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The number of speakers of the English language is constantly growing, and this is mainly because much of the internet content comes from Europe or the US. However, non-native speakers usually have some blank spots in their knowledge.
When it comes to video content, dubbing can significantly help consumers understand it. When I read the word dubbing, I often think about cartoons or movies, but you can basically dub everything from short content to product demos.
In order to improve your chances of succeeding in the market, you can leverage dubbing to reach more audiences. We’ll explain dubbing and talk about some of the helpful strategies you can use.
Dubbing explained
Dubbing is a post-production process where the original audio in video content or video games is replaced with new recordings, often in a different language. This allows creators to reach audiences who might not understand the original dialogue. For example, a Japanese anime can be dubbed in English so American viewers can enjoy it without subtitles.
Some viewers prefer subtitles, but providing dubbed versions makes content more accessible. People with vision impairments may struggle to read subtitles, and others simply enjoy hearing dialogue in their native language. Dubbing also adds energy and personality, making content feel more relatable to international audiences.
Traditionally, professional voice actors created these localized recordings, bringing translation, nuance, and emotion to the performance. Today, AI dubbing powered by tools like Synthesia offers a faster and more cost-effective way to produce multiple language versions. While it may not fully replicate the artistry of human actors, careful use can preserve tone, humor, and cultural context, ensuring the dubbed content still connects with viewers.
Dubbing vs voiceover
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, dubbing and voiceover are different and serve different purposes. Voiceover overlays translated audio on top of the original, usually leaving the source voice faintly audible.
On the other hand, dubbing completely replaces the original dialogue, syncing the new audio with the actor’s lip movements and emotions. This makes it the preferred choice for films, series, and other narrative-driven content where immersion is essential.
For marketing content, dubbing is a much better option. From my personal experience, I always thought voice-overs seemed less professional. However, both are used by both large corporations and smaller businesses.
7 Helpful strategies to expand worldwide using dubbing
In order to achieve global media success, dubbing can be a stepping stone. However, you should pick the right strategy in order to make the most out of your operations. Of course, any dubbing efforts are better than none, but you should personalize your approach.
With a combination of the strategies below, your content will appear more professional, and you’ll be able to reach new audiences. However, you should pick the ones that will give you the highest returns with the least amount of investment.
1. Localized casting
Casting the right voice talent is one of the most important parts of dubbing. I mean, if your original video content is recorded by a female, dubbing it with a male voice actor can seem out of place.
That’s the most obvious example, but there are a lot more intricacies. Finding local voice actors isn’t about finding someone who only speaks the target language, but whose voice matches the video’s intended targets in terms of age, personality, and cultural background.
A carefully chosen local voice actor can capture subtleties such as regional accents, humor, or emotional tone that resonate with audiences. Creating videos for certain regions will then be a powerful way of building your brand.
This will ensure that the content feels authentic and relatable in every market that you want to expand to.
2. Voice direction and performance matching
Even if you find the best, most expensive, or most popular voice actor for a certain region, they’ll need strong direction to align with the original intent and ensure tone, pacing, and emotional delivery.
For example, a dramatic scene requires the same level of intensity across all languages. Performance matching helps preserve the integrity of the story, allowing viewers worldwide to experience the same emotional impact as the original audience.
If the dubbing is poorly executed, the content might feel silly or even insulting.
3. Script adaptation
As we’ve mentioned, dubbing is a lot more than translating the original video word-for-word. Cultural context, idioms, and humor often don’t carry over, which is why it’s important to adapt the new script according to the country for which you’re creating the content.
Script adaptation adjusts dialogue so it sounds natural in the target language while maintaining the context of the original. For instance, jokes may be rephrased, or references swapped for locally relevant ones.
This further ensures that the new viewers connect with the story. It also shows that the company creating the localized content actually spent time and effort understanding the culture and population.
4. Lip sync precision and accuracy
One of the key technical challenges of dubbing is ensuring that the lip sync is precise and accurate. You don’t want the sound of the dubbing to be late seconds, as it will ruin the immersion and make the whole video look unprofessional.
Skilled adaptors and editors adjust timing, syllable count, and phrasing so that speech appears seamless on screen. The right software can make this process easier, but the final version will vastly rely on human precision.
5. Prioritizing quality over speed
The growing demand for global content often pushes studios to release dubbed versions quickly. While AI can significantly increase the speed of creating dubs, it’s also not perfect. Prioritizing quality means taking the time to review and personalize scripts.
Rehearsing and refining technical details is necessary to ensure professional and on-point content in the performance itself. Speed matters mainly for market entry, but the long-term success depends on delivering polished content.
6. Multi-market dubbing strategy
Instead of approaching each market separately, a multi-market dubbing strategy streamlines production across multiple regions. There are various tools that allow for easier translation and localization.
They come with features like shared glossaries, consistent workflows, and scalable recording processes. This ensures the quality of the dubbing, prevents duplication of effort, and keeps messaging aligned.
In some countries, multiple languages are used interchangeably. For example, you can use similar scripts for two countries that use the same language, such as Austria and Germany.
Of course, there will be differences in culture, but it can help you save time and resources.
7. Consistency across series and franchises
Audiences form strong connections with voices over time, especially in long-running series or franchises. Changing actors, tone, or dubbing style mid-way can break immersion and alienate fans.
If you have one voice actor who does dubbing over videos of multiple people, you can ruin the immersion. Maintain consistency across different types of content by creating agreements with voice actors.
Dubbing can enhance your marketing content
As mentioned, there are many English speakers worldwide, and you can reach many people by creating content in English. However, if you want to be professional, you should dub your content in the local language, localize it, or adapt it.
Creating specialized content for different regions can seem expensive and problematic, but it’s a great way to build customer loyalty and gain a competitive edge. Remember that dubbing your content won’t conquer another market overnight.
However, it can help establish your brand. Pick some of the notable strategies from the list and try applying them. Some can be more helpful than others, and you should do research to understand which will give you the highest ROI.
With artificial intelligence, dubbing has never been easier, but you can also go the traditional route, and find native speakers.
