Your Videos are Not Working Because Nobody’s Listening
How often do you scroll your social media feeds and LOOK at a video and NOT unmute?
A lot, right?
It’s a pretty common practice. In fact, Verizon Media and Publicis released a survey that showed that 92% of US consumers watch videos with the sound off on mobile.
So, what do you do about all of these silent watchers? In a recent video, I explained the importance of adding captions so that people can read along (and not misconstrue your message).
You have a few options when it comes to adding captions or subtitles:
- Closed Captioning. Closed captions can be turned on or off by the viewer, are good for SEO, and can be done in multiple languages. This can be done easily through various apps, on YouTube, or Facebook. Just make sure you edit the automatically generated captions – they get A LOT wrong!
- Open Captioning. Open captions cannot be turned off by the viewer (they are always on) which increases the chance they’ll be seen but they do not help SEO and are language-specific. These captions can be generated by various apps or added in editing.
- Motion Graphics. These are graphics that move and are more dynamic than the standard captions. They also do not help with SEO and a language-specific. These have to be added with an editing system (although Canva has some interesting options however, timing can be a nightmare).
And, if you’re thinking that captions seem like a lot of work and just aren’t worth it — here are a few more statistics from that Verizon/Publicis study that might change your mind. 80% of respondents said they are more likely to watch the ENTIRE video if it has captions. And, 37% of viewers say that reading captions inspires them to turn the sound on!
Think about what these statistics could mean for the effectiveness of your videos.
Now, This is Important…
With more people reading your videos instead of listening, having rock-solid scripts has never been more important! Make sure you’re not missing anything – come to my free Video Script Formula masterclass. It’s LIVE and INTERACTIVE!