As Chinese businesses gear up to enter the global market, localizing YouTube videos has become a crucial step. Companies like Huawei Cloud and Alibaba Cloud have taken the initiative to localize their tech content, ensuring that their innovative services are accessible and culturally relevant. This strategy has enabled them to establish a strong presence in markets such as Southeast Asia. In an era dominated by visual content, creating localized videos that resonate with diverse audiences is essential, not optional. Here are five key steps, summarized by Landelion, for the successful localization of YouTube videos by Chinese enterprises:

Step 1: Set Clear Objectives for Video Localization

What are your goals? Are you looking to boost brand awareness, increase traffic, or enhance sales in new markets? Establishing the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and strategic direction is crucial.

For instance, creating multilingual dubbed or subtitled versions of your videos can significantly expand your audience reach. KPIs such as view counts can help gauge the success of these efforts.

Huawei Cloud and Alibaba Cloud exemplify this practice by offering multilingual video content in Southeast Asia, making their innovative services accessible and culturally relevant to local customers.

Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience, Including Age, Gender, and Language Preferences

Understanding your audience's demographics is essential for determining the languages and styles needed for effective video localization, ensuring your message resonates with your intended viewers. Once you define your target audience and regions, you can decide which languages to localize into.

For example:

• Huawei provided multiple language versions of its 5G technology introductions and product manuals, including Chinese, English, and Spanish, catering to a global audience.

• Vivo customized creative story videos in various languages to promote its X50 series in Southeast Asia, enhancing local brand awareness.

• SHEIN, a rapidly emerging fast-fashion e-commerce brand, has targeted overseas markets, particularly North America and Spain, by releasing multilingual videos on YouTube in English and Spanish to reach a broader international audience.

  
  

Step 3: Conduct Audience Research to Understand Preferences

Chinese companies should tailor their YouTube video marketing based on buyer preferences:

• What type of content do they engage with? Buyers tend to focus on content that showcases customer experiences, user reviews, and professional critiques. They are particularly interested in educational videos about production processes and product features.

   

•  Which format do they prefer (text, video, or audio)? For B2B purchasers in factory manufacturing and technical products, video formats are preferred for demonstrating product handling, factory modernization, and manufacturing techniques.

  
  

• Understanding what captures their attention helps determine whether to edit or adjust videos to suit different markets and select appropriate themes for localization.

For example:

• Schneider Electric has garnered numerous likes and comments by posting factory tour videos that effectively convey the company’s mission and technological features, boosting its visibility in the realm of digital transformation.

• Siemens China has achieved significant engagement on its corporate channel by featuring top executives explaining concepts firsthand, enhancing the brand’s authenticity and improving brand image and audience participation.

Step 4: Choose the Right Localization Tools and Partners

When selecting tools or partners for creating localized content, consider AI-driven platforms for efficiency or experienced providers like Landelion for cultural adaptation and technical alignment. Partnering with localization experts who understand the nuances of local markets and cultures is vital for Chinese companies venturing abroad.

For example:

Philips Healthcare, targeting the Chinese market, created animated explanatory videos using simple language and vivid visuals. This approach improved viewer comprehension and retention, making the videos highly popular in China’s B2B market. Such localized video content is undoubtedly the result of collaboration with suppliers who have a precise understanding of the Chinese market and culture.

This approach is equally effective for Chinese enterprises venturing overseas.

Step 5: Review KPIs and Measure Influence

Track video KPIs such as impressions, website traffic, engagement rates, conversion rates, and sales across different languages and content types to evaluate the effectiveness of your localization strategy and ROI.

For example:

By leveraging videos showcasing trade shows and headquarters tours, Mindray attracted a large number of likes and comments, enhancing its brand image and audience favorability. Based on this effective approach, similar topics now account for a significantly larger proportion of Mindray’s subsequent videos.

Through these structured steps and real-world examples, it’s evident that Chinese companies can leverage YouTube content operations and video localization to succeed globally. Localization is more than just language; it’s about connecting with your audience in a way that feels native to them. Every small step towards reaching global audiences can lead to significant market conversions!

As an experienced cross-border communication service provider, Landelion offers audio/video localization services tailored for global target markets, supporting companies venturing overseas. If you have any business needs, please feel free to contact us at +86 400 097 8816 or email marketing@landelion.com.