As a Welsh business, you have a great opportunity to make use of the Welsh language on social media. Far from being a waste of time or fearing that the content will get lost in Twitter’s tide, it can be a great way to stand out from the crowd, connect with a wider audience and grow your reach across Wales.
Research by the Welsh Language Commissioner looked at customer attitudes to the use of Welsh by supermarkets.
83% of customers agreed that use of Welsh language showed respect towards Welsh culture and 68% said they liked seeing Welsh being used in supermarkets in Wales.
The research highlighted that 78% thought Welsh on product packaging helped demonstrate support for local producers and 74% though it showed support for the local community.
Whilst this particularly highlights customers in supermarkets, it’s fair to say that household and food shopping is regular activity for most people – and use of Welsh in day-to-day life is proving positive for brands. This could easily translate well to another regular activity – scrolling through social media!
Although sharing content in Welsh may require a little extra work, it’s also worthwhile to recognise the benefits and additional opportunities it brings too.
Jones Crisps state that “The Welsh language provides us with an extra tool when creating content on social platform – when people run through their feed, very often, Welsh language content gets more hits than English language content”.
It’s clearly working well for the business too as Jones Crisps use social media to save costs, build their customers base and compete in a highly competitive crisp market!
In short, using the Welsh language on your own social media platforms can bring numerous benefits, for various types of businesses and organisations.
Here are just a few of the ways:
1. Stand out in a saturated crowd or market
2. Show pride and respect for Welsh culture and communities
3. Garner greater customer and stakeholder respect in return
4. Increase public support – particularly important for charities
5. Target specific audiences and new markets to grow your reach
6. Strengthen relationships with customers and communities across Wales
7. Boost customer loyalty to your brand
8. Improve your brand reputation and values
9. Strengthen online marketing campaigns
10. Provide opportunities to develop employees’ Welsh language skills
If you’re interested in taking the steps to become bilingual online, you may still have concerns about how to get started and what the best way to approach your new Welsh social content will be.
The Welsh Language Commissioner report, offers some great practical guidance on some of the issues which might arise when planning to use Welsh on social media.
Their handy support section offers advice on:
- updating your marketing plan
- whether you should have one account or two
- the easiest way to create bilingual messages
- what to do if you don’t have Welsh speaking staff
- what to do if you’re part of a large business with multiple branches.