Mastering Video Localization: Top Tips and Techniques for Success

Creating digital videos to promote your business has become one of the most effective marketing strategies that you should not overlook. Research has revealed that 96% of marketers use digital videos as a part of their marketing strategy. This is because most people nowadays get attracted more quickly by visual content. However, if you plan to expand to new markets, using your original video in its original language will not attract the desired number of customers. Here comes the importance of video localization.

To make your digital video strategy global and appealing to your new target audience, you should not rely only on translation. Localizing your video content including all the visual elements is essential if you are willing to achieve high conversions and acquire more leads.

In this article, we will provide you with a comprehensive guide about video localization, and its importance, and we will walk you through some of the highly effective tips to make the most out of video localization. Let’s dive into it!

What is Video Localization?

It is the adaptation of video content to be accessible to people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Video localization can be done in the form of dubbing, voice-over, subtitling, or both the dubbing or voice-over and subtitling techniques, and you just need to select the most appropriate technique for you the nature of your business and your budget. Let’s discuss some of these types separately as follows:

Dubbing

This is done by replacing the voice of the original speaker with a speaker’s voice in the target language. This process is time-coded, meaning that the speaker starts and ends at the same point as the original speaker. Lip-synching can be applied to dubbing to match the lip movements of the original speaker with the new language being spoken. However, adding this technique is more expensive. So, you have to decide if you really need it or not.

At Torjoman, our team has handled thousands of hours of voice content and our professionals are ready to cover all your dubbing needs.

Subtitling

Subtitling is one of the most cost-effective techniques in video localization. It is the translation of the spoken language to appear to the reader at the bottom of the screen.

Torjoman employs specialized teams who have worked with top educational and entertainment companies and produced best-in-class localized video content.

Voiceovers and Subtitles

Some people prefer to hear and read at the same time. Moreover, this technique is very useful for hearing-impaired people as they need to understand what is being said in the video.

Is Video Localization Worth Investing in?!

Indeed, localizing your digital videos can bring you more global audiences. Here are some of the key benefits:

1. Localized Videos Help in Attracting More Audiences: It has been found that 91% of consumers want to see more digital videos from brands. Therefore, localizing your videos will help you gain a wider customer base.
2. Localizing Your Videos Helps You Rank High in Search Engines: Localizing the videos that you add to your website will help you get recognized fast by search engines resulting in more visibility for your brand.
3. Localized Videos Attain a More Personalized User Experience: Localizing your videos to be appealing to target customers will increase their desire to buy your product and service as they will feel that you care about them by respecting their linguistic and cultural nuances. Moreover, you should select the technique that suits your target audience, whether it is dubbing, subtitling, or both since some audiences prefer to watch videos without sounds and others prefer to hear audio with the voice of a famous actor, as instance. Hence, understanding the needs and requirements of your target customers is very crucial to win their trust.

Since localizing videos represents a very important technique to reach a wider number of customers, the localization process should be done in the most appropriate way to accomplish your marketing goals. Here are some of the best practices you should not miss out:

Understand Your Target Audience

Before deciding which technique will be applied to localize your videos, you have to know well who will be your target audience; when they will watch your video and where, what their age is, and what they will be looking for in your video. By doing so, you will be able to achieve a great customer experience and take your business to the next level.

Consider Text Expansion

When localizing the content of your video, especially during subtitling, make some extra space for languages with lengthier texts such as German.

Localize Everything in the Video

Not only spoken language that should be localized, but you also need to localize images, hyperlinks, maps, diagrams, and infographics if needed. However, it is always preferable to make your video global from the beginning to facilitate the process of moving it to other languages.

Do not forget to Include Metadata

Including your metadata such as title tags, descriptions, and hyperlinks will play a very important role in improving your SEO when you upload your videos to any of the video-sharing platforms and will result in acquiring a higher number of audiences.

Choose the Best Software for Your Video Localization

To execute a more efficient video localization process, make sure that the software you invest in has the following features:

1. Suitable fonts for every language
2. Automation of repeated tasks
3. Handling right-to-left writing for some languages

Leave Extra Time for Voice-overs and Dubbing

When recording the original audio, you have to take into account leaving extra time as the target language may need more time than the source language. You can do this by allowing more pauses and asking actors to speak a bit slowly. Furthermore, you can add a time limit for your video so that actors can abide by it.

Torjoman offers you the best multimedia translation and localization solutions. We can help you reach your global audience and entice them through our top-quality video localization services. Get an instant quote now!