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Social media marketing for translators. Part 2: It's all about reputation

Hi there! Glad to see you again! Remember my first post about social media marketing? It's time for the second post in the series :)
What I write here is solely my opinion based on various posts, journals and other materials studied in the past year or so + my own small marketing experience.


What's the most important thing in social media marketing?
You need to show that you are an expert. There are literally thousands of possibilities for translators now thanks to the Internet. You can answer questions on LinkedIn, take part in terminology discussions on various translation portals and other networks; you can start blogging or tweeting about translation, or make your own Facebook fan page and publish relevant links there. And this is by no means an exhaustive list of options! Whichever way of promoting your skills you choose, it will help your prospective clients understand where your interests are and what fields you are most experienced in. You will also get to know other professionals and have a unique chance to learn from them!



What I like about marketing in social networks:
First of all, I don't like marketing just for the sake of marketing. I still feel awkward when I am asked to speak about my strengths. It just feels... unnatural. So instead of writing everywhere 'hey, I'm good at ..., hire me!' I prefer to share valuable content and help my colleagues with terminology questions. Thus social networks give me a chance to serve others instead of doing marketing just for the sake of marketing.
Secondly, I value the networking possibilities that social networks give. Learning from my colleagues is one of the best priviledges for me.


The challenge of social marketing:
Social media marketing alone is not enough. I always remember that my tweets and Facebook messages need to go together with the growing quality of my work. Otherwise, no matter how hard I try, my marketing efforts will not bring any tangible results.


What's your experience with social marketing? What are some of its pluses and minuses that you see? What's your strategy? I'll be glad to read your comments!

Comments

  1. Hi Olga, thank you for interesting posts. How much time weekly do you spend on social marketing? Magda

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, thank you for your kind words Magda! I am glad you find my posts interesting. When I am not too busy I normally spend small chunks of time (appr. 15-20 min.) in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening on social marketing. When I am extremely busy, I normally do some marketing only in the morning while I am having my breakfast. So it really doesn't take too much time or effort. That's another thing I like about it :)

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