Nowadays, multimedia content is king, ruling our modern world, and essential in communicating across all countries and languages. And with the internet’s rise these last decades, everything is evolving, and the world has already become borderless and connected.
Now, with just one click or touch, your video can be shared with millions, strengthening your business reputation or causing permanent damage, negatively affecting your image and future customer-business relationships.
High-quality videos aren’t enough in today’s modern world. But high-quality videos in your target market’s native language are what you need to offer. Only 100% done-right videos that focus on the viewer’s whole experience can bring the desired impact, be it more sales, wider reach, or even just for the sake of entertainment. And one way to do it is through professional Chinese subtitling services.
The importance of Chinese subtitling has surpassed the idea of its affordability compared to voice-over. Now, more than that, if you want to avoid losing your viewers from the first seconds of your video, Chinese subtitle translations are your only chance. This post will delve into the Chinese subtitling world, discussing its importance and how to gauge the success of a Chinese subtitle service. Let’s kick-off!
What Is Subtitling?
Subtitles are the translated text (appears at the bottom of the screen) of the spoken speech or conversations on TV shows, films, eLearning, social media videos, and more. They are intended to break language barriers for people who don’t understand the language of the video or hard-of-hearing individuals. With subtitles in their own languages, viewers can understand the content and what the speakers are saying.While linguistically accurate subtitles with clear, grammatically correct sentences are always a priority, it’s not the only thing to consider in Chinese subtitling services or any other language for that matter.
When creating subtitles, the target audience’s cultural preferences should be taken into consideration. Otherwise, you will create dull, stilted translations that will either repel or offend your prospect. Additionally, there are particular technicalities that govern subtitles. This includes time and space constraints and synchronization. Subtitles should be synced with the spoken dialogue to appear simultaneously on the screen. If not, just imagine how frustrating it can be for foreign audiences when the audio and subtitles are out of sync. Chances are they won’t even get past the first few seconds.
The Difference Between Subtitling & Captioning
Captioning, unlike subtitling, is simply a word-for-word transcription of the video’s conversations or dialogues, displayed often in white at the bottom of the screen. It displays in text all the audible and inaudible content, including non-speech elements such as noises, gestures, and background sounds.
Captions are intended to keep people engaged even in noise-sensitive environments and help the deaf and hard-of-hearing capture all the video’s messages. Also, they help make complex data more digestible and memorable.
Captions consist of two types: closed and open captions. Closed captions are the ones that can be turned on or off and are primarily available as an option on most streaming platforms, such as YouTube and Netflix.
On the flip side, open captions are the text fixed to the screen, not giving the audience an option to turn them on or off.
Why Do You Need Chinese Subtitling Services?
If you plan to charge ahead of your competition in the Chinese market, incorporating translation and subtitling for your multimedia content into your strategy is crucial. In this way, you can boost your video views on social media and reach users who prefer watching videos on mute. Also, a Chinese version of your eLearning course can take your business to new heights.There is no denying the power of Chinese subtitling services. Here are the benefits that they can bring to your business:
– Grow Your Global Audience
China has the most internet users worldwide, with one billion Chinese internet users. But before diving into details, have a look at these vital statistics:
- The Chinese language is the world’s second-most-spoken language, with 1.4 billion Chinese speakers globally.
- 85% of Facebook videos are watched on mute, according to American Press Institute.
- The Week stated that 80% of Netflix subscribers regularly turn on subtitles or closed captions.
- According to Statista, 66% of Chinese watching foreign content prefer subtitled video content.
So, imagine the number of viewers you may lose if you invest in something other than Chinese subtitling services for business purposes.
So, imagine the number of viewers you may lose if you invest in something other than Chinese subtitling services for business purposes.
Also, with less than 1% of Chinese speaking English (according to China Highlights,) engaging the broad Chinese viewer base would not be possible without the Chinese language and subtitles incorporated into your business expansion strategy.
When integrating Chinese subtitling services into your videos, your videos are more likely to become viral and reach more Chinese prospects. Moreover, you will make it easier for your potential Chinese customer to be swayed toward your products or services, which in return will boost your conversion and sales.
In addition, you’ll be able to reach the Chinese deaf community, which includes over 20 million people with hearing impairments, helping them to feel included.
Improve Your Search Engine Rankings on Baidu
Many studies have shown that videos with SEO-optimized subtitles increase business website traffic compared to other videos that don’t include captions or subtitles. How? Search engine rankings depend totally on keywords.
Adding closed captions to your video enables Google to read your content, and with SEO-optimized subtitles, you can expect an increase in video traffic. And the same applies to Baidu, one of China’s most popular search engines.
Engage Your Chinese Prospects & Generate More Social Media Traffic
When you can’t build a new video version for your target market – China is the case here – Chinese subtitles can be the ideal choice, giving your audience a feeling of belonging and inclusion. So, you will be able to connect to the hearts of the Chinese people, not just saving yourself major headaches of extra costs but essentially ensuring more engagement and traffic.
To better serve and engage your Chinese audience and attract them to like, comment, and share your videos, adding high-quality Chinese subtitles to your plan will eliminate language barriers, helping them immerse in and interact with your content and message.
Increase Watch Time
Embedding Chinese subtitles to your videos is vital to push your prospect to watch the whole thing to the end. According to Meta, captioned videos increase video view time by an average of 12%. So, don’t miss out on this opportunity.
Also, in a majority of cases, people tend to watch internet videos without sound, as we said earlier. By investing in solid Chinese subtitling services, you will be able to help the Chinese viewers stay focused and engaged until the end.
Your Business Easier to Be Remembered
People tend to remember your brand when you integrate subtitling services into your strategy. That’s because you improve the concentration levels and memory retention rates associated with visual stimulation.
So, expert Chinese Subtitling services are a definite guarantee that your customers will recognize your brand even after they watch your video.
Can You Use Auto-Generated Subtitles in Chinese for Your Business Videos?
Auto-generated subtitles exist. But just because they do doesn’t mean they are the right thing to do. Because, let’s face it, auto-generated subtitles won’t provide the user experience quality level we mentioned earlier. There is no chance to do it 100% right this way.
It’s indispensable to use human translation powers, especially when dealing with such a challenging language as Chinese. With almost 302 dialects and two writing systems in China, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese, the auto-Chinese subtitler generator won’t ever be able to bridge the Chinese linguistic and cultural nuances and tackle, for instance, Chinese colloquial expressions and idioms. But not just any human translators! Professional Chinese subtitle services and working with a renowned Asian language translation services provider are crucial when dealing with diverse Chinese cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Take this as an example: “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Bad Boys 3.” and other popular movies made a buzz in the Chinese market, and not in a good way, but because of poorly translated Chinese subtitles. They are just examples of what could happen if you take shortcuts, picking the cheaper (unprofessional) option.
5 Things to Look for in Quality Chinese Subtitling Services
If you want to ensure that your Chinese translation services will achieve their intended goals: to reach and engage more Chinese prospects and bring more traffic, you should pay attention to many aspects.
What makes quality Chinese subtitling services? Here are some of the qualities you should look for in your Chinese subtitles.
- Precision: Subtitles should convey your message faithfully to the Chinese language without losing the essence and intent of the message.
- Relevance: Building culturally relevant subtitles is of the utmost importance, especially when dealing with Chinese, who are highly attached to their culture and heritage.
- Clarity & Conciseness: Words should be chosen wisely in the simplest way since viewers should grasp the meaning through one line or two maximum in a matter of seconds. Everything should be to the point and precise, from the chosen words, fonts, and text size to the color, placement of the subtitles, and more.
This is an arduous task to be handled by a novice Chinese translator, especially in a character-based language such as Chinese. So, to drive up the quality and precision of a to-Chinese subtitling task, you should find a professional ally, preferably a reputable translation and localization company. - Text-Audio Synchronization: Ever watched a movie with delayed subtitles? A genuine issue that can push anyone away from watching the rest of it! Poor synchronization gives a lousy indicator of the value and quality your business offers. So, text-audio synchronization is one factor determining your video success (and shouldn’t ever be overlooked.)
- Flexible File Formats: The subtitle files should be easily converted into different file formats to be shared on whatever platform you wish.
In the end, when going for professional Chinese subtitling services, you will enjoy many benefits: reaching a wider audience, engaging your Chinese prospect, higher search engine ranking, increasing traffic and sales, and more. Start big to earn more!
