When it comes to marketing across multiple countries, and especially across multiple languages, it’s important to ensure that your strategy covers all facets of communication with your target market.And while having your written word and visual displays properly translated and transcreated is fantastic, it’s often the audio localisation, or lack thereof, that can sink a newly launched campaign.  

The world is switching to video marketing but before you jump on the bandwagon, take a moment to think about the accuracy of your key messages within international markets.  

Have you considered changes in dialect, pronunciation, tone, colloquialism, and jargon? If not, reading this article may just save your next video campaign!  

The surge of video marketing 

According to HubSpot surveys 86%of digital marketers are using video marketing but what’s more, out of that number, 87% agreed that video marketing directly results in an increasedROI. 

The world is going through a digital renaissance, and with this, businesses must adapt. In a modern world, every piece of your marketing must be perfect, otherwise the customers will move on. Consider where most of the population is going to be exposed to your marketing; and the answer comes in short-form - video adverts.  

Audio is key because you must get it right straight away. Tone must match the situation; dialect differences must be accounted for, and the cultural footprint has got to fit in with the accepted cultural background. Without these, a marketing campaign is finding a needle in a haystack, and we both know the difficulties that ensues. 

Why you should use video marketing  

Shifting to video marketing immediately creates a more engaging style of promotion which is proven to captivate a far greater proportion of viewers than traditional means of advertising. Data experts Cisco, reported that 82% of global internet traffic will be situated around video streaming or video download in 2022 and video advertising achieves a worldwide audience reach of 92%. 

Multilingual Challenges to International Video Advertising 

However as multilingual experts here at ilc, alarm bells are ringing. Despite its popularity the rapidly increasing switch to video comes with its own share of communicational challenges, especially when targeting international target audiences. 

Words of Power 

When it comes to any language, there’s a distinction between the written and the verbal use of words, even more so when you add dialect into the mix.This can mean that while a slogan or radio advert is perfectly normal and acceptable in one region, differences in dialect or regional slang could result in a complete misinterpretation of your key messages and may even end up insulting the listener.  

Consider pronunciation and tone 

Some languages have other aspects of their language that can be easy to trip up on, especially if you don’t focus on ensuring the highest quality localisation. Gendered nouns can sound remarkably familiar, but be wildly incorrect, and when your ad could be heard for a few seconds, it’s critical to grab a potential customer instantly.Depending on the culture, tone can vary based on whether a sentence lilts up or down at the end. So, no matter how perfect the localisation side of things are, if the tone is wrong, it can completely ruin the overall intended message. 

At ilc, we provide services to ensure every aspect of your marketing strategy achieves a positive reception worldwide. Communicating effectively through a variety of mediums and across numerous countries requires an expert knowledge in translation and localisation. So, before you launch your video marketing campaign consider how location may affect your audience’s interpretation 

Contact us today and see how we can help with your business plans.