How Welsh Language Standards affect bilingual social selling campaigns

Identify the instrument before planning work

Begin by identifying whether the buyer is covered by a standards notice or continues under a language scheme; that document determines which language commitments apply. Welsh public organisations do not share one arrangement, so do not price or draft campaign work from public status alone.

The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 established the standards, which replaced older language schemes for many bodies. Duties can concern services, correspondence and publicity. A standards notice is enforceable by the Welsh Language Commissioner, whereas a language scheme is a published commitment. Read the buyer's own instrument to establish its position.

Standards regulations cover the Welsh Government, the 22 Welsh local authorities and national park authorities. Further regulations cover other public bodies. The Welsh Language Standards (No. 6) Regulations 2017 cover Welsh universities and further education colleges, and separate regulations cover health boards, so the buyer need not be a council for the standards to be relevant.

Which standards matter for a social campaign

The standards are set out in regulations made under the 2011 Measure, such as the Welsh Language Standards (No. 1) Regulations 2015, which cover the Welsh Ministers, county and county borough councils and national park authorities. Other sets of regulations cover other groups of bodies. The Welsh Language Commissioner issues each body a compliance notice, under section 44 of the Measure, that lists the standards it must meet. Standard numbers differ between notices, so read the buyer's own.

The standards fall into five groups: service delivery, policy making, operational, promotion and record keeping. Two matter most for social selling. Service delivery standards cover correspondence, replies and publicity or advertising. They typically require Welsh text to be treated no less favourably than English, published at the same time and not less prominent. Operational and record keeping standards affect how the body documents its bilingual work.

In practice, an English post with a Welsh version added hours later does not meet that wording. A reply to a Welsh comment sent in English only does not either. The Commissioner can investigate complaints, and a body can face enforcement action that can include a civil penalty, which is why public bodies write these duties into supplier contracts.

Private companies are generally outside the standards, but a public body may include language obligations in its supplier contract. Those requirements could concern bilingual materials, Welsh-speaking campaign staff or Welsh-language reporting. Confirm the details in the contract terms before costing the work or preparing copy.

Build each version as part of a matched pair

Treat the Welsh and English versions as a matched pair from the start, rather than making one a later translation. Their offer, claims and intended action should remain consistent, while the wording can be natural in each language. This also gives reviewers a clear unit to approve and schedule.

Where practical, prepare Welsh wording first and arrange review by someone whose first language is Welsh. Welsh syntax differs, so direct translation may sound unnatural. Keep the meanings equivalent while allowing natural phrasing in each language; matching does not require identical sentence construction. A first-language reviewer can help check the Welsh version.

Give the Welsh version comparable prominence. If an English post uses a headline, image and link, include equivalent elements in Welsh. Avoid hiding the Welsh wording beneath a substantial English block or requiring readers to select a language toggle before they can see it. Visibility contributes to usability, not simply translation.

Use Welsh names and job titles preferred by the body. For example, use Llywodraeth Cymru for the Welsh Government, and check the organisation's own Welsh-language pages rather than inventing a translation. That account research can inform terminology as well as the audience the campaign is intended to reach.

Welsh wording can take more characters than English for the same meaning, so test both versions in the platform composer before scheduling. Truncation may weaken one version even if the underlying copy is sound. Review the text as readers will see it on the platform, not only as it appears in a drafting document.

Follow the reader from post to action

The unit to review is the reader's route from a social post to its intended action, not the post in isolation. Check the buyer's instrument for language expectations along that route and do not assume the campaign ends when the social post is published.

The standards are arranged by service area, and campaign duties commonly connect with service delivery, correspondence and publicity. Use the buyer's notice or scheme to assess the route to the intended action. The wording of the post is not the only part of the campaign that may need language review.

A Welsh-speaking reader should not have to move into English to complete the intended action. If a campaign sends readers onwards, include the destination and response route in the campaign review; a bilingual opening post alone does not establish an uninterrupted Welsh-language experience.

Campaign work may contribute to the public body's evidence that it has met its duties. Keep the brief, approvals and published versions aligned, and include advertising rules in release review. Retain a record of the material that actually appeared, rather than relying only on the draft that received approval.

Coordinate release and replies

Handle Welsh and English posts as one release operation. Publishing the English version on time and adding the Welsh version later, or omitting it, can break the intended match and leave the campaign short of the buyer's requirements. Assign review and scheduling tasks before setting a publication date.

Publish both versions from one account where possible. If separate Welsh and English accounts are used, make their relationship clear in the posts. Readers should be able to recognise each version as part of the same campaign, rather than seeing unrelated messages with no stated connection.

Plan comment handling before publication. Reply to Welsh comments in Welsh, and arrange cover in advance if the campaign team cannot respond itself. A reviewer or agency partner may provide support, but the response route needs to be ready before launch rather than improvised after a comment arrives.

Track impressions, clicks and replies separately for each version before changing the creative. Low reach on a Welsh post may reflect a scheduling issue rather than a language problem. Include these checks in the campaign's quality checklist, so performance review does not overlook publication or language issues.

Add privacy and advertising review to release checks

Language duties sit alongside privacy and advertising controls. Review both versions against the rules that apply to the campaign, and make relevant information understandable in the language a person encounters. Include these checks in release work, rather than adding translation review after approval.

PECR covers electronic marketing by phone, email and similar means. Its Welsh text is available in legislation.gov.uk; retain the language version reviewed alongside the Welsh and English creative. UK GDPR and PECR guidance and data protection practice address the wider handling of personal information.

Consent, privacy information and objections need language-aware handling, but translated wording does not replace the underlying privacy review. The CAP Code applies to non-broadcast advertising, including social media promotions. Check both versions so that advertising claims, prices, qualifications, disclaimers and testimonials remain consistent and supportable.

Paid posts should be recognisable as advertising in the language seen by the reader. Retain the Welsh and English versions, the campaign brief and approvals together in case questions arise later. A disclosure policy can specify how paid and organic material is labelled in each language.

Retain evidence alongside the campaign

Keep the buyer's published material, the campaign brief, approvals and publication records together. This record should show which language versions were reviewed and used, helping answer later queries without relying on recollection or reconstructing decisions from scattered messages.

Published Welsh material from the buyer can help identify established terminology. Companies House and HM Revenue & Customs, for example, each publish Welsh-language pages. Those pages may be useful when a campaign concerns business registration, tax or payroll, while the buyer's own documents remain the reference for its particular commitments.

A buyer's document may specify which communications need to be bilingual and how quickly it must respond in Welsh. Use those requirements to shape a specific brief and explain how the proposed campaign reflects the buyer's published commitments. Keep the brief, language versions, review decisions and performance information together as the campaign record.