Despite being around for around 15 years, YouTube is still, indeed, a video-sharing powerhouse. With its enabling of content sharing for anyone from any walks of life - we have seen not only a rise in content streaming as a great pastime, but also as a profession. As YouTube’s highest earning stars earning even upwards of 54 million dollars in 2021, it’s no surprise that many have taken it upon themselves to try their hand at becoming viral on the platform. That yearly salary alone beats out billions of other high-profile jobs!
With 1.7 billion unique monthly viewers, however, it comes with the question of whether or not the content on YouTube has been successfully made as accessible for all. India, for example, has been noted as the country with the biggest YouTube viewership rate. Yet, most of the top content creators in YouTube only provide content in English, instead of the most common languages spoken in India such as Hindi or Bengali. This serves to be an interesting point of introspection - especially when one is trying to try their hand at expanding their content to viewers from other countries. The point of YouTube is to globalize one’s content, after all. Why not make the most of it?
Though, surely, it’s easy to say that one would like to do something, but the true hurdle to tackle is how exactly one should do it.
The Answer? Content Localization
Content localization can serve to be an important tool to not only make a video immersive, but to also be more in touch with one’s audience. Whether they come from the same country, speaking the same language as the content creator or from the other side of the world, speaking an entirely different one, building a strong connection with an audience through language is integral to maintaining the bond between a creator and the viewers. Not only will it make the current users feel more at home, having access to content in their native language, it will also open up various doors for new viewers who speak different languages.
In addition, the English-speaking content market is, admittedly, a highly saturated one. With 6.6 million channels residing in it alone, and bountiful other videos in solely that language - the competition is fierce. The ability to break in this particular market is lessened by the day, and what better way to break out the mold than to provide translated content in niche markets? The creation of a separate brand identity within a new country and, with it, a whole new market provides bountiful opportunities for new revenue streams to grow from unexpected avenues.
There are a variety of ways to do this, with one being providing subtitling in various languages on your existing content - which is a wise choice on its own. Though, there is another option that can be explored. By creating separate channels to be based on different countries and localizing its branding to the specific language and culture - a whole new prospect can be established in much higher-potential markets. This content can be then dubbed into the country’s language and provide a better viewing experience for the new market’s viewers. If one were to choose to dub their content into other languages, accessibility is another point to be gained here as well. There might be visually-impaired individuals who might prefer hearing content while watching a video instead of having to follow subtitles. As a content creator, its not only important to pay attention to the content that one is producing, but how it will be consumed by the viewer.
New Markets, New Opportunities, New Possibilities
Providing content in other languages is not only a way to connect with your audience on a deeper level, but also another way to expand your reach across countries, cultures and people. It’s common best practice not to put all of one’s eggs in one basket, yet to separate them into batches. Risk minimalization is optimized through content localization, and with it, an array of different opportunities and markets to be reached just from translating content into different languages.
While this might seem like a difficult feat to achieve from afar, with the right practices from trained professionals, there’s no boundary that a creator can’t break. Globalizing one’s content comes from one step into the right direction. With more and more content being added on YouTube as even the minutes go on, strategizing how to make one’s self different is extremely important when wanting to be the one that ‘goes viral’. Localization is one great step to take in that direction, and will undoubtedly bring one’s content to new heights in terms of viewership and income.