Translation - art & business » Marketing for language professionals »
Has anyone tried online advertising?
Thread poster: Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine  Identity Verified
Lebanon
Local time: 12:51
Member (2009)
English to French
+ ...
Mar 31, 2023

Such as social media marketing, SEM or banner ads? If so, did it get you any clients?
 
Dr. Tilmann Kleinau
Dr. Tilmann Kleinau  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:51
Member (2006)
English to German
+ ...
I cannot advise you to do it Apr 1, 2023

I have tried Google Ads for a few weeks. It cost me about 500 EUR and there were a few hundred clicks but it brought me no job offer. So I dropped it again. I think translation is too much of a niche job to be successful in SEA marketing.

Samuel Murray
Dalia Nour
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
philgoddard
Kay Denney
 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:51
Dutch to English
+ ...
Clicks Apr 1, 2023

Dr. Tilmann Kleinau wrote:

I have tried Google Ads for a few weeks. It cost me about 500 EUR and there were a few hundred clicks but it brought me no job offer. So I dropped it again. I think translation is too much of a niche job to be successful in SEA marketing.


The clicks were probably all translators checking out the competition.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Hebat-Allah El Ashmawy
philgoddard
Kay Denney
 
Daniel Frisano
Daniel Frisano  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 11:51
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
Unsatisfactory Apr 2, 2023

A few years ago I did, and I did get some results, but all of them were occasional clients with tiny jobs, such as a marriage certificate for someone requiring naturalization, that kind of stuff. Certainly not the kind of response we're all after.

Kay Denney
John Fossey
 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
I tried Google Ads... Apr 2, 2023

...and it was $200 down the drain.

The Google representative who was supposed to help me set it up was in a hurry, and just wanted my money.

He Also Told Me I Had To Write It Like This, which I told him looked stupid. Some people do this in the US, but nowhere else.

I got no responses, and wasn't able to see where the money had gone.

Afterwards, I got an email from a law firm saying did I want to join a class action against Google. I said yes.... See more
...and it was $200 down the drain.

The Google representative who was supposed to help me set it up was in a hurry, and just wanted my money.

He Also Told Me I Had To Write It Like This, which I told him looked stupid. Some people do this in the US, but nowhere else.

I got no responses, and wasn't able to see where the money had gone.

Afterwards, I got an email from a law firm saying did I want to join a class action against Google. I said yes.

A few months ago, I got my compensation. All $5 of it. ▲ Collapse


Kay Denney
P.L.F. Persio
Emanuele Vacca
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:51
French to English
. Apr 3, 2023

Wow Phil that's some story, definitely enough to put anyone off!

Rachel Waddington wrote:

The clicks were probably all translators checking out the competition.


I remember light years ago paying for an ad in a newspaper for Americans living in Paris (this was before Internet had taken off). The only calls I got were people with a very strong American accent pretending to be French and asking about my rates. After the second call, I just systematically ended each one saying in English "the only calls I've had are from people like you, so good-bye".

philgoddard
 


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Has anyone tried online advertising?







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