Multiple Language Versions
We can help you expand your reach by creating language versions of your videos to engage with overseas audiences in their own languages.
There are a number of options depending on the type of video, such as narrated, ‘talking head’ interviews, animation, etc. Common solutions include:
- The quickest, and most cost-effective way is to subtitle the English video with captions in the other language – see the AH Spares example below.
- For animations you could replace the voiceover with a different language version, and translate any on-screen text.
- The next step up would involve replacing the voiceover, and translating captions in the animations. See the ABB example below.
It’s worth considering if you will need multiple language versions before starting production – rather than thinking about it after the English version has been completed. For example, we might adopt an animation style that has minimal text that would necessitate on-screen amends.
In addition, we can add ‘closed captions’ in English, to help hard-of-hearing viewers and the increasing number that choose to watch without the volume. Here are a few statistics to consider…
- 85% of Facebook videos are watched on mute.
- Tubular Insights, a video marketing company, found that by adding subtitles video watch-times increased by 40%. They also report that videos watched ‘on mute’ but which had subtitles saw a 20x increase in viewing!
- And if that is not enough, having ‘closed captions’ will also help with your SEO.
Examples
ABB Antimicrobial – Manadarin
Initially, we produced a product promo video in English which proved so useful that the company had requests from their local sales teams to provide different language versions. In this version, there’s a Mandarin voiceover, and the captions and text in the animations were translated into Mandarin. Italian, French, and Spanish subtitled versions were also created.
AH Spares – German
Following the success of their company overview video, AH Spares asked for versions with German and French subtitles – to play on their exhibition screens at various international classic cars shows.
