As you have probably established by now, the successful integration of a business within a foreign market depends to a large extent on a good marketing campaign. An efficient way of maximizing your marketing and promotion spending is by adding video content to your website. The rise of YouTube and other similar platforms has made this a highly profitable practice, widely incorporated by many businesses worldwide. Consumers are more likely to get information about a product through video and, moreover, studies show that video content can increase online conversion rates by up to 40%. Even YouTube, in its Creator Playbook, encourages users to make content that is relevant to the cross-cultural audiences, whether its purpose is to promote, entertain, or inform. Therefore, to successfully integrate your brand within foreign-language markets, you need to decide on a method for online video translation that will best suit your product and marketing budget.
Voice-Over Translation
Replacing the original audio with a version in the language of the targeted audience will improve the response and understanding of your brand’s message. Oftentimes, when targeting global audiences without a common language, it is difficult to decide on the language spoken in the video. Customized voice-over is a feature highly valued by consumers across the world, as ¾ of them are more likely to purchase a product presented in their own language. Depending on budget and the type of video, there are different voice-over options that can be utilized: UN-style, used in videos where only one speaker is present, lip-sync dubbing, which syncs the translated speech with the actors’ voices, or Phrase-sync voiceover, which matches the timing of the audio, rather than the lip movements of the actors. While it is more expensive in comparison to other forms of translation, a well-executed voice-over including multiple speakers makes your brand appear professional and trustworthy.
That being said, there are certain things to beware of when it comes to employing voice-over translation- the speakers may be out of sync with the original recording, they could erroneously interpret the content or fail to keep up with the pace of the video. However, these are disadvantages that can be easily avoided with the help of professional translation services.
Subtitles
A more cost-effective option for online video translation could be subtitling. The main advantage of subtitles is that they do not interfere with the video’s original audio, preserving the authenticity of the content, and can be easily turned off by the viewer’s demand. Similarly, to the voice-over approach subtitles come with a few disadvantages: they require more effort from the audience in terms of reading and assimilating the message and could act as a distractor from the video itself. Moreover, subtitles make it difficult to distinguish between various speakers and different tones in the conversation, which could lead to people misinterpreting the content of the video.
While both of the approaches have their pros and cons, oftentimes what’s most effective is to combine the two together, for the optimal user experience. Consumer satisfaction with promotional materials is especially important when that is the first time they are being familiarized with your product. Additionally, video content can be utilized in the correspondence with business investors and associates, making accurate voice-over and subtitle translation all the more important. When it comes to modifying your video content for global audiences, you can’t afford to take chances with inaccurate or incomplete translation. 1-StopAsia can assist companies and enterprises to choose the most suitable method for video content translation and provide guidance on the best way to present your content to a foreign audience. By working with expert translators, the translation process, whether it be subtitling or voice-over, becomes much more streamlined and effective, allowing business owners to focus on the other aspects of building an attractive brand image within foreign markets. Overall, taking the time and resources to create visually and audio-engaging content will significantly improve your business’ reputation, especially within global audiences.