How to Translate Videos into Any Language with AI

If you’re running video content and only publishing it in English, you’re leaving a massive chunk of your potential audience untouched.

Most of the world doesn’t speak English as a first language, and platforms like Meta and Google are actively serving ads and organic content to billions of non-English speakers every day.

The gap between what you’re publishing and who you could be reaching is real.

The good news is that AI has made video translation genuinely accessible. What used to require a professional dubbing studio and thousands of dollars can now be done in minutes, with tools that preserve your voice, your lip sync, and your original video quality.

We’re not talking about slapping subtitles on a clip. We’re talking about full audio translation that sounds natural to native speakers.

This guide walks through exactly how to do it using HeyGen, one of the more capable tools available for this right now.

We’ll cover how to find your best target markets, what kind of video works best, and how to get a translated version live without spending a dollar to start.

If you’ve been putting off going multilingual, this is the push to finally do it.

How to Find Your Top Non-English Markets Before You Translate

Before uploading anything into a translation tool, spend a few minutes inside your Meta or Google Ads account.

The data you already have is the fastest way to figure out which languages are worth targeting first. Guessing wastes time and budget.

Inside Meta Ads Manager, go to your campaign breakdown and filter by country. Look for the top three countries where your ads are getting clicks, purchases, or strong engagement outside of English-speaking markets.

Google Ads has a similar breakdown under the “Locations” report. You’re not looking for impressions. You’re looking for intent signals like clicks and conversions, because those tell you where real buyers already exist in your audience.

Once you have your top three non-English markets, you have your translation priority list.

Common markets that show up for English-speaking creators include:

• Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico, Colombia, and Spain
• Portuguese-speaking markets, particularly Brazil
• French-speaking regions across Europe and West Africa
• German, Italian, and Dutch markets within the EU

Start with whichever market shows the strongest existing performance.

Translating for an audience that’s already partially converting will give you faster results than cold-starting in a brand new region.

What Kind of Video Works Best for AI Translation

Not every video format translates equally well with AI. The tools available right now are optimized for a specific style of content, and knowing this upfront saves you from wasting a translation credit on a video that won’t come out clean.

The format that works best is a single-speaker talking head video under three minutes.

That means one person on camera, speaking directly to the audience, with a relatively clear and consistent audio track.

AI translation tools analyze the speaker’s lip movement and voice to generate a synced dubbed version, and that process works most accurately when there’s only one face and one voice to track.

Videos that tend to produce lower quality results include:

• Multi-speaker content where two or more people are talking on screen at the same time
• Videos with heavy background music layered over the voiceover
• Screen recordings or slideshows with no on-camera speaker
• Clips longer than three minutes on a free plan, which can affect processing quality

If your video is a product walkthrough, a short ad, or a direct-to-camera explainer, you’re already in the ideal format.

Keep the clip tight, keep the audio clean, and the translation output will be much closer to publish-ready on the first attempt.

How to Translate Your Video Step by Step

Once you know your target language and have your video ready, the actual translation process inside HeyGen is straightforward.

A free account gives you three translations to start, which is enough to test your top markets before committing to a paid plan.

Here’s the full process from upload to download:

1. Log in to your HeyGen account and click Translate from the main dashboard
2. Upload your video file directly, or paste a YouTube or Google Drive link if your clip is already hosted
3. Select the target language from the dropdown menu – HeyGen supports over 40 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and Hindi
4. Leave the default settings as they are for your first translation – the defaults are optimized for most talking head videos, and changing them without a reason can affect sync quality
5. Hit translate and wait 5 to 10 minutes for processing to complete
6. Preview the output before downloading – check that the lip sync looks natural and the dubbed audio sounds clean
7. Download the finished file or share it directly via the generated link

One thing worth noting on the free plan is that exports are capped at a lower resolution than your original file.

If you’re translating content for paid ads where video quality directly affects performance, a paid plan unlocks full original-quality exports.

For organic content or testing purposes, the free output is more than usable.

How to Get the Most Out of AI Video Translation

Getting a translated video is only the first step. How you use that video across platforms determines whether the effort actually moves the needle for your reach and revenue.

The most practical approach is to treat each translated version as a standalone asset for that market. That means uploading the Spanish version natively to your Spanish-facing ad sets in Meta rather than running one ad globally.

Native uploads perform better than linked videos, and platform algorithms tend to favor content that’s been uploaded directly rather than pulled from an external source.

A few things to keep in mind as you scale this across markets:

On the organic side, publishing translated Reels or TikToks to test engagement before running paid spend is a smart way to validate a market without risking ad budget.

If a translated clip gets strong organic traction in a new region, that’s a clear signal to push paid behind it.