4 minute read

So, you’ve got some top-quality, thumb-stopping video content that needs sharing – great! But now what? How do you increase accessibility, boost audience understanding and reach a wider audience with your videos?

Enter… captions!

Why are more and more people choosing to watch videos with captions on? If you fancy getting to know a bit more, I’ve pulled together a beginner’s guide on:

the difference between subtitles and captions
why you should be using video captions, and
how to implement captions in your own marketing videos.

Know the lingo: video subtitles vs captioning

What is the difference between subtitles and captions?

Potato, potahto, captions and subtitles are the same thing, right? Er, not quite.

Although similar, captions and subtitles are not one in the same, and it’s important to know the difference between the two.

The key differences are:

Captions transcribe all dialogue and audio content as text on-screen.

They often include background noise, speaker differentiation, and anything else that enables the viewer to understand the video without sound.

Captions are primarily intended to accommodate viewers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. But as captioning becomes the norm, more people with unimpaired hearing are choosing to engage with videos with the sound off and captions on – especially when watching on a smartphone.

Captions come in two forms: open and closed captions.

Just like an ill-thought-out tattoo, open captions don’t come off – they’re permanent fixtures on the screen.

Closed captions [CC], on the other hand, can be turned on or off at will with the click of a button.

Subtitles, by contrast, are typically a translation of spoken dialogue. They’re most notably used for viewers who can hear the audio, but may not understand the language and who require text on screen to translate the audio.

Four key reasons to use video captioning

1. Accessibility on the go

When making video content, it’s imperative to think about your audience. Who is viewing it and how are they viewing it?

Unfortunately, not everyone has their own private cinema with a build-in surround system!

Not only are captions critical for audiences with impaired hearing, but they’re also being used by a large portion of the wider audience. As more of us consume video content on the move, it can be hard to watch videos with the sound on. As such, audiences rely on captions to allow them to engage with the video silently. No one wants their phones accidentally blaring out their friend’s Instagram reels while they’re sitting on a quiet train!

So utilising captions is crucial to ensuring your audience’s willingness to engage with your video content wherever they are.

2. Audience comprehension

Think about the geographic locations of your audience. Is there an international market that you want your videos to reach? Captions are there to accommodate and support audiences who are learning English as a secondary language, encouraging their comprehension of written and spoken English.

Not only that, but captions are useful reading tools for native speakers as well. Enabling captions for those who may have trouble processing large amounts of information quickly or who might struggle with understanding strong accents will help them follow along and engage with the video.

3. Attention grabbing ain’t enough to improve watch time

Your video is jam-packed with attention grabbing visuals – great! But is that enough to convince your audience to continue engaging with your video? Probably not.

Make it easy for people to tune in and stay tuned. With the addition of captions, you are far more likely to encourage your audience to watch on, and hopefully, finish the video. Eye-catching, thumb-stopping visuals are great, but captions add context and help maintain audience’s attention. Otherwise, with two swipes of a finger, your lovely video content could be sitting right at the bottom of their newsfeed and you become passing acquaintances rather than bosom friends!

4. Boosting SEO

Search engine optimisation is critical to boosting your online presence. And who doesn’t like to be top of the Google search food chain?

The more you can boost your SEO, the more likely your audience is to find your content. You need to be seen to make an impact, as they say. Video transcriptions allow search engines to determine key words and phrases to help you stand out. This increases the chance of your audience stumbling upon you organically. Otherwise, you run the risk of only being found via your video description and metadata – and no one wants to sift through mountains of search results!

How to add captions to videos

Hopefully this has whet your appetite on making your video content stand out more, and you’re eager to start implementing captions in to your own marketing videos. But how do you go about applying them to your videos?

Well, transcribing and captioning video content can be a slow, laborious and time-consuming process. So, don’t waste time, get someone else to do the hard labour for you!

There is an abundance of video transcription services out there to choose from.

With sites like Rev.com and TranscribeMe!, finding a video captioning service is not difficult. So there are no more excuses to get captioning!

Video captions for the win

You can’t escape captioning videos if you want to make sure your video content is as inclusive and comprehensive as it can be for your audience.

So, if you’re looking at your video content and wondering why it’s not getting the engagement it deserves, check it again. Has it got captions? Well, hopefully now it does!

Caption, copy, content

Whether you’re after a killer (captioned) marketing video, an SEO-optimised website copy, or any other digital content, we’re your people.

Give us a shout and our team of digital experts will help you get noticed.

Why you should add captions to video