Social Media Translations

With the improving technology and globalizations most of us nowadays use social media platforms actively, expressing our thoughts and feelings, sharing texts or pictures and even shopping.

When it comes to internationally operating companies that wish to reach as many people as possible, releasing social media content in one language only may not be enough if they want to be noticeable online, which requires that the content shared on social media in the respective country be localized based on the expectations, needs and the way of life in that country.

What should one keep in mind when translating social media content?

• Every social media platform has its own style, design, specific user community and interface. For example, one cannot share a post on LinkedIn the same way they do on Instagram or Facebook because they are platforms that have different target and communities from each other. For this reasons, translations of social media content should be adapted to the related social network.
• Some social platforms like Twitter allow people to post texts with no more than 280 characters, whereas others have no limitations. But if the translation of the social media content becomes longer, only some parts of it may be previewed, which requires that at least the first two sentences be interesting enough to convince the reader to read the rest.
• Social media jargon is a language per se and for this reason, language experts working in this area should be aware of the details of the language and have high level of imagination as creativity may be required. When needed, the most frequently used hashtags and abbreviations should be interpreted once again in view of the habits of the target culture.
• A translator who has become an expert on social media should also have a thorough knowledge of marketing. In addition to SEO techniques that boost content activity, strategies to increase user attention should be taken into consideration.
• Research has shown that internet users prefer content in their mother tongue to content in another language. Because of this reason translations of social media content should be natural and fluent to read, so the users will feel like the content was written in their own language and bond with your brand.

Why should one consult a professional translation office when translating social media content?

• A poor translation of social media content may have a negative influence on your brand’s image and your reputation on social network. Therefore, you should not trust non-expert translation offices or free machine translation software with your social media content translations.
• With the help of experts from professional translation offices, you can create the right content on social media, increase your sales or services and establish a more reliable bond with your customers and ensure customer royalty.