Captioning recorded media shouldn’t just be limited to film, news, and episodic television.
Online video content is exploding both in terms of sharing, platforms, and expenditure. The platforms of Snapchat, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook are putting up absolute staggering numbers in terms of total users as well as time spent viewing video content.
A study by the American Marketing Association shows that video is undeniably trending toward, quick, easily digested, and disappearing video content formats. (Source: https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/video-content-about-to-explode.aspx)
Studies also show that online users are also now at an all-time low in terms of short attention spans. Humans literally have a shorter average attention span than a goldfish. It is estimated that an individual is exposed to 5,000 ads per day. (Source: https://www.adweek.com/digital/john-stevens-guest-post-decreasing-attention-spans/)
The answer is to cut through the noise, with concise, quick, text-based information accompanying your social video.
Which attracts more attention and intrigue from the passerby?
Movie Theater A: “Movies are played here at differing times.”
Movie Theater B: “| Titanic – 4:30pm, 7:00pm, 10:30pm | The Matrix – 5:00pm, 7:30pm |
It isn’t difficult to know which venue will attract more interest and revenue in the form of movie ticket sales. Immediately, the prospect driving by is empowered with knowledge and trusts the institution with specific text-information displayed.
Likewise, specificity, by way of video captioning, is immensely powerful and the building block of effective communication. It is what moves a prospective customer or viewer from “I want that” to “I’ll take that”. As a result, video captioning instantly shows off your unique features and cuts through short attention spans.
One prime example of this is Tasty, a brand of Buzzfeed, that produces short cooking instructional. What is distinct about Tasty, is that it provides large text blocks and easy to follow directions in very short video averaging around 1 minute. The onscreen copy accentuates and aids the images of delicious food being prepared. As a result, sharing of Tasty videos will typically cause the video to quickly go viral and gain massive exposure on Facebook, (which is typically a very difficult platform to produce such viral videos).
(Source: https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-social-video-for-marketing/)
What is the major takeaway? Your video content is extremely valuable and needs to be given a concise path to succeed and attract attention. The best marketing is already baked into the product with authenticity and the willingness to engage with the audience. To accomplish this, you need captioning for your videos to make them more engaging and conversational.
You have a voice that needs to be shared. Contact us at VZP Digital so we can provide you the captioning, subtitle, and strategy services you need.