels.
Learn more about the differences between translating and localising.
Introducing Neologisms
It’s an open secret that brands love to implement new, invented words that their customers then echo. And it makes sense, as this can potentially boost popularity dramatically. It also makes it possible to advertise products and services with almost no (apparent) effort.
It’s just a matter of saying it in the right channel and repeating it enough times for it to resonate in our heads, and that’s it!
So far, so good. But, if you’re thinking of following this trend in your social networks, for example, make sure that your linguistic inventions don’t have any inconvenient meaning in the target language. For that, consider consulting the social media translation services of a professional native speaker.
Mix Languages and Play With Words
By this, we don’t mean inventing from scratch, but using hybrid combinations between two languages. This adds a fun twist and can be particularly useful in countries with large numbers of speakers of multiple languages.
It can also be useful for places with more than one official language. Need examples? Consider Spanglish, Franglais, Taglish, and so on. This resource can lead to creative and smart ideas, if used carefully, with cultural sensitivity in mind.
A tip? Before implementing it, try researching the possible audience reception. If you believe it can work, you can experiment with a simple message, for example, on your multilingual social media. And then, analyse the results.
Decide How to Post for the Different Languages
There are different options for managing your multilingual or bilingual social media posts. Here’s a closer look:
- Manage separate accounts for each language. This is the best option in terms of more accurate analytics and localisation. It allows you to target your audience directly (and at the best times) with content they’ll find relevant. The downside? It requires more commitment and a dedicated programme.
- Publish the same post multiple times, once for each language. The feed will experience more activity; however, this “action” doesn’t translate into relevancy for everyone, which can affect the engagement rate and the number of followers.
- Create posts that contain their translations. This enables you to centralise the control and communication of your brand, all from a single account. Mind you: It might not be as effective as if it was prepared for a particular community and works best for short content.
Mind Multilingual SEO
Multilingual SEO is not a luxury that only big companies can afford. Today it’s an essential approach to increase your website’s international traffic and with this, to get a higher conversion rate.
Social media itself isn’t entirely designed to sell, but it can do two things:
- Create brand awareness and increase positive reputation.
- Become a bridge between users and your website, where you want them to go.
How can multilingual social media help you in this? Simply by searching and using the most popular hashtags and keywords for each country—and more specifically, for each region. This is particularly key if you’re doing multilingual paid media or trying to boost a specific post.
Learn more about the latest SEO language trends.
#OptimationalTip: Google Translate is not a bad idea… for certain tasks. It’s a tool, but it doesn’t ensure the quality of the results—this should be done by a professional linguist. So, stick to the safe side, as the internet isn’t merciful: A blunder can go viral in seconds. If you don’t believe us, remember what happened during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
About Connecting the Audience with the Brand
Here we’ll focus on how to establish real bonds and highlight the business worthiness.
Know Your Audience
Imagine you walk into a room to sell a product and the audience is behind a wall, hidden. You have no idea if you’re talking to a mixed group, or if they’re teenagers, lawyers, or NGO members. You don’t know about their backgrounds, interests, or if they even have a mobile. Would you be able to sell in the same way as if you were informed and prepared? Probably not.
This is why to connect, you must first know with whom. So, do your homework first: Research your target market a bit. You don’t need to be a creeper, just analyse the analytics available on each platform and learn more about their online behaviour and, very importantly, their language. Be prepared to say much more than three popular phrases in their tongue and genuinely connect with a high-value message.
Some online tools that can help in this quest into multilingual social media are Google Trends and Meta’s Interactive Reports and Insights To Go.
Be Human (And Show Humanity)
Social networks are virtual channels, yes. But for connecting people. On the other side of the screen, there are persons who aren’t just looking for a product or service; they are also expecting to be treated in a respectful, kind, and cordial way.
Your company can display its professional side without sacrificing its friendly touch. For that purpose, show that in your company there are also human beings working behind the scenes. And go the extra mile: Reflect this in your posts—which will also be handled by people. Also, remember that connecting isn’t spamming with publicity.
Last comment (and here is the big no to not relying entirely on machine translation.) Do you want texts that feel natural? Then, counting on social media translation services will be, truly, an investment.
Use Your Multilingual Social Media to Help
One of the most important aspects when defining a shopping experience is whether the interaction went smoothly. It isn’t always possible to guarantee that everything will work perfectly, but shoppers expect to receive the help they need in case of something not going on as expected (and without having to beg for it.)
If your process isn’t ready to give support in every market where you are present, prospects won’t buy. Harsh, but true. And while social media isn’t the best place to answer all kinds of queries, it can work to promote:
- Your willingness for multilingual communication to happen and flow.
- Where to find the business contact information or FAQs for each language.
Being human is also about showing an attitude of service.
Use Language to Showcase Your Brand’s Culture
Does your company foster a healthy work environment? Is your brand genuinely committed to important causes? Then use your bilingual social media to talk about that!
Language is a powerful tool to humanise and social media, to inspire and encourage more people to get involved. And it also looks good for advertising, why deny it.
Just be consistent in what you say and what you do. Lies don’t get you very far—and those platforms are full of people ready to prove them wrong.
Wondering about how to also remain consistent across languages? Then learn more about how to set up a translation style guide.
Be Active
If you’re planning on posting to Instagram once a week or tweeting something once in a blue moon… forget it. No one likes those feeds that are full of dust and spider webs. And sometimes not even the algorithm, which ends up not showing users the profiles of companies that have little presence.
Social media is all about interactions, and the more constant the better. Try to post every day or several times a day. But above all, appeal to common sense: Only publish if you have something relevant to say or if you’re willing to start a conversation.
If you’re struggling with ideas, consider, for example, posting interactive content with information about your industry. You can also keep things light and fun by following challenges or sharing viral videos.
And remember: Reply promptly to questions and always answer negative comments. Silence is a double-edged sword!
#OptimationalTip: Do you have valuable content ready? Great! Already benefiting from multilingual social media? Awesome! Now, make your content shine by posting according to the right time zones and considering each region’s specific trends.
Succeed by Finding the Right People and Tools for Each Task
This is the end. But before saying goodbye, we want to add one last tip.
Anyone with intermediate social media skills can manage a business account. But planning and carrying out an efficient content calendar is on a higher level. And communicating a message in the right way, across different cultures and languages, and being consistent with brand values, is the big challenge.
So, if you want your posts to resonate and stand out, make sure to team up with well-prepared and up-to-the-task people. Just as there are tools that facilitate processes and help in (informed) decision-making, there are experts to fulfil each role. They are the ones who know the processes best, how to get the most out of these tools, and who will deliver the expected results.
So, now you know: Make your messages global and human. Make them meaningful and far-reaching. And, if you need help with your next steps, contact us today.
