By Seamus McAteer – May 21, 2024
Using explainer or explainer videos is a tried and tested method to gather early user feedback and seed market demand. In fact there are examples of companies that secured substantial venture funding based on viral explainer videos – including some unfortunate examples like Coin, which raised millions of dollars in pre-orders for its failed “One Card” product. Drew Houston Dropbox founder credits his self created explainer video with driving adoption for his product.
Video content may be used to test interest and demand for new products in different countries before incurring the hefty costs of full scale localization. However, the traditional dubbing process for video content – notoriously slow and expensive – means that over 95 percent of enterprise video content is in a single language and this strategy is rarely used.
AI-based automated dubbing utilizes speech recognition, machine translation, and text-to-speech synthesis to create localized versions of your explainer videos in a fraction of the time and cost associated with traditional methods.
Traditional dubbing is the purview of high production value / high budget content. It involves hiring voice actors, renting sound studios, working with language service providers to translate scripts and post processing. This process takes weeks and costs start at $200 per minute.
AI makes dubbing a feasible option for enterprise content including explainer videos. Using services like those from Speechlab, upload your content, review transcripts and associated translations and derive a first iteration of a dub within minutes. The output can be refined to better align timing or the user may select different target speaker voices that better reflect the context of the content. Speechlab’s service enables collaborative review and editing of content with internal stakeholders, and partner language service providers to ensure high quality output.
The low price point of automated dubbing solutions makes it financially viable to create localized teasers for a wide range of markets. This opens the door to A/B testing explainer video content, allowing you to compare different messaging or creative approaches tailored for different languages.
Explainer videos may be disseminated in a number of ways to gauge market demand or generate feedback before investing in a full localization initiative including:
This flexibility allows you to experiment and refine your message across diverse markets, ultimately leading to a more successful global launch.
Even with automated dubbing's speed and efficiency, human oversight remains crucial. A limited Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) approach allows for final proofing and editing of translations, ensuring accuracy and cultural nuances are maintained. Importantly, the cost savings associated with AI dubbing remain significant. Even with the HITL component factored in, the overall cost is less than 10% of traditional methods.
Automated dubbing will change the way companies approach global market entry. By streamlining the localization process and making A/B testing accessible, it empowers businesses to confidently expand their reach and achieve success on the international stage.
