practical guide to social media for translators

WantWords

A practical guide to social media for translators

Marta Stelmaszak

www.wantwords.co.uk

WantWords

What I write about?

I have been planning to write this guide for a while to share my experience of social me-

dia as a translator and interpreter. I’ve started using social media for business purposes

about 18 months ago and I saw a galore of benefits directly related to the amount of

work coming my way.

In this guide, I share my views on the purposes of social media,

possible uses, strategies, and essentials.

I am aware of the fact that there is a multitude of social media platforms, and more and

more of them appear on the market. However, in this guide I will concentrate on Face-

book, Twitter, and LinkedIn because of their popularity, versatility, and applicability to

our business.

I also know that we have different time commitments, and not every single translator

can imagine spending 2 hours a day on various social media. This is why I tried to take a

new approach to our engagement with these platforms, suggesting plans for those of us

who can spend 2-3 hours a day, 30 minutes a day, or need flexible solutions. I’m trying

to be strategic and practical here.

What I don’t write about?

I don’t provide basic descriptions and specifications you can easily find online. I don’t

describe how to set up an account, or how to gain more followers. I don’t refer to oth-

ers, because I want to share my experience. I also don’t give tips on social media eti-

quette, or most common mistakes.

It’s only for profes-

sional purposes

My experience only

here.

WantWords

What is inside?

1. What do we use social media for?

2. Who do we target our content at?

3. How to prepare a strategy?

4. Facebook

5. Twitter

6. LinkedIn

WantWords

1. What do we use social media for?

When I first toyed with the idea of setting up social media accounts, I didn’t feel that I

needed them. I had enough work, I participated in some face-to-face networking events

and I read industry-related journals.

Getting into social media was more of an experiment for me. It’s like with buying your

first smartphone: at first, you just do it for fun, then you can’t imagine your life without

instant access to e-mail and web.

I’ve set up my Facebook profile and connected with friends from three countries I lived

in. I chatted with some of them, liked their wedding photos, and asked about their jobs.

Well, I enjoyed the idea of staying in touch with people you’ve met a while ago, but I

couldn’t really get myself to share as abundantly as others. I turned to LinkedIn, and it

made more sense for me. I could connect with other trans-

lators or project managers, write to them, and chat. I also en-

joyed groups a lot, and even became a moderator of one. Then

came Twitter: I created an account, tweeted 5 tweets, and forgot

about the whole thing. I bet your experience might have been

pretty much the same.

Disappointment or discouragements are typical of a non-

structured or non-oriented approach. I didn’t know what I was looking for on social me-

dia. I forgot that any tool has its purposes and instructions of use. I sat down and started

off thinking what are the purposes of social media.

Again, we’re talking pro-

fessional here.

LinkedIn is generally per-

ceived as THE platform

for business, not only in

translation.

You may find Twitter less

useful if you don’t enjoy

socialising.

WantWords Marketing

An obvious one. All companies use social media to mar-

ket their services and products, to be closer to their clients, to

create trends. I immediately started thinking if that was possi-

ble at all in the language industry. Early days saw translators

writing “like me on Facebook for a 10% discount”. What was the point of that, exactly?

We’re not selling trainers or chocolates, we’re providing professional business services.

Like lawyers, or accountants. Not like Nike or Milka. I knew that there must be ways of

marketing our language services to potential clients, but… There was some potential, I

just didn’t really know how to use it.

Socialising

On LinkedIn I managed to make more connections with other transla-

tors in a couple of weeks than in my entire lifetime during face-to-face

events. I wasn’t sure what am I going to do with all these people, but

it was reassuring to know that there are others like me.

Learning and exchanging

It wasn’t too obvious for me from the beginning, but I soon started to realise that social

media provide great opportunities to exchange views, opinions, and information.

After I realised that I can use social media for three different purposes, I had to decide

what am I looking for and how will I achieve that. It was crucial for me to find the right

blend and adapt suitable strategies. Perhaps even match the platform with the purpose?

Using social media solely

for marketing may be dis-

appointing for translators

and interpreters. The

character of our services

doesn’t put us in direct

contact with clients on

social media.

Translators seem to

love social media

for socialising.

We’re finally not

alone! We should

WantWords After I realised that I can use social media for three different purposes, I had to decide

what am I looking for and how will I achieve that. It was crucial for me to find the right

blend and adapt suitable strategies. Perhaps even match the platform with the pur-

pose?

Out of my personal experience, Twitter is best for learning and exchanging, Facebook

works wonders for socialising, and LinkedIn is best for marketing. You can obviously use

all of them for different purposes, but you need to be aware of types of audiences you

encounter there.

Action points:

Think of what you want to achieve in your social media strategy

Decide which platforms you want to concentrate on

Consider whether you really need that much social media presence

WantWords 2. Who do we target our content at?

Our social media presence and content we share is not just in vacuum. It’s always di-

rected at a group of readers. There’s always the audience for our activities. If you al-

ready know what you want to achieve with your social media strategy, you need to

think of your target audiences.

Marketing

You’re on LinkedIn and you’re connecting only with other

translators from language-related groups. Now, how would

that bring you more projects? It wouldn’t. Think of your target group of clients and con-

nect with them: project managers, in-house staff at translation agencies, professionals

in your specialist fields.

Socialising

If you want to socialise, connect with most popular and open translators. Talk to them,

share your views and your stories. Become a social hub, and you will attract others.


To learn and exchange, you’ll need to find people who are sharing and setting trends in

the profession. Engage with them, and curate your content so that you also have valua-

ble information to share.

This simple mistake brings

a lot of disappointment to

other translators saying:

“I’m on social media and I

didn’t get any new clients”.

No wonder why!

It always works both

ways—you have to give

something, to get some-

thing in return.

WantWords 3. How to prepare a strategy?

Over the months it became obvious to me that without a clear strategy, social media is

close to a total waste of time (in the professional context). I’ve followed this plan to

make sure that my approach is coherent and worthwhile:

Social media audit

Go through your current presence online. Note down all

profiles you have, preferably in an editable document. The

best way to do that is to perform a Google search on yourself. You may find out that

you still have a profile on a dodgy platform no-one uses anymore, and your high school

pictures are still up there. If you don’t want your clients or colleagues to find it – delete

it. The rest of the profiles, even though you don’t use them too often anymore, can im-

prove your SEO and visibility. Make them all consistent: the same information,

the same picture, always up to date. Keep links in a file, so

that you never forget about a profile only to discover it a

couple of years later.

Aims

As I already mentioned, it’s essential to figure out what you need all that for. If you’re

mostly about marketing that’s fine. You’ll have to remember about your aim in every-

thing you do on social media. If you want to socialise, you’ll use different tactics. Shar-

ers will have to concentrate on the quality of information.

It is essential to start with an

honest summary of what you

already have.

It’s also crucial to think of your

privacy and decide how much

information you’re going to

share.

WantWords Tools

For me, working on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is enough. I’d rather concentrate on

these three platforms and make the most of them rather than spread myself perhaps a bit

too thin. You have to consider which platforms will be best for your aims and purposes.

Time commitment and engagement

As with any other type of activity, social media requires engagement and attention. You

can’t just disappear for a long period without saying a word, because your socialising col-

leagues will have mixed feelings. You need to be consequent and regular. It does take time

to build up a community, or presence online, and then it requires even more time to keep

it up. Decide how much time you’re able to spend on a regular basis, regardless of other

factors, and stick to that time commitment.

WantWords Social media plan When you know all that, you can prepare a plan for your social media activities. Further

down I present some tactics you may want to incorporate, but in the end, we always do

what suits us best. However, it is essential to have a plan and stick to it, as with any other

commitments. If we stop doing that, social media become nothing more than fun. And fun

is not always the core of business, is it?

Action points:

Run a social media audit

Decide how much time you’re able to spend

Be ready to draw a social media plan Create a chart to make

you stick to your plan

WantWords

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/aug/23/vintage-internet-facebook


WantWords

10 MINUTES A DAY

Marketing

Set up a fan page

Reply to all comments on your page

Add one interesting link related to your services

Share one update on what you’re currently doing

Socialising

Use both your profile (different levels of privacy) and your fan page

Connect with 1 new person

Like 1 new page and comment on it

Post an update in a translation-related group

Like your colleagues’ content


Use both your profile (different levels of privacy) and your fan page

Share 1 informative link with your comment regarding the content

Comment on 2 links posted by others


Pick and choose! You can

even tick the boxes

against these activities

you want to use.

I recommend having fan

pages rather than using

profiles for marketing

purposes. It looks more

professional!

Liking other’s content is the

social of social media.

Spread the love!

WantWords

40 MINUTES A DAY

Marketing

Add translation-related photos or reviews of events you’ve been to

Set up a welcome page

Like pages related to your specialist field and comment on them

Write to people from field-related groups

Play around with your cover photo

Like translation agency fan pages and comment on them

Socialising

Start a Facebook chat on a particular topic

Comment regularly on pages and groups

Browse fan pages of other translators and comment on their updates

Befriend people you find interesting, writing a nice invitation

Use Facebook chat to exchange views with your colleagues

Start your own group or page – perhaps field-related?


Write longer articles on Facebook

Suggest sharing information on a certain topic in comments

Be active on translation-related pages and post quality content

Start your own group or page

You can get a welcome

page for free! Search for

“custom Facebook page”

in Google.

Facebook chats and polls are

great for building engage-

ment. Ask relevant and inter-

esting questions!

Did you know that they’ve

recently upped the limit?

Now we can write much

more!

WantWords

WantWords

10 MINUTES A DAY

Marketing

Accept new invitations

Connect to 1 suggested person

Join a field-related group

Add 1 comment a day

Socialising

Write to one of your connections a day

Join a new group


Add 1 comment a day


Answer 1 question

Share 1 interesting article within a group

Ask a question others can help you with


even tick the boxes


you want to use.

Can’t recommend that

one enough!

Questions on LinkedIn are

great to showcase our ex-

pertise. Ask and answer!

WantWords

40 MINUTES A DAY

Marketing

Set up a company page

Add updates to your current projects

Follow companies that may be your potential clients

Join field-related groups and ask a relevant question

Connect with specialists in your field

Socialising

Moderate or start a group

Comment on 3 discussions

Visit all groups you belong to

Connect with people from your groups

Write to 3 people a day


Be active in answering and asking questions

Comment on articles and discussions started by others

Start a field-related group

I find company pages ex-

tremely time-consuming.

Only for the most com-

mitted!

Not necessarily translation

agencies, but also direct

clients in your fields.

Moderating groups is time

-consuming but reward-

ing. It also helps in main-

taining your expert status.

Find something interesting

in them and start a conver-

sation. You never know who

may need your services!

WantWords



WantWords

10 MINUTES A DAY

Marketing

Tweet about what you’re doing

Follow 1 potential client a day

Tweet field-specific content

Socialising

Retweet others

Ask a general question others can reply to

Follow 3 new translators


Follow your preferred hashtag and get information from there

Ask a translation-related question

Follow most active colleagues


even tick the boxes


you want to use.

Conversations are what

Twitter is about. Engage in

debates, ask, and answer.

WantWords

40 MINUTES A DAY

Marketing

Follow new potential clients

Tweet to your potential clients to spark off conversation

Socialising

Engage in a conversation

Start a Twitter chat

Follow colleagues

Tweet to your colleagues

Start a list

Follow back


Join a Twitter chat

Follow hashtags

Ask questions

Tweet valuable content regularly For suggestions and discussion, please

contact me at:

[email protected]

Twitter: @mstelmaszak

Facebook: WantWords

practical guide to social media for translators

Self Improvement