The No. 1 Reason People Scroll Past Your Video

You’ve recorded an awesome company video, promoted it on social media, used all the right hashtags, optimized the title and description — but you’re still not getting the views you’re looking for.

Studies show that over 80% of videos on Facebook are watched on mute (Uscreen). In fact, many people prefer watching videos with subtitles even when they don’t have to! Humans retain information better if they read it, after all.

“So how do I get my viewers to hear me without sound?” you’re probably wondering.

The answer? Captions!

Benefit #1: Captions Allow You to Reach All Audiences

Lots of people will likely be scrolling through their feeds in areas where they can’t play sound out loud. You don’t want them to scroll past your post when they realize they’re not able to tune in and listen — you’ve got such great content to show them, after all!

In addition, almost 30 million Americans are hearing impaired. If you don’t have captions in your videos, you miss out on reaching this audience entirely.

Benefit #2: Captions Increase Audience Engagement

It’s also been shown that having captions in your videos increases audience engagement. Sixty-six percent of people watched a video to completion without subtitles — but when subtitles were included, this number increased to a whopping 91% (Uscreen).

Bonus Fact: Facebook also reports that including captions in your videos boosts view time by 12%! So yes, including captions means your viewers will be initially intrigued — but it also means they’ll be intrigued for longer periods of time.

Benefit #3: Information is Absorbed Better When Read

Ever spaced out while watching a movie? We’ve all been there, but those who like to turn the subtitles on will surely tell you all about how much it helps them stay focused on what’s on screen.

Reading is a much more active form of learning information when compared to watching, and including captions in your videos will keep your viewers engaged and focused — which also puts you and your brand top of mind.

Benefit #4: Captions Help With SEO 

That’s right! When you transcribe your audio and include that text on your website or in the description of your video, search engines are able to sift through this information, ranking your video higher and allowing you to align your video with your keyword strategy. 

A Final Tip: Create Custom Captions

There are some platforms (like Facebook) that will auto-populate your captions for you, but they’re often riddled with misspelled words, improper punctuation, and other errors. The captions are also organically set at a small text size — and if your viewers can’t see your subtitles, they’re probably going to scroll past your post.

Due to this, it’s best to create your captions yourself. Going the DIY route means that all your words will be properly displayed, you can set your own text size, and you ensure your post will hit all your targets and then some. 

So embrace the beauty of captions, and get ready to watch your audiences grow! 

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Whether it concerns digital marketing, Google Analytics, or anything in between, if you have any further questions about how to effectively market your company and grow your audience, we’d love to do what we can to lend a hand! Head to this link whenever you’re ready to get in touch.