How Translating Video is Crucial for Marketing Success

This entry is a special post from Rachel Wheeler from Morningtrans.com - thank you so much Rachel!!

When trying to entice customers to buy a product you’re marketing online, it’s essential that you understand what types of content are more likely to result in sales. For instance, four times as many consumers prefer to watch a video about a product than read about it. And 40% of consumers indicate they’re more inclined to buy something via their phones if they watch a video first. Videos on the internet actually reach more viewers than any cable network in the United States.

Youtube has a lot to do with that. With more than a billion viewers accounting for millions of hours of daily viewing time, it’s clearly the top platform for web-based video content. Much of Youtube’s success can be attributed to its software localization strategy. By professionally translating their user interface and localizing content whenever possible, Youtube is able to reach viewers in 88 countries and 76 languages.

You’re more likely to make an online sale with entertaining, informative video content. If you’re trying to attract as many customers as possible, you need to translate and localize your videos, too. By hiring a professional translation firm, you can ensure your videos resonate with viewers throughout the world.

Keep some basic advice in mind to boost your ROI when implementing a video marketing strategy:

Why Videos Are Effective

According to marketing expert Ann Handley, video works because it “adds a pulse to your content. It makes your story tangible and real.”

The results confirm this:

• Studies show that including videos on a landing page may increase conversions by as much as 80%.

• Video content, especially when used as part of a translated website, is a key element of SEO best practices to make your page more likely to appear higher in a Google search.

• Sending an email with the word “video” in the subject line results in 19% more opens, increases your click-throughs by 65%, and reduces unsubscribes by 26%.

Video content is also ideal because people are more likely to share this type of content over social media. It’s easy to consume a lot of information in a short span of time when it’s delivered visually.

Boosting ROI

Although videos are clearly effective, they’re also expensive to produce. You can boost your ROI by localizing and translating your videos before distributing them to customers via social media or other channels.

That said, poorly-translated videos can actually damage your brand. Depending on the nature of your industry, they may even result in liability issues. For instance, if you distributed a mistranslated video explaining the proper usage of a new medication, your company may be liable if the poor translation causes people to use the medication improperly. An experienced translation firm will help you avoid these consequences.

How to Localize Video

The most effective way to localize video content would be to create different versions of each video for each target market. Unfortunately, this isn’t feasible for many businesses due to high production costs.

Instead, consider the following localization strategies:

• Animate Your Videos: Using animated characters instead of live actors eliminates the need to shoot scenes multiple times with various actors speaking different languages. You can simply dub narration over the video in multiple languages instead.

• Dubbing: Sometimes a video simply requires the use of live actors. In these instances, you can hire others to dub over the original actors.

• Subtitles: Using subtitles is generally more cost-effective than dubbing, and is an ideal strategy if your video isn’t too fast-paced. If there’s a substantial amount of action in a video, subtitles may not be the best choice, as they can be difficult to read while also trying to follow along with what is happening on screen.

“Video is a Universal Language”

We don’t all share the same language, but all cultures understand images. That’s why video is especially useful for developing a global customer base. Just remember that subtle cultural differences can substantially alter the effect a video has on an audience. Hire a company that offers translation and localization services to ensure the best results.