You get what you pay for, so the saying goes. That mantra’s especially important when it comes to investing in a quality voice over marketing campaign. You’re looking for an easy experience with an agency that cares as much about your project as you do.

Why mention this? We’ve recently come across a post on LinkedIn written by voice over artist Debbie Grattan, who explores why some newcomers looking for a professional voice over service are considering biddable platforms.

You’ll probably know those platforms better as sites where amateur voice over talent accepts low bids, trying to offer a professional service. Tempting perhaps, but buyer beware; purchasing audio from sites such as Fiverr, eBay and Voice123 could cost you more than you bargained for.

Here are four reasons why you should partner with a professional voice over agency:

1: Unbeatable vocal quality

Remember what it was like the first time you heard the recorded sound of your own voice?

Voice over acting is a tough profession in which the best people train and work incredibly hard at defining and honing the quality of their vocal skills. That includes breathing, tone, projection, warmth, sibilance, plosives and other factors.

All this learning and committed practice (often self-led), and feedback from their peers, eventually brings out the x-factor in their voice. Combine that an agency’s technical expertise and a professional voice actor can provide the rich, individual, captivating sound that you crave for your projects.

It’s a very different story if you opt for an amateur voice talent. You ARE their training.

Even with vocal quality put to one side, what about other mistakes?  If, heaven-forbid, your clients discover any anomalies in your end-product, there can be serious consequences:

• Your client discovers errors and requests corrections
• There’s a serious delay
• There’s a serious chance of a loss of reputation and further business

And to think how hard you labored winning that client to earn their trust….

It takes a long time for a voice talent to ‘get it right’. Don’t be the guinea pig; get professional results every time by using a voice over agency.

2: Better technical quality control

We mentioned technical quality in our last point. That can be the biggest problem when you commission a voice over from a biddable platform; the overall technical quality of the end product. Price-based competition inevitably causes a race to the bottom.

Hiring a lowest-common-denominator, amateur voice artist can result in all manner of technical artefacts, such as:

• Background noise caused by inadequate sound isolation. We’ve heard all sorts – traffic horns, people in neighboring rooms, white noise (fuzz) and more
• Interference, caused by poor-quality or incorrectly configured hardware
• Reverb (echo), caused by inadequate internal acoustic treatment

Any one of these issues will result in the whole recording having to be binned, most likely at a cost to you.

On the other hand, recordings at a professional agency are tightly controlled. Isolated, acoustically-treated booths and high-quality microphones guarantee a flawless recording every time, on industry-standard equipment that’s tried and trusted all-day, every-day. High standards in regard to technical quality are second-nature.

3: Care and consistency when it comes to long-term client projects

The ‘gig economy’, as it has been labelled, has been ‘fun’ in helping people try something new. But for some newcomers, the reality doesn’t meet the dream, and voice acting doesn’t work out. It swiftly diminishes to a hobby, or they drop it altogether for other commitments. Many end up selling their recording equipment.

Attempt to use amateur talent for an ‘addition’ or a ‘correction’ and a nightmare ensues – how do you get hold of them?  (They have a new ‘day-job’).  How do you make an EQ-matching recording? (They’ve sold their own gear).

These are some of the many day-dream, bedroom-hobbyist issues that real-world clients perhaps with long-term outreach plans, or who are recording a long-term series of training modules, never anticipated contemplating, and yet may have to carefully consider before they commit. Not only does the quality of the recording space and the equipment count, but so does the simple future availability of the voice talent.

Will an amateur still be interested in the project a month into the future? Will you have to pay somebody else to fix errors they have made, or even re-record your entire project? Working with a committed agency filters out those risks and, as well as delivering pristine recording quality, can consistently be depended upon, every time.

A dedicated manager will work with you to create an audio solution with artists most suited to you, and is personally invested in seeing your business grow.

4: Greater variety for truly creative campaigns

Investing in the vocal talent provided by a professional voice over agency gives you access to an enormous range of unique voice artists with professional expertise in specialist sectors; foreign voice talent in international languages, character voices, ‘hip’ urban voices, medical-terminology readers and more.

They’re committed to presenting you in the absolute best light, whatever that might be, whenever you need to make use of their services. Whether for urgent ‘need-it-yesterday’ jobs or planned projects at a set time in the future, an experienced voice agency will always be on hand with a creative team able to seamlessly fit into any project or venture.  

The right agency will even work with you to localize your brand’s message and content in new ways to reach out to untapped markets and grow internationally. Investing in a professional voice service from the beginning of your project will not only help you get the best quality materials possible, but could also save you money by delivering an outstanding service – first-time, and every time – that helps attract new business.

Voice Talent Online is a professional service proficient in localization, voice services, professional translation, dubbing and more. We speak your language; contact us to find out more about what a professional voice agency can provide your business.