Video is now becoming the go-to medium for learning, entertainment, socializing, and others. Do you know that more than 87 percent of businesses use videos as a marketing tool? Multimedia content is a powerful way to reach people instinctually or emotionally. People are less likely to pay attention to text and images, but they watch videos longer than other forms of media.

According to The Acolad, video localization can be a powerful way to immediately connect with new audiences. More people watching videos on the internet rather than TV. Therefore, it is in many respects less of a challenge today to reach audiences meaningfully because, according to the 20% Rule, nearly everyone is watching videos online. With bandwidth becoming less of a burden worldwide, the moving image is emerging as the most popular medium for choice. Localized videos online connect audiences to organizations instantly and effectively!

Starting with the basics of localization, and then moving on to unique nuances specific to video, we will break down what makes localizing videos different from the text and describe how to adapt video content for different cultures. In the end, you’ll be enriched with powerful tips to help you execute your multimedia localization strategy!

Aware of the basic

The practice of Localization involves not just translating words but translating them into the regional dialect. In the Localization process, dialect is the most effective option between the two. Also, dialect involves linguistic choices specific to a region or culture. 

For example, in America, sweaters are usually knitted tops with sleeves, while jumpers are short sleeveless shirts. Jumpsuits are two-piece suits that go over your legs but cover your arms. A jumper is typically worn by men in Britain. Soccer is a popular game played by two teams who kick a round ball around. Until the 1980s, soccer was called football in the United Kingdom. In the US, people call it soccer instead. 

Slang is also a common feature of language. People often use different words for the same thing. For example, in the US, people say “I’m going to go get some milk”, while in the UK, people say “Let me pop down the shop and get us some milk”. Some organizations do not understand the importance of localizing content in foreign languages. This may cause them to miss out on potential customers who speak those languages. So how to start?

Use samples

Before diving into a large project, sample various service providers with smaller 1–2 minute video subtitling orders so you can evaluate quality before making a decision about the larger project. This helps you get a feel for the service and determine if you want to continue working with them. Trial runs allow you to test out the service level and communication style before committing to a larger project. You may decide to cancel the larger project if you’re not happy with the results.

Create content with an international reach to capture a global audience. 

Localization is usually cheaper than creating a new version of the game. But if you’re going to spend money on localization, make sure you get the most out of it by investing in style guides, branding guidelines, and glossaries. Even though it seems like a hard task to win viewers who have almost unlimited options and the internet is growing by more new content each day it is actually much easier than ever before to reach audiences meaningfully. 

Video Localization involves adapting your content to fit the culture of the local markets. To appeal to a worldwide audience, you need to create video marketing features to support your online presence in a foreign country. Your language isn’t the only thing that needs to be adapted to the culture of the local audience. You should also adapt your content in other ways that take into account cultural influences and norms.

Take into account cultural sensitivities 

Adapting to cultural differences is crucial! Pay attention to the cultural difference of the specific country you’re providing content for- everything from the words used to cultural norms and references you’re making in your content. 

Educate yourself on the cultural holidays and seasonal references. Make sure there isn’t anything a local user can misconstruct. You can create a new video translation, add subtitles, and translate titles and text over images. Also pay attention to numbers, dates, and measurements that differ in countries. Be careful when you create your subtitles. You should make sure that the subtitle doesn’t overlap with any part of the video.There should be no more than 3 speakers in the video. You should limit the use of speakers to avoid dubbing issues. We recommend saving your audio narration scripts as MP3 or WAV format. This allows us to easily edit your script into our system!

Conclusion

Video localization is a process of adapting video content to the specific needs of a target audience. Sum it all up, here are the tips mentioned above:

• Create subtitles or an alternate audio track to make the video easy to watch in multiple languages. 
• Choose keywords and phrases that are specific to your target market. 
• Choose a catchy title and tagline that will capture people’s attention. Titles also help viewers quickly understand what they’re watching and make video discovery easier.
• Make sure your video is properly formatted for localization. 
• Use captions for video content to make localization easier. 
• Use a video player that supports localization. Some video players enable you to change the language of subtitles and captions, making localization even easier.

By following the few simple tips mentioned in this article, you can easily format your video for localization and ensure that it is easy to understand and engaging for your target audience.