Home office - translators

Tips to Set Up a Home Office

Translators shifting away from in-house positions and offices has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with an unprecedented number of people working from home in a huge range of fields, looking likely to stay this way for quite some time. However, working from home can be a daunting prospect for many for a variety of reasons, so what should you do to make sure your working from home experience is successful?

Find the right space for your home office

Finding the right space for your home office is essential. A spare room at home is definitely a huge advantage as you can make the proper arrangements so that it perfectly fits your professional needs.

If you don’t have a spare room, you need to find a spot where you can set up your home office. It should be a place that is exclusively dedicated to working. For instance, it is not a good idea to use your kitchen table as your workplace as you will probably need to constantly remove your computer and papers from the table to have your meals.

It is also important to ensure that your home office provides you with the right space to have everything you need and that you have the space to move around as well. Remember that you’ll probably spend many hours in that room, and you need to feel comfortable in it to stay productive, while also looking professional in any possible Zoom calls.

Too noisy? Make your office as soundproof as possible

While working in an office can certainly be noisy at times, a home office is ultimately in your home and homes can often get very loud.

If you live with others, make sure that they respect that you are working and would appreciate a peaceful work environment. With young children, you should also make sure that they know your home office is not a play area. You can’t focus on your work and produce accurate translations if your kids are running around or somebody is playing loud music in the same room.

Installing double glazing or a thick curtain can also help to prevent annoying noises from outside your home.

Choose the right furniture

Having a productive home office isn’t just a question of making your home office look nice and fashionable. Since you’ll spend many hours there, it is of utmost importance that the furniture you choose is comfortable, ergonomic and that it provides you with the right space to store papers, your laptop, books, and any other materials you may require.

Of course, two of the most important pieces of furniture you’ll need to focus on are the desk and the chair. Your desk should be big enough to provide you with the right working space. It should have built-in drawers where you can keep important documents safe.

As translators often need to go back and forth from their laptops to their dictionaries or any other reference books, an L-shaped desk is usually best. This allows you to have an area for your computer, printer, and any other technical devices, as well as an area solely for your papers or books.

For your chair, remember that you’ll be spending many long hours sitting and working in it. It needs to be ergonomic, durable, and reliable. It has to provide you with the right support for your back, shoulders, and neck, have armrests in the right position and it should allow you to comfortably put your feet on the floor. Having a rolling chair is a good choice as it ends up being more useful than a stationary one.

Make sure to remember to stay active and consider using a standing desk or a yoga ball chair. It is also important to make your office space as safe as possible, such as by having an ergonomic mousepad and keyboard, as well as adjusting the brightness on your monitor. Poor office planning can often lead to injury, which could slow you down.

Tidy desk, tidy mind

Every now and then, you may find yourself so busy that you forget to clean up your desk. However, you should schedule a couple of minutes every day to arrange the papers you are not going to use any time soon.

Needless to say, it is important to have the correct storage space. Shelves are a great investment and, if you want to spice up your workplace a bit, you can add boxes that can be a great tool for storing away miscellany that could make your home office look messy if left out in the open.

Take technology into account

You can never have enough sockets in your home office. Your PC, fax machine, your mobile phone, printer, not to mention desk lamps or a small audio system to make your work sessions more enjoyable, can easily take up all the sockets available. Hire a good electrician to install as many sockets as you can and try to invest in a wireless printer, mouse, and keyboard.

If you don’t want your home office to be cluttered with cables, look around for some attractive solutions available in home depot stores. It is also essential to make sure that your internet connection is stable and reliable. If you have poor internet quality, consider changing providers, and also consider having a dongle or hotspot you can use in case of emergency.

It is also worth investing in replacing any outdated technology such as an old, slow laptop. The price to replace it is often worth getting rid of the annoyance of technology that doesn’t work.

Brighten up your space

Your home office doesn’t need to be a dark and boring space. Jazzing it up with a bit of personality is easy and something you should really do to make your home office a nicer and more productive place to be in. Add some plants, hang some nice pictures on a wall and make sure you invest in a nice lamp for your desk.

Use a dedicated phone for your home office

Working from home implies that you won’t have too many expenses. However, you should consider investing in a dedicated phone for your home business so that your clients can immediately reach you without your child, mother, or husband picking up the call in a way that could be less than professional.

Even though using a dedicated phone for your home business may seem like a huge investment, it is something you should seriously consider as it could have a huge positive impact on your business.

You can get a line with a VoIP provider or Skype; they use your internet connection and can be cheaper than traditional lines.

Home offices

Ideas for your home office

Tips for translators - COVID-19

International Translation Day: How to Adapt to the New Normal

Today is International Translation Day and it’s a good opportunity for the translation community to reflect on the difficulties over the past year for many of us and to help provide tips so we can better cope with the difficulties raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The date of September 30 was chosen due to it being the feast day of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translation who translated the Bible into Latin. However, it is an international celebration and not exclusively held in Christian countries, established in 1953 to celebrate and teach people about the translation profession in an increasingly globalized world where it is becoming ever more important.

Translation and the COVID-19 Pandemic

As COVID-19 has spread around the world, it has not only killed close to a million people at the time of writing, but it has also left many more seriously ill. Of course, the effects of any traumatic event go beyond the physical, with reports of anxiety and depression rapidly rising due to concerns regarding the virus and the subsequent economic and political fallout.

Many have lost their jobs and the translation industry, as an essential in a globalized world, has unsurprisingly been impacted by the pandemic, with some translators losing clients and some taking on more than they can handle. Whatever the cause of the stress and anxiety translators are currently facing, it is important to adapt to what has become the new normal.

How to Cope

As companies around the world have hurriedly adapted to the new normal, translators have been essential in making their messages, communications, and documents available in other languages for the globalized world, with many suddenly finding themselves overworked.

Learn to Relax

If you find yourself having too much work, make sure to take the time to look after yourself and relax. First, dedicate a little time to your hobbies, stay in contact with your friends and family, and make sure to exercise routinely. Even just 15 minutes of exercise has enormous benefits for your mental health and can help reduce stress.

Practicing mindfulness and meditation is also a useful tool for coping with stress and can reduce anxiety and make the world more manageable. For 20 minutes, sit or lie with your eyes closed and palms upturned, focus on deep breathing, and visualize your mood and emotions passing like clouds. While some may be reluctant to try it, meditation has enormous benefits for mental health and coping in times of crisis.

Don’t Overdo It

You may also want to consider outsourcing some of your work as not only will this help you relax, others may be grateful for the opportunity. Make good use of translation tools that may help you manage, such as CAT tools and making use of a proofreader, while also making sure to have an organized workspace, be that at home or in an office.

Reflect

If you find yourself with too little work or finding the general stress of the COVID-19 pandemic difficult to handle, much of the previously mentioned advice still applies. Make sure to still look after yourself by eating well and exercising, stay in contact with friends and family, make sure to relax with a hobby, and consider daily meditation to reflect on your situation. In fact, quieter periods of work are invaluable for self-reflection and can be very useful for taking the time to consider your next step and perhaps highlighting anything you did well or could improve in the future.

Stay Creative

It’s also essential to keep your mind active and stay creative, whether that’s by looking for new work that you may not typically do, writing a novel, playing a musical instrument, or thinking of the next step for your business.

It is important to highlight that if you are struggling, you are not alone. This is a difficult time for everyone, but it is also a good opportunity to reflect and develop healthy habits that you can maintain after this “new normal” passes.

More Resources
Tips to set up a home office
Essential tools and apps for translators
COVID-19 Glossary
Freelance Translators: Be More Productive by Working Less

Communicating with Hispanics

Hispanic Heritage Month: Communication Strategies

From September 15 to October 15, the United States marks National Hispanic Heritage Month to celebrate the achievements of the Hispanic community along with its history and culture. Initially introduced as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968, it was expanded into Hispanic Heritage Month in 1988, with the start date of September 15 being chosen because this was when the Hispanic countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua declared their independence in 1821. Mexico and Chile also declared their independence in September, on September 16 and 18 respectively. While the date was chosen due to these events, it celebrates Hispanic heritage of all backgrounds.

What Is the Significance of Hispanic Heritage Month?

Since its foundation, Hispanic Heritage Month has regularly featured everything from parades to presidential addresses to mark the occasion, and as the Hispanic community in the United States grows, it is looking to become an ever more important event.

At present, 60 million Hispanic people are living in the United States, some 20% of the country’s population, a figure that is predicted to grow to 111 million by 2060, having already become the largest minority group in the country. This celebration is an invaluable and increasingly unignorable opportunity for content creators and businesses alike to show their support for the community and win over loyal Hispanic customers – the most brand-loyal group in the United States.

Hispanic Americans, however, are a diverse group, with family backgrounds coming from all over the Hispanic world and there being vast differences between Cubans in Florida, Puerto Ricans in New York, and Mexicans in California. The Hispanic heritage of the United States goes far beyond immigration, with many states once also being part of Mexico or the Spanish Empire, and some cities being predominantly Spanish speaking, like Miami where 70% of the population are native Spanish speakers.

The influence of Hispanic heritage on the United States is undeniable yet is an often overlooked part of the country, something that is going to become harder to ignore for those looking to succeed in everything from marketing to politics in the future of the United States.

What Is the Difference Between Hispanic and Latino?

While the terms Hispanic and Latino are often used interchangeably in the United States, they actually have very different meanings. Latino refers to someone from Latin America, including both Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, due to them both being Latin-based languages. Meanwhile, Hispanic refers specifically to Spanish speakers.

While many often have a fixed view of what a Hispanic person looks like, the Hispanic community is incredibly diverse, including black and indigenous Hispanic people who are often overlooked in such definitions. They are both rather generalizing terms and a better approach still is to be aware of the unique cultures and heritage of each unique group.

What’s the Best Approach for Communication with the Hispanic Community?

The best approach for communicating with the Hispanic community is the same as for any group, which is to show respect and understanding. This means taking the time to show you understand them as a group and respecting the Spanish language and any traditions, while also being aware of the differences within the community. As such, it is best to use content that has been professionally translated and culturally adapted.

If machine translations are used, the use of which should be avoided, they should at least be proofread. Not doing so shows a disrespect that risks harming your relations and therefore your goals with the Hispanic community.

First, you should learn about the intricacies and issues in the Hispanic community, taking the time to research the group and plan what you want to say. Hiring someone to help out with this often-difficult process will have better results for both you and your consumers.

As part of content adaptation, it’s also worth adapting social media platforms for the Hispanic community, instead of using a mix of Spanish and English on the same platform and hoping that the poor-quality automatic translation tools will take care of the rest. Creating unique content will show respect for the community and that you value them as much as your English-speaking audience.

It’s not just about the language, it’s also about showing support and awareness in a way that some rival businesses may not, thus losing valuable customers. This is something Transpanish can help you out with, by providing natural and well-adapted content on social media platforms to ensure that you get the most engagement and success possible with your target community, and by providing you accurate Spanish translations for your documents and all types of texts.

US Hispanics, COVID-19 and Spanish language barrier

The impact of the Spanish Language as a factor in COVID-19 among US Hispanics

The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the world, leading to some half a million deaths worldwide (at the time of writing) and many more lives that are forever changed. In the course of its spread throughout the world, the virus has consistently shown to hit the most vulnerable hardest, whether that is due to the pandemic’s health or financial impacts.

Throughout the US, for example, the Hispanic community has found itself to be more affected than many in American society, leading some to question why this is the case. The answer is not simple and is one that is deeply rooted in the cultural and social conditions of the Hispanic community, American society, and the healthcare system.

Racial Disparities and Pre-Existing Health Conditions

To begin with, according to the CDC, American Indians, African Americans and Hispanics or Latinos are up to five times more likely to be hospitalized due to the novel coronavirus than non-Hispanic white Americans, highlighting the racial disparities in the US. One reason for this could be that these groups are typically poorer with less access to information due to language barriers. Another is that they often have higher rates of underlying health problems, such as Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, which means they may be more severely affected and have worse outcomes upon coronavirus infection.

Cultural Conditions

There are also cultural conditions that could lead to the imbalanced impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Hispanic community, such as having more of an emphasis on physical contact and having larger families living together, possibly with a grandparent, which could increase the chances of infection. Latinos are also more likely to be working in roles in places like meatpacking plants and warehouses where they cannot socially isolate as easily as white Americans, with four out of five Latinos being essential workers. In some states, they may also potentially be more likely to live in apartments with more contact with other individuals. Similar patterns have been seen among poorer and more vulnerable groups around the world.

The Language Barrier

Of course, one also has to remember that many Hispanics in the US do not speak English as a first language and, therefore, could be more likely to feel less informed about important national measures to prevent infection as well as national measures to provide financial relief. When this lower level of information, already proven to have negative health and social outcomes, is combined with the US healthcare system, it seems almost inevitable that many in these communities will be left behind. Further to this, in the US healthcare system where health insurance is key, vulnerable people such as some in poorer Hispanic communities may lack sufficient insurance and therefore lack sufficient healthcare coverage, leading to poorer health outcomes.

The impact of the pandemic goes beyond health impacts, with the impact on the global economy being hard to ignore. Many have lost their jobs while many industries such as the service industry have been devastated, meaning many vulnerable workers have now seen their income reduced drastically. In fact, while 60% of Americans have lost income due to the coronavirus, this figure is 90% among Spanish-speaking Hispanics. The industries in which many Hispanics work in the US have been severely affected and when this is combined with less access to information regarding financial support due to language barriers, the pre-existing divisions in American society are widened.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the most vulnerable and most privileged in society and shown very real consequences of this division, as well as the importance of information and reduced language and social barriers to overcoming these difficulties. Addressing many of the issues that adversely affect the Hispanic community may be difficult but increasing access to information in Spanish would go a long way to helping the most vulnerable before moving on to tackling the social divisions in the US.

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Transpanish continues at full operation during the COVID-19 pandemic. For translation, proofreading and editing services, please contact us for a free quote and advice. We offer discounts for new clients and nonprofit organizations.

Free Resource provided by Transpanish: English – Spanish – Portuguese COVID-19 Glossary.

Celebrate Spanish Language Day!

Lovers of Spanish, did you know there’s a special day set aside to honor your favorite language? Observed throughout the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish Language Day (El Día del Idioma Español) – celebrated on April 23 – aims to highlight the richness and vitality of the Spanish language.

The date chosen for Spanish Language Day commemorates the death of one of the most significant and best-known Spanish language authors, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Literary scholars consider Don Quixote, Cervantes’ classic work penned in the 17th century, to be one of the most important pieces of fiction of all time.

El Día del Idioma Español dates back to 1926, when Valencian writer Vicente Clavel Andrés first proposed the idea of a special day dedicated to celebrating literature. The tradition began in Valencia and gradually spread throughout all of Spain. In 1964, the celebration was adopted by all Spanish-speaking countries.

World Book Day is also celebrated on the same day, and Spanish news agency EFE has invited several actors, writers, and artists from Spain and Latin America to hold a virtual reading of Don Quixote. Almost three chapters from Don Quixote have been selected for participants to read. This can be followed at the main Twitter account of EFE, @EFEnoticias. EFE is also inviting members of the community to participate by reading a 30-45 second excerpt. The video must be published on the user’s personal Twitter account and mention @EFEnoticias with the hashtag #YoTambiénLeoElQuijote. Participation is also possible via Instagram by publishing a story with video and then mentioning the account @efe_noticias and including the hashtag #YoTambiénLeoElQuijote.

Some useful posts:
Linguistic Features of Rioplatense (River Plate) Spanish
Seseo, ceceo and distinction…or why Spaniards “lisp” and Latin Americans do not
Pronouncing B and V: No more confusion!
The Rise of Spanish as a Second Language
Spanish is the Second Most Widely Spoken Language in the World
Spanish Language Characteristics. Spanish in the World
Castilian Spanish Versus Latin American Spanish
The Influence of Arabic on the Spanish Language

COVID-19 English Spanish Portuguese Glossary

New English-Spanish-Portuguese COVID-19 glossary

COVID-19 has spread worldwide with a global pandemic being declared, prompting countries around the world to declare emergencies and enact often unprecedented legislation and measures to fight the pandemic and limit harm.

As our understanding and the situation are rapidly developing, the relevant terminology being used is rapidly evolving too, leading to confusion in the media and challenges for translators when working on texts such as articles related to the novel coronavirus.

As a result, we have decided to build a glossary to assist translators, editors, those in the media and anyone else working in communication, to help them understand the correct terminology to use. With over 60 terms in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, we believe our glossary is the most comprehensive English-Spanish-Portuguese glossary on COVID-19 and the ongoing crisis.

We will continue to develop this glossary as the situation changes to be as up-to-date as possible. With the noticeable lack of clarity in the media about terms relating to the novel coronavirus pandemic, this glossary will hopefully make information in translations more streamlined and more accurate, helping to inform and fight the outbreak with the most reliable language possible.

It explains commonly confusing terms such as when to use surgical mask and when to use N95 respirator, the all-important differences between SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus and COVID-19 and what makes quarantine and isolation different.

This glossary is vital not only for accurate translation but also for reducing uncertainty and helping to disseminate reliable information. It will continue to be updated as the situation changes so be sure to visit it regularly.

Click here to access the glossary.

For translation, proofreading and editing services, please contact us for a free quote and advice.

 

Transpanish response to Coronavirus

Continuing at full operation during the COVID-19 pandemic

In a matter of months, COVID-19 has spread around the world with the WHO declaring it a pandemic. It is, of course, a scary and difficult time for many, including many businesses around the world that have had to suspend operation due to various lockdown laws limiting public life in this healthcare crisis. However, we are fortunately able to continue Transpanish and Transportuguese at full operation for the duration of the outbreak, working with our staff and clients to get through this difficult time together and supporting the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Experienced in Remote Work

As an internet-based translation service, we have always worked remotely since our foundation over 16 years ago. This means that we can carry on operating as normal, with our freelance translators, editors, and proofreaders working safely from the comfort of their own homes, making sure they can continue to deliver the same high-quality work we have produced with our expertise in remote working. We also try to assign work fairly throughout our team of different freelancers so they can all keep receiving a steady workflow to prevent only a small group of translators from continuing to receive work.

While the international situation is changing with every passing day, we are more than able to carry on serving both new and existing clients with our translation and language services, including English, Portuguese and Spanish translation, proofreading, editing, desktop publishing (DTP) and multilingual social media management to continue communication in the native languages of your target audience. We believe that in difficult times like this, communication is more important than ever, as we explored in an earlier blog post, meaning that continuing to provide language services to facilitate communication is also more important than ever.

Doing Our Bit to Help Out

While we continue to promote the safety and wellbeing of our translators and freelancers by operating remotely and providing a steady flow of work, we also want to do what we can to support our clients. We understand that this is a difficult time for many clients who desperately need to communicate and may be facing difficulties with cash flow, new legal restrictions, lockdowns, and sudden staff losses and we aim to continue providing our best services to help all clients to continue. As always, we provide discounts to new clients and for large volumes of text.

We also plan to continue to support non-profit organizations with our special non-profit discounts. We aim to provide the best possible service and value to non-profit organizations as usual, helping to offer them excellence when they are in urgent need of COVID-19 communications.

Rest assured that we are here and happy to help by continuing to provide language services during this stressful time. We will get through it together.

NEW! Visit our recently published English – Spanish – Portuguese COVID-19 Glossary

Coronavirus and Language Barriers

Coronavirus and Language Barriers: How to React in a Health Crisis

The global village in which we live has innumerable benefits, making the world smaller and more connected than ever. However, periods of crisis like the recent coronavirus outbreak highlight our vulnerabilities in this system and draw attention to linguistic misunderstandings that can lead to devastating results.

The recent outbreak has shown how the paths we have built between nations and people can be used to rapidly spread infection in a way once unimaginable. It has also shown just how many real-life issues language barriers can cause in times of crisis, which this article addresses.

The international nature of the modern world means we have more problems of an international nature, and epidemics like coronavirus, SARS and Ebola are good examples of just how quickly viruses can manipulate the connections we have built. An international health crisis requires an international response, but this is made all the more difficult by complex linguistic realities around the world. For example, it’s all well and good to issue an official warning and advice in a country in its principal language, but if not everyone understands the language, it exposes everyone to possible dangers due to lack of information, lack of awareness or pure misinformation through social media. This can exacerbate a health crisis, lead to unnecessary stress and make tensions between linguistic minorities and the majority worse.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has shown many examples of language barriers causing unnecessary problems for foreigners, especially tourists, with inefficient and haphazard approaches to translation and communication. Take the case of the British couple quarantined on a cruise ship moored in Yokohama, for example. Japanese medical authorities examined the passengers for the virus and due to their very limited knowledge of English and the British couple’s non-existent knowledge of Japanese, the couple came to believe that they had tested positive for the virus while they were actually just being told that the medical staff was positive they had to remain in quarantine on the ship. Even if translations are provided, they are often done in such a rush by non-translators that they can contain extremely harmful errors.

This issue is, of course, a problem in epidemics. However, it is also a problem in all manner of crises, as evidenced by the recent tragic bushfires in Australia. Considering Australia’s linguistic diversity, there were challenges due to misunderstandings about the need to evacuate and misinformation, potentially endangering those on the fringes of the linguistic mainstream of society, including tourists who may not receive extremely important breaking news updates.

In areas that have yet to face a high level of coronavirus outbreaks, like Latin America where the number of COVID-19 cases has not reached European proportions, countries should prepare essential documentation in all relevant languages, including those of minority groups, and foster community relations to make sure that language barriers to information can be overcome, with information access being key in such crises. All over Latin America, in addition to making documents available in major languages like Spanish, Portuguese and English, the unique demographic landscapes of each area’s minorities and tourist groups, such as Chinese tourists, should be considered when providing information to make sure that everyone knows exactly how to act.

In facing linguistic challenges, machine translations may work for very basic needs, but caution is advised, and users should be aware of their limitations. Of course, for interaction with patients and the like, interpreters would be best, possibly even phone interpreters. However, for making general information widely available, Australia’s response to the bushfire crisis shows a good outline for how to react to a crisis and overcome language barriers. In the country’s case, all essential information was professionally and readily translated so that people who could not communicate effectively in English had equal access to information, which is absolutely key to overcoming a crisis. This is an approach that countries that haven’t had any outbreaks of coronavirus should adopt, preparing to make sure that vital information is available in relevant languages.

Translators, editors, journalists and all people working in communication need to stay on top of the novel coronavirus terminology as it is being defined. Transpanish has built a COVID-19 Glossary which includes terms and definitions in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

Check out how we are supporting our clients and freelancers during this crisis.

If you need to translate vital information to English, Portuguese or Spanish, contact us for a free quote! We provide discounts for new customers and nonprofit organizations.

Spanish Marketing - Latinos

Marketing to Latinos through Social Media – Transpanish

In the early days of social media marketing, marketing strategists rarely used to target Latinos using social media or other forms of digital marketing. However, this has since changed and according to a recent article in Forbes, companies now need to be aware that on average, in the US at least, young Latinos are more likely to interact with companies on social media than the rest of the population and are very loyal to brands that use Spanish. Clearly, there is a good reason for brands to attract this growing and generally loyal target market.

According to eMarketer, while Hispanics in the US have a similar level of smartphone ownership compared to the general population, they spend 10.5 hours per week online on the devices on average compared to an average of 8.4 hours among other groups. They are also now more likely to use social networks via smartphone and are higher than average in their use of Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, while also watching more content and buying more products online than the average.

Meanwhile, another study revealed the shocking statistic that almost 50% of Hispanic millennials had used a brand hashtag or discussed a brand online compared with a figure of 17% for non-Hispanics, showing not only the huge size of the Hispanic market but also a very high level of engagement.

Facebook has also revealed that their platform is the most popular among Hispanics, with 71% of survey respondents saying that they used Facebook every day. In terms of Twitter, a study conducted in August 2018 found that Latinos make up 31% of the Twitter users in the US, only surpassed by Asians at 35%.

The Latino community is now, as can be seen, an incredibly important target market online and as eMarketer concludes, “Internet penetration among US Hispanics has mostly – though not entirely – caught up with that of the general US population, but their digital activities still stand out in several ways,” adding that “ad spending growth on US Hispanic media has outpaced that of total media in recent years and will likely do so for the foreseeable future.” [1]

So, how can marketers take advantage of Latinos’ growing presence on social media to promote their brands?

Marketers must realize that an effective social media campaign directed at the Latino segment will involve more than just a mere translation of the existing English-language campaign. Hispanics are eager to connect with content and engage in a dialog with their favorite brands, so companies should provide opportunities for consumers to interact bilingually or in their preferred language as it has been shown to be highly appreciated. In addition, they must consider how the English-language and Spanish-language pages can complement each other and create synergy, rather than just duplicating the message in another language, since many users will likely visit both pages if companies offer unique content.

Although Twitter offers a different format for customer engagement, the keys to successful corporate marketing on Twitter are to 1) jump in on existing conversations that are taking place within the Latino community to develop brand awareness and 2) get consumers to join in on the conversation about the company’s brand. Live chats on Twitter also provide sponsorship opportunities that may prove attractive to advertisers.

Are you ready to speak to your Spanish-speaking audience?

Producing great content in Spanish takes time and commitment. We can help you expand your reach and establish a  connection with an audience that speaks the second most widely spoken language in the world. If you’d like to find out more about our service, visit Multilingual Social Media.

English - Spanish - Portuguese Social Media Tips

The Essentials of Multilingual Social Media – Transpanish

Social media platforms are excellent tools for promoting your brand around the world. However, to truly internationally promote your brand, it’s essential that your content is suitable for your target audiences. Of course, this means having content that will resonate with and attract your audience, but it also relates to actually speaking your audience’s language. Multilingual social media can help your business access new and exciting markets that you may well have been missing out on with a monolingual social media policy. However, managing multilingual social media platforms can have its issues, so here’s what you need to consider.

Translation, Localization and Engagement

A successful social media platform is key to your brand online, and engagement is key to running a successful social media platform. Engagement is crucial in modern marketing so your approach to multilingual social media should consider it a priority. Getting real engagement from social media can be difficult and there’s no real hard and fast rule for it, but engaging and localized translations of posts will definitely help.

A poor translation is arguably worse than no translation at all, so it is important to invest in an expert translator who can help you understand how your target market thinks. This means avoiding erroneous machine translations and, instead, using content that reflects the cultural context of your audience, with relevant phrasing to show that you understand them as a customer.

Having a Consistent International Brand Identity

While it’s important that your multilingual social media strategy reflects the differences in your audience’s cultures and languages, it’s also important to make sure that your brand is consistent. This can sound almost like a paradox and it is indeed difficult if you think small picture, but to help make matters easier, you should make sure that your translator not only understands your target audience but also understands you as a brand and how you want to be presented, making sure the core essence is the same.

Reflecting Your Brand with a Bilingual Social Media Manager

Social media management isn’t just related to posting content, it’s ultimately about engaging with your followers. As such, it’s important to have multilingual staff who can naturally respond to comments or complaints, be it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. For instance, if you have a Spanish Facebook account, it’s imperative that you have a Spanish native speaker as a social media manager who can interact with your followers to ensure engagement is natural, making sure that you understand your followers better and that they are more likely to use your services. If you don’t have staff who can readily respond in their various native languages, then you will likely be very slow to respond to your followers, thus harming your engagement.

Having Separate Accounts for Different Languages

While your company may be multilingual, not all of your followers will be. Posting content in, say, Portuguese on your English Twitter will likely alienate your followers and harm engagement. Make sure to have different accounts for each language on each platform and keep them separate to improve engagement and reduce confusion.

Localizing Hashtags

Hashtags are wonderful tools that act as a form of free promotion and they can be very helpful if used correctly. They also vary from language to language so make sure to research the correct hashtags and use them in the correct respective languages for the most relevant outreach and engagement.

Of course, having interesting content is also key but without good multilingual social media management, you risk missing out on key engagement.

Are you ready to speak to your multilingual audience?

Producing great content in another language takes time and commitment. We can help you expand your reach and establish a connection with an audience that speaks Spanish or Portuguese. If you’d like to find out more about our service, visit Multilingual Social Media.