Online video is proving to be one of the best ways to market products and services. Consistently, consumers are proving to be more engaged with video than any other type of marketing content. For companies that operate globally, professional translations can help to increase the ROI of a video marketing campaign. In order to access an international audience most effectively, reach them in their language and localize the brand message.

Here are the tips you need to know when going global with your video marketing strategy.

The Impact of Online Video

A video is a medium that can connect with consumers on a level that is not possible with other types of content. This is something that has been known since the early days of television. Now that we are in the digital age, the possibility of using video to market a product is open to a wider range of businesses.

With platforms like YouTube and Facebook, an ad has the potential to reach billions of customers. These online platforms make it easier for marketers to reach customers with video advertising, but they are not the only options that you have for using online video as a part of your digital marketing strategy.

For brands looking to make the most of a video marketing strategy, there are video sharing sites like YouTube or social media sites like Facebook. Additionally, you can take embed videos into various pages on your website or use video as a part of your email marketing. All of these strategies have shown great success with the proper implementation of the media.

When websites add videos to their landing pages, it can yield several benefits. Videos can increase conversions for pages on a website, and can also help to increase the search visibility of the page that has the video. A video will increase the amount of time that visitors spend on your site, and it will also increase engagement among website visitors. In turn, this yields positive results from an SEO perspective, organically increasing your visibility on web search engines.

Email marketing already offers a great return on investment for your marketing dollars, but you can improve this effort even further by including video as a part of the strategy. By adding video to your marketing emails, you can improve open rates, the click-through rate and it can reduce the number of people that choose to unsubscribe from your mailing list.

Why Translate Videos?

One of the things that makes an online video so powerful is the ability to target a specific audience. When you talk about video ads on platforms like YouTube and Facebook, the ability to target your audience by location is a great way to ensure that the ads are reaching the right people. However, if you are a company that operates globally, you have to do more than target an audience that is in the right locale: You need to take steps to ensure that you are speaking to people in their language.

It’s already been established that video marketing can be one of the best methods for building brand recognition and for increasing sales, but it is also one of the more expensive types of online marketing. As a marketer that is trying to get the most from your budget, you have to do what you can to increase the return that you see from every video you make.

For a company that needs to deploy video marketing worldwide, professional translations can offer a way to get more from your video content. Instead of making different videos for every language group, you can use the same video in every market. All you have to do is get the video translated and localized for different populations.

While this can be a good way to maximize the ROI of video content, you do need to be careful. Marketers need to be aware of the differences in language and culture. A poor translation could result in a video that sends the wrong message to the target audience. In some cases, a message might come across well to one cultural group, but it might seem offensive or silly in a different country. For this reason, it is important to hire professional translators with expertise in video translations for your marketing needs.

Localizing Videos with Professional Translations

When you make a video that is going to be translated into different languages, there are some points to consider. You need to think about how the translations will fit in with the video, and the most effective way to convey a message in multiple languages.

One thing to consider is the difference between using live actors and animation. Live actors can often come across as more relatable than videos that use animation, but animation can be easier for translation.

You also need to consider whether you are going to have multiple actors in a video or whether it is better to have a single narrator. A dialogue can have its benefits, but using a single narrator could save you money if you plan to translate the video and dub a voice actor over the original audio.

Some video marketers may consider the possibility of using subtitles to translate their videos for foreign markets. Subtitles can be a cost-effective way to translate videos but do have a downside. When viewers have to focus on the text at the bottom of the screen, it can distract from the visual end of the content, and this can diminish the impact of your marketing videos.

Different videos might require different solutions when it comes to choices like dubbing or subtitles. Regardless of which option you do choose, a translated video is going to have more of an impact than one that is not translated for the target audience. By collaborating with professional translators, you can ensure that you are making the right decisions concerning the localization of marketing videos.

About The Author:

Sirena Rubinoff is the Content Manager at Morningside Translations. She earned her B.A. and Master’s Degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern. After completing her graduate degree, Sirena won an international fellowship as a Rotary Cultural Ambassador to Jerusalem. Sirena covers topics related to software and website localization, global business solutions, and the translation industry as a whole.