This discussion is a kind contribution from our reader – Laura
With a few taps on a smartphone, your business can spread messages all around the globe. Social media is an incredibly valuable business resource, but you need to know how to leverage its power effectively.
Learning another language can massively boost your social media performance, benefiting your business overall.
Whether you do it in-house or you hire a professional translation company to do the work for you, here are just some of the ways that it can assist your business and boost your social media performance.
It expands your reach
When you post on social media in more than one language, you’re instantly expanding your reach beyond those who share your native language.
Whilst English is one of the dominant global languages, your business shouldn’t make the assumption that your whole target market can speak it fluently.
Communicating in additional languages can massively boost your social media performance.
By operating on the platforms that your target audience uses, posting the type of content they want to see, and posting in a language they understand, you’ll can popularise your social accounts with valuable, untapped markets.
It injects a little soul
A bilingual or multilingual social media presence can give your business a step up in your efforts to communicate your brand personality to your entire target audience.
Having a strong understanding of a second (or third or fourth…) language means that your content can progress beyond a rudimentary understanding of basic foreign phrases. You’ll be able to crack jokes and tell intriguing stories to those with other native tongues.
Your business will be able to inject a little soul into its content, leveraging the power of humour and emotion to attract foreign markets.
It heightens your cultural sensitivity
When you learn another language, you are able to immerse yourself properly in the culture of the places that speak those languages.
This opportunity encourages you to be more open-minded and can train you up in the customs, traditions, and politics of an area.
Equipped with this knowledge, you’ll be able to shape your social media content so that your messaging is appropriate for each area you’re targeting. Whilst a joke might be received well in one country, it could lose you followers in another.
It helps you build relationships
Social media is a domain where your business should avoid doing the hard sell. Instead, you should be focusing on building strong and personal relationships with your target audience.
By speaking another language, you’ll be able to extend this relationship-building beyond the English-speaking world. Your audience will actually be able to understand the text, so you can turn your focus to post engagement, rather than tracking your follower count.
When foreign clientele contact you with queries or concerns, or leave comments on your posts, you’ll be able to add that personal touch by replying to them directly in their native language.
This will show that your business is making an effort to have a broad appeal, making you look like a very attractive proposition to those from other nations. Just watch your likes and shares skyrocket!
It encourages a creative flourish
Learning a new language is a great mental exercise which forces you to think more deeply about what you’re saying and how you’re saying it.
This exercise taps into the creative side of your brain. By sparking this creativity, you can dream up quirkier and more engaging social strategies that can set you apart from the competition.
The impact of this newfound inspiration will be evident in your increasing follower count and engagement metrics.
It helps your recruitment drive
Social media is growing as a powerful recruitment tool. With behind-the-scenes photos of the office space or insights into exciting projects, it’s an excellent way to show how exciting your workplace is in a bid to attract talented employees.
The creme de la creme in the talent pool may not share your first language. By posting in different tongues, your social media channels will receive an influx of engagement and interest for bilingual prospective applicants.
Your business will look forward-thinking and inviting, boosting your social engagement with people all over the world.
It attracts other businesses
Social media isn’t a dog-eat-dog world. It’s a unique platform where brands can work together to promote one another, providing mutual support as they all grow.
Posting in another language can help you to build trust with other global businesses in your industry who can project you in front of new, relevant audiences.
Being bilingual will facilitate better communication with these other brands, opening up opportunities for collaboration. Awareness of your social channels will rise and naturally, increased followership and engagement will follow.
It improves your English
There is perhaps nothing more off-putting than scrolling through a brand’s feed and finding their posts littered with spelling and grammar mistakes. It screams incompetency – if they can’t spell properly, how can they guarantee a decent product or service?
When you learn another language, you are forced to think about the mechanics of language. You think deeply about sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary.
This attention to detail will naturally transfer over when you write in English. You’ll sharpen your writing and editorial skills, allowing you to refine your copywriting.
Your current and prospective followers will form a far more favourable impression of your business when your posts are written coherently. They’ll be unlikely to hit that unfollow button when you use “their” instead of “they’re!”
Get learning your A B C’s!
There is such clear value in learning another language in terms of improving your social media performance.
Not only does it boost your audience reach, it helps you to build personal relationships with prospective clients and with other businesses, all working to boost your engagement.
It allows you to express your brand personality more clearly, sensitively, and creatively, which is a big plus for attracting a quality workforce as your business grows. All of this will keep your following on a steady increase, encouraging consistent brand-consumer interaction.
If you don’t already know another language, it’s time for your business to invest in those skills or hire a professional to help you out.