It’s not an exaggeration to say that any 2017 content marketing strategy, that doesn’t involve video marketing, is not worth the paper (or screen) it’s written on.
Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen the popularity of video marketing grow at an unprecedented rate, in response to the ever-changing consumer demand for content that fits in with their fast-paced lifestyle.
Video is a format that marketers can, and should, use to communicate and build a relationship, with an audience who want content that is flexible enough so that they can access it whenever and wherever they want.
Don’t believe us? Take a look at the stats…
Here are some stats from HubSpot:
- Including video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80%
- YouTube reports mobile video consumption rises 100% every year
- 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others
- 90% of users say that product videos are helpful in the decision process
- 59% of executives would rather watch video than read text
With HubSpot citing that a whopping 55% of people watch videos online every day and that 78% watch videos online every week, it’s clear that this medium is no longer something that brands can ignore.
If this isn’t enough to demonstrate why you need to focus on video marketing, HubSpot go on to share an infographic (2017: The year of video marketing) which shows us that by 2017, online video will account for 74% of all web traffic.
These stats (and many more) show that it is essential for any international brand to localise video marketing, so that it can effectively communicate with its local audiences in this medium.
Localise video marketing: challenges and tips
Let’s take a look at the most common challenges that video marketing brings…
Budget
Video content marketing is a relatively new way of marketing and therefore it can be hard for those planning the content marketing strategy, to justify the costs involved. These costs include the budget to make the video and then the investment that may be needed to localise video marketing (if necessary – see our examples below).
Viral videos are by no means guaranteed
What makes a video go viral? Anyone who knew how to make a brand’s videos always go viral would be a prized asset, if not a millionaire! In truth, there are a lot of different elements involved and it can sometimes be tricky to ensure that your video is seen by your target audience.
Developing engaging video content
Many people skip through video marketing content in the first few seconds. In order to avoid this, it’s important to ensure that your video immediately engages with your audience. Localising your video for a particular country is a key part of this.
We’ve come up with the top 5 tips for translating your video content:
- Think about globalisation from the start, as this will make things much easier. Avoiding English idioms or gestures is vital, as they may not mean the same thing in other cultures.
- Leave some pauses in your video, as this will allow for the expansion of other languages that take up more space than English.
- Avoid on-screen titles, as these can be costly to translate.
- Leave subtitle space by filming most of the action on the top half of the screen.
- It’s better to incorporate globalisation plans into your videos from the start but don’t forget to localise old video marketing too, or you could be missing out on valuable local audiences.
Let’s take a look at some examples of how to localise video marketing well…
Global brand campaigns that used video that worked
When it comes to localising video content, very few brands can afford to shoot in different languages.
Here are some examples of brands that did video localisation well…
1. Etsy – “Difference makes us” global advertising campaign
This was Etsy’s first global advertising campaign.
In its video, Etsy used two items that everyone has (coffee cups and bedside tables), which are different in everyone’s homes.
CCO of Etsy, Paul Caiozzo explained: “An important part of this message is: Did you know that something as simple as a coffee cup can reflect what creativity means to you? And on Etsy, there are 200,000 different coffee cups—new, old, antique, used, vintage—that you can get.”
Additionally, the items in the ad constantly changed, meaning that if someone watched the video more than once, they would be seeing a different ad.
Etsy’s global brand awareness campaign shows that by considering globalisation from the start, a video can effectively communicate with local audiences across a range of different countries. In Etsy’s case, the video was used for audiences in France, Germany, Australia, the UK, Canada and the US – the company’s core markets.
2. YouTube – #OursToLose global campaign
In 2015, YouTube launched its #OursToLose campaign, to raise awareness regarding the effects of climate change.
The promotional video used local influencers such as Casey Neistat, Flavia Calina, and Marques Brownlee to explain what could happen if climate change was ignored and what we could do about it. By using these local influencers, YouTube was able to engage with audiences from all over the world to encourage discussion around climate change.
People were also encouraged to make their own videos about how climate change would affect their lives.
The use of local influencers is a great way to localise video marketing, as your video will be of more interest to local audiences.
3. Airbnb- #OneLessStranger global campaign
Airbnb has grown into a successful global brand in under a decade. One element that has contributed to its rapid growth, is the clever localisation of its video content.
In 2015, Airbnb launched its #OneLessStranger campaign, which encouraged its community to perform random acts of hospitality for people they didn’t know and make a video about it (or take a photo).
Airbnb talked about this as a ‘global, social experiment’
This kind of local community involvement, works to involve local audiences in your brand message.
It certainly had the desired effect for Airbnb, with a reported 3,000,000 people around the world engaging with the campaign only 3 weeks after it launched.
You can read more about how to localise video marketing here. Or you can get in touch with one of our video translation specialists today – we’re always happy to help!
