A staple in the advertising world, voiceovers have been a mainstay in the marketing executive’s arsenal of tools to effectively communicate with audiences. However, this powerful tool comes with its own risks such as leading to ads being rated as more generic, and continuous use of voiceovers results in flagging audience engagement. Here are a few tips that will help you get the most bang for your buck when planning the voice-over work for your next ad.
What it does well
The key of a good voice over is to aid in communication. They are best employed as a reinforcement technique, often describing or emphasizing what is being depicted on screen or even simply reading a brand’s tagline aloud. While the latter may not seem the best use of a VO artist’s talent, the fact is that it works, and works well.
Harmony is key
Voice-overs are best employed when combined with complementary visuals that back up or enhance the message being conveyed. The voiceover should ideally not find itself competing against visuals for the attention of the audience as this can lead to a loss of focus, and drowns out the ad’s message.
Such instances are commonplace where the visuals attempt to tell a story while relying on the voiceover to convey the entirety of the message, however, this has generally been found to split the attention of viewers and result in a much lower recall of not only the core message but also the ad in its entirety. Advertisements that synchronize both the show and tell aspects of advertising are often found to be the most effective at communicating their message to the viewers.
The choice of voice is crucial
Finding the ‘right’ voice for your ad is a time consuming but highly worthwhile process. Two important factors to help you pick your voiceover artist are:
Longevity – Keep longevity in mind as studies have shown that people respond better to ads that use the same voiceover artist across multiple ads. This artist would quite literally become “The voice of the brand” and needs to be a voice with staying power so that audiences will experience reduced ‘repetition fatigue’.
Audience – Finally, though still significant, is to know your audience. Who is this piece of work meant for? Ideally, you should be prepared to shortlist 4-5 voiceover artists and employ the use of focus groups consisting of your intended target audience to listen to the samples and provide feedback on their preferences. While not a perfect method, it does give you the opportunity to get quick feedback at minimal or no cost.
Less may be more
When used improperly, Voiceovers can detract from an ad’s effectiveness. Ads without voiceovers are routinely rated as being different or more unique but are also rated as less likely to be understood. So it is important to strike a balance when deciding how and when to employ voice work.
While there are definite possible benefits and the opportunity to directly tell the consumer what you want them to hear rather than hoping they understand what you are trying to tell them is definitely very tempting, make sure that your voiceover doesn’t conflict or cause ‘interference’ with the message you want to convey. Always remember, ‘brevity is the soul of wit’.
ABOUT ROBERTA – Roberta is a Professional and Award Winning voiceover Actor, as well as an accomplished on-camera actress and spokesperson. She lives in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area and is the owner of Roberta Kennedy Voice Talent and RK Productions, Inc.
She voices for companies around the world using her state of the art, broadcast quality studio. She’s hired for commercials, web demos and explainer videos, product infomercials, documentaries, promo/imaging, political ads, e-learning videos, podcasts, guided real estate tours, telephony/IVR projects, high profile corporate presentations, video games and character animation.
Her voice is described as: playful, contemporary, compelling, commanding, inviting, sultry and smooth. A hip edge with sophistication, bold, warm, inviting and engaging are also commonly used adjectives to describe her voice.
Her home studio is equipped with ipDTL, ISDN and phone patch capability with lightning fast turnaround times! A voiceover talent with over 20 years of voiceover acting experience, she offers a full range of voiceover services at highly competitive rates & will work with your budget to help you promote your business to new levels of excellence!
To request a personal quote or audition and/or to review more of her credits & demos, feel free to visit her website: www.robertakennedy.com – or mail her at roberta@robertakennedy.com. You can even give her a call on (408) 313-7202.