Having a bilingual digital message is a powerful way of marketing, networking and advertising. It can attract new audiences, encourage loyalty and strengthen a brand.

Here are some practical ideas on how to improve your digital use of the Welsh language.

 

Social Media

  • Do you have a bilingual profile on social media? A simple change you can make is to ensure the information in your social media profiles appears in both languages.
  • If you are completely new to sharing messages in Welsh, why not try to publish some messages in both languages once a week - and then build on this, week by week.
  • Does your organisation have more than one account on social platforms? You may, for example, have one account that tweets in Welsh and another that tweets in English. How often are these accounts used and is their content consistent in both languages? Check and verify this.
  • Your next step may be to consider the language skills of your staff and what support they may need to draft some simple messages in Welsh.
  • Use hashtags to promote your Welsh language content. The Awr Gymraeg (Welsh Hour) is on Twitter every Wednesday from 8 - 9pm – why not use the Welsh Hour hashtag every time you tweet in Welsh - #yagym. Here's a video explaining the Awr Gymraeg.
  • Remember to state on your profile and communications that you are happy to communicate and be contacted through the medium of Welsh.
  • Contact Welsh language media outlets to promote your activities. Here is a list of all the main media and press outlets working in Welsh.

 

The National Centre for Learning Welsh is responsible for the Welsh learning sector. The Centre supports and encourages everyone who wants to learn the language with a range of options available to employers and staff who are keen to learn Welsh.

You can also contact your local Menter Iaith (Language Initiative) for support to promote your events online (for example @mentercaerdydd).

Proofreading Service

Practical support is also available to help you draft messages in Welsh. The Welsh Language Commissioner offers a free practical proofreading service. Email your drafts to hybu@welshlanguagecommissioner.wales and the work will be checked and returned to you.

 


"For anyone who does not work bilingually it is important to note that it is not just a matter of translating the English version into Welsh. As in all sectors, there is a wide range of contacts, journalists, Welsh organisations and so on which you can use to promote your message as part of your marketing plan. These links are often different from English ones (even within the same arts sector in Wales) [...] There are several organisations that can help with this if you don't have the budget - a good place to start is with your local Menter Iaith."

Siân Prydderch Fitzgerald, Community Arts Officer, Denbighshire County Council

 


Website

  • If your website is not completely bilingual, why not aim to increase the number of pages or text currently available in Welsh.
  • Updating pages: if you have a bilingual website, are the Welsh pages updated at the same time as the English ones? Check the procedure for updating pages across your organisation - especially if more than one person creates content.
  • Switch easily from one language to another: when browsing your site, can you switch from Welsh to English at any time by using the language option button? If this is not currently possible, ask your web design company what can be done. This may be a factor to consider next time you update your site.
  • Video: If you are creating videos for your website or YouTube channel - remember that it is good practice to use subtitles. Easy to use software exists to create subtitles for video.

 

Longer-term changes

  • How much attention does Welsh language marketing get in your current Digital Marketing Plan? Is it something you consider at the start of a project and / or during the planning process? It is often much easier to allocate time and resources to central or integral elements of a project.
  • If your own staff are not proficient in Welsh why not consider partnering up with another local company who have Welsh speakers in their team? This is what the Abertillery-based Head4Arts has done recently:

 


"We have entered into an agreement with Menter Iaith Sir Caerffili to share the services of their Digital Officer whose first language is Welsh. This has improved our ability to offer services in Welsh."

Kate Strudwick, Director of Head4Arts, Abertillery
 

 

  • Could you respond to someone who wanted to communicate with you in Welsh? What would you be able to do and how quickly could you do it? It is worthwhile exercise to establish a process to deal with this scenario.
  • Do you need to make a longer term plan in order build the confidence of your Welsh speaking staff, encourage staff to learn Welsh or attract staff with Welsh language skills? For ideas on how to develop the language skills of your workforce, click here.


“Our current website was created a few years ago and we are about to launch a new one which is even easier for us to keep up to date with lots more features. A key consideration for our new website platform has been its ability to be bilingual. We had to make sure that our website developers understood that this was a fundamental requirement and I'm excited for everyone to see our new website."

Kathryn Williams, Director, Rubicon Dance

‘Keeping a website up to date is always a challenge for small organisations – in whatever language! … It’s not really much more effort to incorporate bilingual delivery into the plans - it’s a commitment, not a choice. … Central to that commitment is making sure that you have access to reliable external translation services and that you remember to include translation costs in budgets … We try to coincide any changes to the website so that both languages are updated simultaneously’ .

Kate Strudwick, Director of Head4Arts, Abertillery


Useful resources from the Welsh Language Commissioner: