The world of digital marketing creation can be frantic at times. Tight deadlines, demanding clients and restrictive budgets make it tempting to cut corners. But overlooking the basics when setting up a voice over job can create problems that could put your digital marketing project at risk. In this blog you’ll discover easy voiceover steps for digital marketing to win every time, including:
- Why setting the right expectations will stack the deck in your favour;
- How peace of mind starts with good communication and fast response;
- The true benefit of having a written agreement in place;
- How a well-written brief is everyone’s best friend;
- Why it pays to think ahead.
Setting the right expectations
An experienced voice-over artist will have successfully managed enough digital marketing projects in the past to ensure that yours goes like a charm. So whether you're an old-hand or this is your first digital marketing rodeo, your chosen voice-over should easily be able to talk you through their process and satisfy your expectations.
In fact, outlining the steps and discussing how the digital marketing voice recording will be managed is the first easy voiceover steps for digital marketing to win every time.
It should be a natural part of the process whoever you use.
Whilst the time taken to turnaround a 30 second digital marketing piece will always be quicker than long-form narration, the care, attention and client handling should be exactly the same.
- So find out how your chosen voice-over goes about this.
- Do they have a well-used plan, or do they appear to still be finding their way?
- Your digital marketing needs should be his priority.
Top tip: Always discuss and agree your expectations from the outset.
Communication & responsiveness
Is your voice-over artist communicative and responsive? He should be! In fact, it’s the next easy voiceover step for digital marketing that will help you win every time. Think about it like this:
Have you got the time to keep chasing your voice-over?
You already know how tight your digital marketing project deadline is, so it’s not only bad practice, but poor customer care if your voice-over takes ages to reply or goes dark.
It might even suggest that voice over work is not his primary or only career. Not only might this indicate his lack of experience in voice work for digital marketing, it also demonstrates that his time might not be his own. In other words, you are not his highest priority.
Your voice artist needs to be available for your digital marketing project when you need him. Maybe you have questions that need a fast answer. Perhaps there are some digital marketing details that have just been updated. Possibly there are some loose ends that just need a quick chat.
Whatever the situation, you have enough going on and you just don’t need the extra work chasing him up.
Clearly your VO needs studio time to get the digital marketing project recorded, but long gaps in communication, or failing to call you back when promised should raise concerns.
- Always agree your expectations in advance with your voice-over;
- Set out how and when he should communicate;
- Agree suitable milestones and goalposts.
Top tip: Your voice artists first priority is to communicate effectively. After all, that is his job!
Agree and conquer
Voice-over pricing has become very transactional in recent years. On many of the P2P sites recordings for digital marketing projects are little more than voiceover commodities changing hands for just a few pounds or dollars.
But no matter where you source your digital marketing voice from, or how much you choose to pay, it’s sensible business practice to enter into a professional agreement.
Having a contract in place is the third easy voiceover step for digital marketing that will let you win every time.
A written document will protect both parties and ensure your digital marketing project gets off to a good start. If something happens along the way, both sides will have a road-map to follow.
A simple contract will set out the business terms such as;
- The agreed usage;
- The fee to be paid for the digital marketing recording;
- The deliverables expected from the voice artist.
A voice over running their own pro-studio as a full-time business will be able to provide you with a copy of their typical documentation. If a VO does not have a standard contract relevant to your digital marketing project, or is unwilling to share, ask yourself why.
Top tip: Ask your voiceover for a copy of their standard contract.
Your mandate: be brief
A good voice-over brief is an essential tool to ensure you get the best from your digital marketing project. But with that said, it's surprising how few people give this much thought, simply telling their voice artist ‘be cheerful’, ‘inspirational’, or ‘heartfelt’.
Whilst adjectives like these are useful, there is much more that could be added to really help your digital marketing project fly.
In fact, the more information you provide your voiceover, the better job he’ll do. The bottom line is this:
It’s always better for a voice-over to receive and follow a brief, rather than use guess-work.
A voice over brief is a very easy voiceover step for digital marketing that will have you win every time.
A voice over brief allows your talent to work more quickly, more accurately and ensure a good outcome for everyone.
A clear brief for your digital marketing project should only take a few moments to prepare. It will serve three important intentions;
- It causes the client to think through their requirements in advance and commit their thoughts and decisions to paper;
- It provides the voice-over or other creative with clear instructions;
- It creates a written record both parties can refer back to if any questions arise;
Top tip: Always provide our voiceover with a written brief.
Why it pays to think ahead
The final of our 5 easy voiceover steps for digital marketing to win every time is this:
The advantage of producing digital content is that it can be easily reformatted for alternative uses. For example, a 30 second internet commercial can be re-edited for a number of marketing channels. But this advantage comes with the self-discipline of needing to think ahead.
The better prepared you can be for creating cut downs and alternative versions from the start, the easier it will be to create your digital content in the first place.
Your voice artist should be an active part of this planning.
Do this and the read will appear seamless, continuous and more natural. It will save you time and money too.
Digital content can be also be updated if you receive information or you want to breathe new life into old material. An experienced voice-over artist will be able to voice the new digital content in a way that matches the original recording.
Top tip: The more you plan ahead, the more adaptable your digital content will be.
Conclusion
No matter what type of digital content project you have in the works, it's essential to get the basics right when it comes to voice-over. The 5 easy voiceover steps for digital marketing to win every time plan outlined above will work whether you're planning a product demo, educational video, and explainer, promo or e-learning project.
If there are any aspects about how 5 easy voiceover steps for digital marketing to win every time you'd like to know more about, let me know. If you have any questions about how voiceover can make your next digital content project even better, I’d love to help. Give me a shout, and let’s chat!
Until next time.
