How to Translate Video Marketing Content for Global Audiences
Video content is king: 55% of people consume video thoroughly – the highest amount of all content types. A far greater four times as many people prefer videos about products to written content. Finally, consider that 40% of people say they are more likely to purchase a product from their phones after watching a video and it is clear that video is fast becoming the most influential form of content marketing.
On YouTube, more than a billion viewers consume millions of hours of video content each day. This reflects a larger trend of 78% of people watching videos online each week and 55% watching them every day. On Facebook, Periscope, Vine, and many other platforms, videos of all kinds are reaching more people and converting more customers.
Done right, video is the ultimate weapon in a marketer’s arsenal. To reach large audiences, video should be engaging, entertaining, and informative. With the help of professional translators, videos can help you reach a larger global audience than any other medium. The question is how to make them cost effective while resonating with an international audience.
What’s so Great About Video?
According to Google, searches for ‘how to’ on YouTube grew by 70% between 2014 and 2015. Videos allow consumers to learn something new and engage with your brand easily.
Imagine that you want to find out how easy it is to open and close a stroller that you are considering for your first child. A video demonstrates this in seconds, allowing consumers to compare products easily and quickly.
Videos demonstrate, engage, and provide more information per second than any other medium because it employs more than one of our senses. There are benefits to businesses, too:
- Sending an email with the word “video” in the subject line increases open rates by 19% and click-throughs by 65%.
- Including video on your landing pages can increase conversions by 80%. This rate will improve further by translating website and landing pages to appeal to a range of audiences.
- Adding video to websites increases the amount of time users spend on your site and thus your SEO ratings increase. Search engines track user’s times on sites before returning to results pages. The more time spent by a user translates to a higher ranking by search engines as they deem the relevancy higher.
Also, people are much more likely to share video content over other mediums. The quality of the filming isn’t even a main priority for viewers – it’s the content that counts.
Increasing Video ROI
Video can be expensive to produce, so maximizing your ROI by localizing content for international audiences is one way of getting your money to go further. However, rather than go viral because of an embarrassing faux pas, using professional translation and localization services is a wise step in this process.
Working with a language service provider (LSP) from the beginning will enable you to identify the message that will reach the largest audience regardless of language and cultural barriers.
How to Localize Video Content
Creating customized video content for each target region can be expensive and time consuming. A single video for a range of audiences will cost less, but it will require a little more thought in the initial stages to be effective.
A few options to consider are:
- Ditch the dialogue: Creating a video that doesn’t rely on dialogue can still be engaging. You can then provide any additional, necessary information in a voice over. For this, the narrator can speak in any language without the need to change your on-screen content.
- Dubbing: If dialogue is integral to your video, you may wish to consider dubbing. Voiceovers in target languages replace the original actors easily, providing a great way to localize content for a range of audiences. However, depending on how many actors need dubbing this can get expensive.
- Subtitles: Localized subtitles are great for videos with or without actors, and even those without dialogue. They are less expensive than dubbing and relatively easy to add to existing video. However, be aware that viewers may find it difficult to watch a video with subtitles if there is a lot of action, or if there are a lot of actors speaking together at one time.
Videos Engage
Regardless of the type of video you choose to create, if it resonates with your audience it is likely to be shared. Ensure you cover areas that are of interest to your customers and use cultural references that will appeal to them.
An LSP with video translation experience can help localize content and also help to optimize your online videos with details such as video title, tags and descriptive keywords. These are vital when uploading any video to YouTube or other video-sharing websites. Follow the right steps and you’ll reap the reward of a higher ROI and more engaged audience of loyal customers with your video content marketing.
8 Powerful Reasons You Need to Use Video Marketing!
More reasons to use Video for marketing... plus some tips and links to how to get started!
8 Powerful Reasons You Need to Use Video Marketing!
More reasons to use Video for marketing... plus some tips and links to how to get started!