To optimise your visibility to customers casting with Voquent, you first must understand how clients search for talent on the platform.
Picture this. You've just recorded a new Demo Sample or Reel. The sound quality is excellent, and your performance is pitch-perfect. You're excited because this Demo will take you far. The world's biggest brands will…
Hold on! Okay, relax.
INHALE…
EXHALE…
Your Demo is ready to go and that's awesome; we're excited that you're excited! You aren’t quite at the finish line yet though, we have to think about how to get your Sample heard by customers. So, take a deep breath; let's consider how to get this Demo to the top of Voquent's Search, so it isn't lost in the shuffle.
Here are the top points, and if you want to read more about any subject, use the quick jump menu links.
TL; DR
Don't have time to read the entire blog? Here are the big takeaways:
- Add at least 16 Demo Samples to your profile, ideally 30+
- Then add up to 6 Demo Reels
- Add characteristics and free text tags to all Demos
- Put your best material in the top 6 Featured Demos – an excellent place for Reels
- Ensure your Home Studio details are 100% complete and accurate
- Get your home studio Voquent Verified either by waiting to be shortlisted or with fast-track
- Ask your peers to applaud your best Demos
- Login and update/edit your profile every 3-6 months
Easy!
And necessary because NOT doing the above risks your Demos never getting heard. A little bit of work will give you the best chance of being shortlisted for projects. Read on for more advanced information if you’d like to understand more about how Voquent ranks your Demos in search.
Quick Jump Menu
Search Methods & Types
How customers find and shortlist voices
Let's go over the various methods a client might use to discover the perfect voice for their project on Voquent.
A casting director will usually have a clear idea of the voice they are looking for before beginning their search. Generally, this can be categorised in two ways: Sound & Emotion or Identity & Location.
- Sound & Emotion is when the client has defined the vocal qualities required for the project, such as accent, vocal tone, characteristics, gender, and age.
- Identity & Location is when the client must find a talent that resides in a particular region or city. They may need a talent speaking a specific language or recording studio.
Voquent offers two search types: Demo Search & Talent Search to facilitate both methods.
- Demo Search helps users find voices based on the vocal Sound & Emotion elicited. For example, the client may require an authoritative tone for their project to instil trust in viewers. They can browse Demo Samples and Reels with this exact tone.
- Talent Search will help cast talent based on their Identity & Location. For example, the client may require a French-Canadian voice talent for a recording in Quebec City.
Here's an example of how the same voice appears in Demo and Talent Searches:
Demo Search displays both Demo Samples and Reels. The talent's nearest city, gender, language and accent, tone, and whether they have a home studio are immediately visible on the card. The media play bar provides more information such as pitch, characteristics, and the talent's top 6 featured Demos on playing the Demo.
Talent Search displays the talent's nativity, gender, home studio status, experience range, and language capability. The 6 featured Demo Samples or Reels will also be available with icons representing the style of the Demo.
Tip:
Drag and drop Demo Samples or Reels to re-order them. Always make your six featured Demos show a variety of your best work. It makes it more obvious you can voice a variety of jobs. The top-paying styles are commercial, characters, documentary, narration and business.
Search Filter Criteria
Voquent's advanced search filters allow users to browse Demo Samples and Reels within the specific categories they require. To put it simply, the more filter categories your Demos appear in; the more visible you are to clients. It's vital to choose the appropriate attributes for each Demo to give you the best visibility in search. The filter criteria are different between a Demo search and a Talent search.
Demo Search Criteria
The various ways to filter searches on Voquent do not have a priority order. All filter options combine to display only the Demos which match the specified requirements. These filter options include:
- Popular Languages & Accents (Combination)
- Gender
- Demo Type
- Language
- Continent
- Region
- Country
- Accent
- Advanced Genders and Ages (Combination)
- Tone
- Style
- Medium
- Pitch
- Detailed Demo Type
- Characteristics
- Tag Search
Talent Search Criteria
Talent Search filters focus on authentic speakers and locations.
- Region
- Country Located
- City
- Spoken Language
- Gender
- Age Range
- Nativity/ Origin
- Characteristics
- Experience Range
What is Position Ranking?
Voquent's search algorithm determines how highly your Demo Samples or Reels rank in a Demo search.
A vanilla search (a search with no specified criteria) will display results at random. However, when specific filters are selected, the Demo order is determined by your profile strength, compared with other matching voices classed in one of seven categories.
- Zero
- Weak
- Below Average
- Average
- Above Average
- Strong
- Excellent
How to Improve Position Ranking
Now that we have established how your profile strength is classified, let's go over how you can improve your position in a search.
Demo Sample Count
The number of Demos you add to your Voquent profile is one of the factors used to determine profile strength.
- Strongest (16+ Demos)
- Above Average (7-15 Demos)
- Below Average (4-6 Demos)
- Weakest (1-3 Demos)
- Will not display (0 Demos)
Home Studio
Some clients will specifically look for talents who can record from home. The following is required for your profile to show that you have a home studio.
Must-Have:
- Sound Insulated Room
- Condenser Microphone
- Daw/ audio interface
Useful but Not Essential:
- Source-Connect (Standard or Pro)
- ipDTL
- Cleanfeed
Voquent Verified
A Voquent Verified voice talent (blue tick) lets clients know that your studio can record excellent quality sound. This boosts your position in search ranking and the likelihood of being shortlisted.
There are two ways your profile can become Voquent Verified.
- Your first project: when you get shortlisted for a project, we'll check and approve your home studio quality free of any cost. This is the way most voices on Voquent get verified.
- Fast-Track Verification: make a dedicated booking with an engineer to get more direct feedback on your setup. We have to charge for an hour of studio time to cover the engineer time, but you will gain the benefit of an immediate boost in search without waiting for a booking.
Applauded Demos
Only registered voice actors can applaud each other's work in search. You will notice a clapping hands icon on each Demo Reel or Sample in search. If you hear it and like it, give it some applause!
When a Demo gets enough applause, it receives an 'Applauded' or 'Acclaimed' badge, which clients see. Applauded Demos are ranked higher.
Most Recent Demo Upload
The amount of time it has been since you last uploaded a Demo will affect your profile strength. We don't expect you to upload new Demos every day, but we recommend updating your profile every 3-6 months. Your voice does change over time, so older Demos may not offer the best representation of your current timbre.
- Strongest (1-6 Months)
- Above Average (7-12 Months)
- Below Average (13-24 Months)
- Weak (25-36 Months)
- Will Not Count (37+ Months)
Activity & Integrity
There are a few combined factors that can improve the overall strength of your profile.
- Last Login Date: Logging in to your profile every day isn't necessary to have a strong presence on Voquent. But, when you have logged in recently, you have had more opportunities to keep your profile fresh, including updating your calendar of availability, which can significantly benefit clients and Voquent producers.
- Last Edit Date: Many activities within your Voquent profile will count as an edit. This includes uploading a new Demo, changing the order in which your Demo Samples and Reels appear, or modifying and updating the characteristics & tags applied to them.
Maintaining Position
Once you have optimised your Voquent profile, maintaining your visibility requires only a few low-commitment steps:
- Prioritise Demo order. Drag and drop your Demos to change the order they are displayed. So, if you have multiple Demos that fit a specific search, they show in your chosen order.
- Get Verified. If you haven't yet been shortlisted for any jobs, you may consider fast-track verification. Where all other factors between two voices are equal, the Verified voices will rank above those who are not on search results.
- Categorise your Demos. Use characteristics, accents, languages, and relevant tags to categorise ALL your Demos. Your profile also has a filter to narrow down what you're looking for when organising Demos.
Conclusion
Understanding your visibility and optimising your profile will significantly benefit your chances of booking jobs on Voquent.
We hope this blog has helped you understand how clients search for talent on Voquent and the various methods you can take to strengthen your profile and promote yourself on our platform.
5 Steps to Optimise Your Voquent Profile
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