The right voice talent can make your video a huge success.
Did you know that the right voice can make a 35% difference in conversion rate?
We replaced a voice track in a video—and made no other changes—and the conversion rate went from 2.5% to 3.8% on cold traffic. (Cold traffic refers to people that are mostly strangers coming in via search engines and social media.)
Since the voice actor’s role is an important part of storytelling, we’ll try to share with you some of the ideas we’ve learned, and hopefully you’ll know how to find, pick, and direct the best voice actors around.
Step One: Decide on Your Tone
This is something we do in in the concept phase of what we’re doing. When you’ve found the tone, you’ll know what kind of VO work you’ll want to use and whether a male or female is best suited. (We’re starting to get clients requesting one of each.)
We always start with our existing relationships, with several productions a month. We get a feel for the range of our voice actors. We also know that the ones we have are completely professional, on point, and ready to do what is needed. Working with strangers is a mixed bag. They may have a wonderful audition reel, but the turn around times, attitude, and directability are the important part of the equation. We don’t have time or room for prima donna stuff, and we can always find good talent that is easy to work with.
If you’re curious, our “go-to-gal” voice talent is September Day Carter. We also like the work that Chris Turbville turns in for a “male” voice. These two have been fast, professional, and responsive to changes. They’ve sent off polished files and can work with local to national licensing. We use —and love—others, but if you like the work they have, these two are standouts.
Step Two: Find the Voice
If, for some reason, you need to find someone outside of your network (and, again, we recommend and like Chris and September) you can start with Voice 1-2-3. You can post an audition and then work out business arrangements with who(m)ever you like. Remember: you’ll be getting the chance to direct them so if you hear how they sound and like it you can generally make them more precise.
You want someone that is able to sound natural. It might take 25 auditions to find the right one, but once you have people that you start to work with, it’s easy to reuse them. We know the range and abilities of our folks, and, again, we want long term relationships. Make sure you are respectful to the voice talent.
Generally, productions are around a couple hundred dollars. We’re not going to lord over them or dangle money like some jerk. We want to do business, be respectful, and move on.
Step Three: Direct Them
Remember: you can be precise with the tones you need—and even patch in to record live. We generally just email the description of the tone that we like and let them do their thing, but sometimes it might be nice to patch in and direct them that way. Generally, they don’t mind doing a re-record or two, but you’ll have to check with your provider directly.
Getting a voice actor to hit and emphasize the right stuff is an important part of the equation. When you do, you’ll find that the production will be more effective. Good voice talents take direction well and make it easy to work with them. Often when someone is resisting direction it’s because they don’t have the talent to achieve the tone you want.
The right voice is key to converting video watchers into new customers. When you get the right voice, it breathes life into your video productions. You should take the time it takes to select and respect your voice talent.
