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9 min
The human voice is what makes a video feel human and intimate. When asked between having good video or audio, many content creators believe the latter is more important to the viewing experience.
A great choice of voice over isn’t just about comprehension and clarity of what you’re trying to communicate. It can elicit emotion and persuasion, be it giving credibility to a video essay or driving dramatic tension in a mysterious true-crime documentary.
This article will help guide you in what to look for when choosing a voice-over agency, as this will be the key in helping your video achieve its goal and improve its YouTube engagement metrics.
Defining your project goals
Like with growing your YouTube channel, the first step is to clearly define the nature and purpose of your content. Are you producing explainer videos that require international comprehension at a measured pace, or perhaps dynamic brand promotions that need enthusiasm without coming across as false?
You can help define this by looking at your target audience, their cultural differences, and why they’re here (to be entertained or to learn?)
Generational differences exist too, with Gen Z having a higher tolerance for fast-paced audio, believable internet-driven slang, and possibly even higher-pitched voices. Look at whether the goal of your project is to build trust, evoke emotion or urgency, and so on.
Language and localization requirements
It’s worth planning from the outset whether you need voiceovers in multiple languages, as this is common to capture more viewership at a decreasing marginal investment. While British is often considered to be a highly trusted accent in the US, it may not be as comprehensible as the West Coast US accent for Europeans like the Dutch, who speak similarly.
For marketing and nuanced content, you might need to look at transcreation. This adapts the core message and style to resonate authentically within different cultures. Like-for-like translations cannot achieve this level of linguistic nuance, and professional voiceover agencies like GoLocalise go deep on localization.
Technical specifications and delivery formats
Finally, you need to outline your technical needs, such as the desired audio file formats (e.g., uncompressed WAV files (e.g., 24-bit/48kHz) for mastering or high-quality MP3s (e.g., 320kbps) for web delivery). Detail any synchronization requirements beforehand, as this will help eliminate some agencies that cannot meet your needs.
Experience and expertise in your niche
Like in most services, true niche-driven expertise gets you greater nuance and a more bespoke final product. Look for agencies within your niche. For example, an agency that strongly leans into e-learning content will be better at delivering audio that has the atmosphere of a professional seminar, as there are unique inflections and idiosyncrasies that teachers often share.
This even goes for topical relevancy, like Financial videos, as they will be better at delivering unique terminology and abbreviations that they’re familiar with (e.g., a generic agency may say each letter in “FTSE 100”, rather than how it’s more commonly said as “footsy”).
The talent pool: A diverse range of voices
A reputable agency may well be a specialist within a niche, but this doesn’t mean just offering a limited set of voices. Ideally, you will work with an agency that has many voice artists across many ages, genders, accents, and emotional ranges.
This way, you can achieve your demographic and niche relevancy while maintaining high standards of an experienced artist. Such an artist will deliver consistency within the finer details of the mic work, as they have re-recording capabilities. So stitching together different elements will be seamless, as they know how the post-production process works, and can make life easier when recording.
Quality assurance and post-production services
It’s worth inquiring about the agency’s quality assurance and post-production workflows, and they should be relatively open about how it works. This gives you a chance to spot any red flags, as you should expect a multi-stage editing (initial cleanup, pacing adjustments, breath removal, etc.) and precise mixing to industry standards, such as target LUFS levels for streaming platforms.
Ultimately, the hard work of the voice artist will be thrown away if the mastering clarity and consistent loudness are poor. You want to suss out if they offer script proofreading or review services. This isn’t just about catching typos but seeking out awkward phrasing that sounded okay when you wrote the script, but comes across poorly when said out loud.
Communication and project management
An agency’s voice and editing work are often reflected in how they communicate and lead projects. You want to be weighing them up from the very start of your communications with them, and ideally have a dedicated project manager as a point of contact. Expect a fairly detailed quote too, but remember that, usually, you get what you pay for!
Technology and infrastructure
Paying for a good voice agency should mean that you’re accessing their strong infrastructure. Unfortunately, good audio does require heavy investments into equipment, such as recording studios with proper acoustic treatment and high-end microphones.
No matter how talented they are as artists, the work will be undermined if not for professional-grade equipment.
You can ask about their studio, but don’t neglect how they go about file transfers, too, as these must be both secure and without degrading compression.
Cultural sensitivity and localization prowess
All good agencies should have talented artists and professional-grade equipment. But what separates a good agency from a great one are those finer details around context and culture. Cultural sensitivity is increasingly important given the global nature of most viewership, but also the level of damaging backlash one can receive for a faux pas.
Authenticity is everything, and it’s not achievable with mass-produced, highly scaled translations. For example, humor differences are vast throughout the world, with even semi-neighboring countries like Scotland and Denmark being worlds apart when it comes to humor, or Japan and China.
Trustworthiness comes from vocal archetypes, but rather perversely, those archetypes are not universal. To achieve persuasion or trustworthiness in Japan compared to the US is going to require an agency with deep experience in Japanese culture.
Just as adding subtitles can really boost the viewing experience by bridging immediate language gaps, a voice over agency skilled in localization goes further, adapting content to specific cultural nuances and sensibilities.
Scalability and long-term partnership potential
If you want consistency in your content, you ideally want to stick with the same agency, as even two great agencies can have differing idiosyncrasies that loyal viewers may spot. So, this means finding an agency that can handle your level of output, and future level of output, across any new niches that you may expect to expand into. You want consistency in your brand’s voice, and so the longevity and scalability of your partnership must be considered.
Client testimonials and industry reputation
So, there can sometimes be a discrepancy between what the agency is selling you and how they actually perform. To reconcile this, your best bet is to read customer testimonials and investigate their reputation (you can dig into Reddit threads, for example, that mention the brand).
Another layer of verification is to look at independent review platforms, such as Clutch, along with LinkedIn interactions and any awards they may or may not have won.
Data security and confidentiality
Compliance and security aren’t often at the forefront of content creators’ minds, but one slip-up can be costly (financially, but also in terms of reputation). Check with the agency about how they handle sensitive project information and your scripts. It can scale anywhere from “Anyone with this link” can access the Google Docs resource to signing NDAs.
Requesting detailed quotes and proposals
You have a part to play in ensuring the accuracy of quotes. This means finalizing your script and outlining clearly the project scope, such as any translations or regional dialect requirements. Only then can you accurately compare pricing, though sometimes it can differ between project-based and hourly. This will be up to you to equate and compare the value proposed.
Reviewing contracts and terms of service thoroughly
All contractual documents should be carefully examined. Hone in on the scope of deliverables, and in particular, the specifics of revision policies, like the number of rounds and what constitutes a new request vs a correction. Payment terms should be agreed, and, perhaps most importantly, the intellectual property rights over the voice over recordings should be established.
Conducting a small test project (if feasible)
If your budget and timeline allow it, there’s no better way of judging an agency than simply commissioning a small test project. Don’t just judge the final product, but the communications and workflow. After all, how well these align can be subjective and not come across in reviews.
As you prepare your video content for professional voiceover, remember the foundational importance of a well-structured script and compelling visuals to capture your audience.
For example, you can’t just make a presentation and hope for the best (you can but it definitely won’t be as effective). Instead, walk your audience through the story you want to tell, using visuals to reinforce your message.
And finally, for those aiming to broaden their content’s reach and impact, considering how a strong voiceover agency contributes to overall video growth is key.
The good news is that you have realized the value of having great audio and the return on investment that it can provide. But, to dig into the exact value that each agency is offering you, it’s going to come down to your niche, their experience within that, any cultural requirements, and the agency’s talent pool and studio equipment. A well-chosen agency will do wonders for your video content in boosting its professionalism and achieving the goal of the content.
