Does Professional Voiceover Help Sell Products?

In business, the bottom line is always on everyone’s mind. Cost and trying to get the next thing out the door are a constant battle. When you’re presenting your product to the world, you want a smart, catchy presentation that puts both your company and your product in the very best light. The marketplace grows more and more crowded and noisy by year, and the changes in advertising that have come with the digital age make it so that every person in sales needs to consider where they put their dollars. 

7 REASONS TO HIRE A PRO

Whether it’s an explainer video, a television commercial, a radio ad or what have you, a great voiceover is a natural part of the bargain. But there’s some important things to keep in mind about the voice you choose, and why paying a professional rate is an important part of the process. There are a number of ways to get a cheap voiceover rate these days, and cutting costs might seem like a great idea. But below I have seven reasons why it’s worth paying a professional rate rather than $5.

1. Natural sound: like your customer. (Not like someone reading something.) – Relatability is the name of the game these days. The announcer sound has seen it’s sunset and we’re into the kind of ads that say more than just what you have on sale. High technology has connected us more than ever, but the real currency people want in their advertising is a feeling of human connection. A pro voiceover will know how to shape their words and tone to both your product and to sound like someone your customer could have just next door. 
2. Creates emotional connection— without the ability to connect emotionally to the script, no one is going to buy into the pitch. Natural sound leads to emotional connection, which makes your potential customer more likely to remember your product and want to buy it whenever they might need it. 
3. Positive and lasting impression of your company. Making sure that you have the best sound and presentation shows your customer that you are a solid, professional company that cares about your presentation as well as your product.
4. Saves time. You don’t have to worry about someone who is new to their equipment. You avoid having to redo your ad if there’s an issue with the performance, recording space or the post-production. 
5. Consistency. Hiring the same voice helps build your brand in the mind & ears of your customers. This is an easy tool to use alongside all your other branding and marketing efforts and create a feeling of reliability for your consumer that you’re a company they are familiar with. 
6. Long term ROI. Creating and building a consistent, professional image for your company and your products helps ensure that you will succeed not just with your current offerings, but with anything that you do in the future. 
7. Helps build trust– Although we might not know their names, the history of every brand has trusted voices in the media that people feel comfortable with and this is true with your company also. People will learn the kind of values your company stands for and the things that your product makes them feel with the right voice, and this will help build the trust consumers have with your company.

HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT VOICE

So you want to grab that pro voiceover! There are lots of ways to get in touch with pro talent, from individual websites, to agents, and some of the casting sites available with an aggregate of talent. The online casting sites have both their advantages and their cautions. Are you and your team available and prepared for potentially hundreds of auditions? That can be a lot to process, especially if you have a quick turn around. Yes it’s nice to have lots of choices, but the choices can cause you a lot more work. Plus, with the aggregate sites, there’s less personal selection of the voice talent that might fit your specific product the best. Most of those sites use algorithms to select who auditions for you. That being said, here’s four things you need to consider when you’re getting started finding your talent. 

1. Language- if you’re operating in foreign markets to wherever you are, make sure that you take good care of the language you use. Google translate is not good enough for ad copy, since it misses the fluency of a real speaker, and can easily lack idioms or other cultural markers that will help bring your vision and company mindset across.
2. Accent- Not all accents within the same languages are created equal. With many languages, there are various regional dialects and sounds depending on where you are or what country you’re in. Although you can make a splash using an accent different from the one people are used to hearing (British voices in the United States, for example.) this should be done carefully to make sure that you don’t make the wrong choice. Another example would be the Spanish spoken in Spain, and the Spanish spoken in Mexico. There are differences in pronunciation and word usage from country to country and you need to take care to get the right voice for the job. 
3. Script- It can be hard to find a good writer, but the words are a huge part of the game, and the better script you write, the better your voice talent will be able to help create your image and product lineup. Make sure that you focus on showing, not telling with your writing, so that the script is more than a list of product descriptions, and evokes a response in your viewer. The goal is to connect with their imagination and feelings, to sound less like a salesperson, and more like someone they know giving them good info on your product.
4. Gender- there’s lots of products that typically are counted as being for one or the other gender. The choice of voice for that one is probably easy enough. But what about when your product is something that fits neither? Women’s voices are considered by most people to sound more trustworthy. That’s an important characteristic to tap into. But gender doesn’t have to rule your casting, if you want to take something in an unusual direction.

Why is a pro voiceover still important when more people are watching videos with the sound off? This is a newer phenomenon with the rise of smartphones and crowded public environments. No one wants to be the jerk who blasts the whole bus or car with a high speed auto ad. (Or at least most folks don’t.) It is wise to add subtitles to your video to make sure that this segment of the population can still get the full impact of your advertisement. But it may seem silly, if so many people don’t use sound, why include the pro voiceover? Because there are always times and places for sound, when people will listen as well as watch, and there are people who do prefer sound still, especially older folks. No matter how your viewer chooses to take in your message, choosing a professional voiceover will make sure your presentation is as professional and diverse as possible.