Over 80% of videos with subtitles get more views, shares, and engagement. It is a significant increase that you can’t ignore. More than 5% of the world’s population has deafness or hearing loss. Without captions, these people would be unable to watch videos. In addition, many viewers prefer to watch content on mute because they don’t want to disturb others.
1. They Make Videos More Concise
Added subtitles to your video helps you make the content more concise, which is useful for many reasons. First, they can help viewers keep up with the pace of spoken text, which can be difficult if the footage contains fast dialogue or multiple speakers. Second, subtitles can help viewers study a foreign language by providing a written representation of the audio track.
It makes it easier to understand unfamiliar accents and dialects. It’s helpful for educational videos that cover technical languages like physics, medicine, chemistry, etc. Subtitles also make it easier for search engines to index your video content. YouTube and Google use accompanying text to identify the topic of a video, which in turn influences how well it ranks on SERPs. An auto subtitle generator can boost the visibility and engagement of your content.
2. They Make Videos Accessible
Using subtitles and captions allows you to reach a wider audience by making your videos more accessible. It includes deaf or hard-of-hearing people and viewers who aren’t native speakers of the language used in a video. Captions and subtitles are text representations of the spoken dialogue in a video and appear onscreen during playback. They are often synchronized with the audio and can be closed or open.
Including sound effects and speaker changes, closed captions are intended to provide a complete textual representation of the audio in a video. It makes them perfect for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.
On the other hand, open subtitles are not a full transcript and only include speech and key visual cues like movement and body language. It makes them ideal for foreign language videos or audiences with difficulty following a fast-paced conversation. Even viewers who don’t have hearing impairments may struggle to understand a video with a strong accent or rapid speech, and subtitles can make it easier for them to follow along.
In addition, studies have found that subtitles help keep viewers engaged with a video and increase its overall watch time. It is crucial for a company since viewers are likelier to interact with and share a video if they watch it longer.
3. They Make Videos More Engaging
In a world where people are juggling multiple tasks at the same time, it’s crucial that video content grabs their attention and holds it. The best way to do this is by adding subtitles. Whether creating a training video, social media video, or even an informative presentation, using captions is the best way to communicate your message without losing the audience’s interest.
Subtitles are the best way to reach a wider audience and engage your current audience, as they enable viewers to watch your videos without having sound enabled. It is particularly helpful for those who may need to turn on their volume (for example, at work or in public spaces) or for whom the audio might be too noisy to hear.
Subtitles and captions are also effective ways to highlight key points in your video, especially if your content is complex or lengthy. In addition, a study by Verizon Media found that 80% of consumers prefer videos with subtitles. It’s because subtitles make it simpler for viewers to grasp what’s being said and follow along.
Additionally, they help ensure that everyone receives the same information, regardless of their learning style or language capabilities. It leads to greater viewer engagement, as audiences are likely to stick around for a video that is easy to follow.
4. They Make Videos More Searchable
A video’s subtitles and captions are transcribed text that can be embedded with the media file. They can then be searchable by viewers on platforms like YouTube and Google. It can boost videos, making them more discoverable and easier to find. Adding subtitles and captions helps with video SEO because they can be keyword-optimized. They can also be incorporated into other visual content formats, such as infographics, gifs and TikTok videos.
Moreover, they can be repurposed and shared as still images on social media. For example, news outlets like NowThis and Brut frequently share a still from their video with certain keywords highlighted, allowing them to garner attention for their video content. Captions and subtitles also allow people to watch videos in their native language. It’s helpful for foreign films and shows that may only be understandable with subtitles. For instance, South Korean movies and TV shows such as Parasite, Squid Games, Dark and Money Heist have become global favorites mainly because of their English subtitles.
Conclusion
As more consumers turn to video as their preferred medium for learning, brands must create videos that are accessible to all. Subtitles and captions are not only a great way to make videos more accessible to disabled viewers, but they can also help improve viewer engagement and retention. A recent study by Verizon Media found that 69% of consumers choose to watch videos with their sound off in public settings, and 80% said they’re more likely to complete a video where subtitles appear.
