Different ways to translate YouTube videos.
Video is one of the best content formats if you want to deliver a creative message to a highly-engaged audience. YouTube is the top social platform for video content, averaging 1 billion unique users per month with more than half of all YouTube views from non-English speaking users.
So what does this mean for content creators?
In short, it means that YouTube is a phenomenal channel for marketers and advertisers to get their video content in front of new audiences, IF they can localize it properly.
In 2015, YouTube launched their Translation Marketplace, which allowed content creators to request transcriptions and translations from professional language service providers. However, in June of 2017, they removed the service from the platform.
Why would they do such a thing?
Some speculate that the decision to remove the Translation Marketplace was due to relatively low usage by content creators. So unfortunately, if you want professional transcriptions, translations, subtitling, and/or voice-overs, you won't be able to request quotes from your Video Manager.
So what are your options for video localization?
The good news is that you still have three solid options to localize your video content for non-English speaking audiences...
If the message in your video is not too important to you or your audience, you can make use of YouTube's Community Contributions (CC) option. This option allows users to offer contributions like translations that can be applied to your video for free. The thing is, you don't know who is contributing or how qualified they are to translate your content.
Another option is using YouTube's machine translation engine, Google Translate. Again, this option is nice because it's free, but it isn't 100% accurate, so it's not the best choice if your message must be relayed flawlessly. Learn more about human versus machine translation here.
When it comes to advertisements, marketing videos, health care content, or any other video that delivers an important message to your audience, consider consulting with a localization professional in your industry. Doing so can help you avoid mistakes that could end up harming your reputation.
Before jumping into anything, take a look at these tips for localizing media content. Your content objectives will help you determine the extent to which you should localize your content.
Auracom International offers professional translation, localization, and interpreting services in over 200 languages. Contact us directly or view our services for more information.
