UNLOCKING ENGAGEMENT: THE POWER OF CAPTIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEOS
BY HEIDI MCIVOR ALLEN
SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO MARKETING STATISTICS
Marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) are specific, numerical marketing metrics that measure progress toward a defined goal within marketing channels.
Marketing KPIs assess the effectiveness of your marketing endeavors. Defining and monitoring these indicators is crucial because it allows you to:
- Users will retain 95% of a message watched on video as opposed to only 10% read in text.
- 66% of consumers report short-form video to be the most engaging type of social media content in 2022, up from 50% in 2020.
- The vast majority (85%) of Facebook videos are watched without sound.
- Facebook Watch attracts upward of 1.2 billion users per month.
- Half of users say they have visited a brand’s website to purchase a product or service after seeing it featured in Stories.
- 57% of Americans watch videos in public.
- 80% of people react negatively to Facebook video ads that blast loud audio when they aren’t expecting it.
- LinkedIn confirms the majority (80%) of their video views happen in the sound-off mode.
PRIMARY BENEFITS OF CAPTIONS ON VIDEO CONTENT
Improved SEO
Subtitles help hold viewers’ attention for longer periods. Research has revealed that subtitles can increase the viewership of a video by an astonishing 40%! According to the same study, the presence of subtitles increased the likelihood of viewers watching a video until its conclusion by 80%.
Such elevated engagement levels are highly respected by search engines and can significantly improve your videos’ ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, subtitles contribute to a video’s SEO as Google can index the embedded subtitles, further boosting its visibility.
Increased Engagement
On virtually every platform, whether it’s YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram, the biggest barometer of engagement, for video specifically, is watch time. In fact, according to Verizon, 80% of people indicate that they’re more likely to watch an entire video when subtitles are available.
That’s why subtitles play a crucial role in improving viewership and overall video performance due to their direct correlation with engagement. Subtitles captivate audiences and encourage longer viewing durations, leading to increased watch time, higher engagement (likes, shares, comments), and a greater chance of videos becoming viral.
Multi-lingual Viewing Options
Subtitles provide comprehension for viewers who speak different languages, enhancing accessibility and offering more versatile viewing choices.
This is particularly advantageous if you aim to reach an international audience or diverse ethnic groups. By including subtitles in various languages, you broaden the accessibility of your video content, attracting viewers who may otherwise have been unable to engage with it, thereby increasing viewership.
Meet Your Viewers Expectations
Increase Content Stickiness
- Capturing and retaining viewers' attention.
- Enhancing comprehension of your message.
- Increasing the memorability of your content.
BOOST DISCOVERY BY FIXING YOUR VIDEO SEO
Google utilizes automated bots to analyze published content, a process known as ‘crawling content,’ to determine its relevance for specific keywords.
However, video content presents a challenge as it is inherently visual, rendering it unreadable for Google’s bots. To increase the ranking of your videos, a simple yet effective strategy is to incorporate transcripts.
By providing subtitles, which are text-based and easily interpreted by Google’s search bots, you not only signal the presence of target keywords but also synonyms and related terms, thereby bolstering your ranking potential.
In essence, adding captions to your videos enhances their discoverability.
It’s important to note that to fully leverage the benefits of video SEO, you must include standalone transcript files in formats such as SRT or VTT.
WHY MCIVOR MARKETING IS THE BEST DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY TO RUN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
At McIvor Marketing, our industry experts are constantly researching, and staying up to date with the latest trends. We also have numerous years of experience to have learned what works and what does NOT.
When it comes to social media, our creative is top-of-the-line and our writing experts know how to connect and captivate an audience. Consumers want to be entertained, and our social media is simply that, entertaining.
Contact us today to get on a call to see some of our highest-performing creative efforts.
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