Manage Your Social Media Across Cultures

Language proficiency

Your social media campaign could have all the elements to be successful overseas, but if you are trying to communicate only in English, people who speak a language other than English simply will not be able to find you.

In most languages, words can have several different meanings. Without expert knowledge of both languages, it can be difficult to know the correct translation for the context. When you need to create a post on social media in a foreign language, the reality is that inaccurate automatic text translation – or machine translation – can fall short.

Ideally, you need a fluent English speaker to create a post in English, and a French fluent speaker to create a post in French for French-speaking audience. If you are managing social media posts in a language your audience is comfortable with, you are much more likely to get engagement.

Local and cultural context

When posting on social media in a foreign language, it is very important to be sensitive to different cultural norms and values. Each culture has its own. For example, in China, there is a list of keywords which will result in your content being banned by the government. Without truly understanding the culture of the people who speak the language, it becomes easy to offend people when interacting with them.

If you want to effectively communicate your content to your foreign audience you need to consider whether or not your social media post contains culture-specific references and how  you can adjust the content to make it relevant to them. For example, if the post was originally written for an English audience, and contains references to a respected British sportsperson, how can you adjust it so it’s relevant to your audience in Poland or Germany?