These days, social media has had a great effect on business customer interactions. Any companies who have mastered the most effective way of using social media have reaped huge benefits economically. A good example of this was throughout the 2016 Grammy awards when Arby’s sandwich outlet came out with a well-known joke that Pharrell, the singer’s hat, looked like their company logo by placing a tag on him in a tweet with the Grammys. As a result there were more than 83,000 re-tweets.

Social Media in Many Languages

On the other hand, misinterpretation or misinformation in a tweet could result in serious damage to the reputation of a company. This happened with Coca Cola when it tweeted in 2016 a map that was snow-covered that included Russia but the map didn’t include Kaliningrad, which in the aftermath of World War II was annexed. Russia took exception to this and banned Coca Cola, with numerous tweets of photographs of the drink being chucked down toilets.

However, social media can achieve great sales growth. Many companies strive to copy Arby’s example in attempting to grow their brand through social media platforms. For those businesses that operate in at least one other country, social media can pose a great challenge. To help them, companies will put teams in these countries which include marketers. However, it’s still important for marketers to use a professional translation service which can make all the difference if the professional translation suits the language on the social media platforms.

Presenting marketing material on social media platforms in the customers own language truly helps to master customer awareness and it is a cost-effective method of advertising.

If professional marketing translation services are used it also means that companies can gain from the benefits of localization by taking the translation to another better level. Localization is a form of translation that ensures the wording relates to the culture and customs of the targeted language group. A commonly cited example when localization has not been good for business is in the ‘got milk’ campaign of the American Dairy Association. This resulted in a boost in milk sales in the United States, but failed miserably in Mexico when the ‘got milk’ phrase was translated literally and it was made to mean ‘Are you lactating?’ which certainly did not impress the Mexicans.

Using the best translation service available, businesses can get both social media and localization just right which will maximise customer engagement throughout the world.