The Streaming Revolution has made it possible, among other things, for the average person to spend roughly 38 hours per week watching video content (40% of which is streamed, often on mobile devices). Forty-four percent of people watch more than 5 videos per day (Source: Deloitte). Almost half of the viewers employ subtitles/closed captions online. On social media sites, the evidence is clear that video content engages customers at much higher rates than traditional content (Source: Social Media Today).
In today’s world, you need video content, and that content needs to be high quality—including its closed captions or subtitles. If not, your online base will struggle to grow.
Driving engagement on social media can be an uphill battle. Those who stop to view videos on social media engage the content 58% of the time. Sixty percent visit the publisher’s profile. A majority of viewers end up visiting the publisher’s website.
Using accessible, quality video on your social platforms may be just what you need to strengthen your online reach. Your video on social media platforms can greatly boost the activity of your current audience, as well as boost the reach you have to new audience members.
Extra Added Value for Digital Media’s Closed Captions
You’ve already done all of the hard work to produce your show and content. Why not ensure that you get all the value out of each episode that you can by including subtitles and closed captions?
Subtitling and closed captioning your online content greatly impacts its online searchability. Take advantage of the “free” page rank boost it could potentially give to your site! Youtube is prioritizing closed-captioned content more and more every day. (Just don’t rely on YouTube’s auto-caption service quite yet. This technology is improving, but it’s not to the level where you can rely on it for the accurate captions you need—especially if you have long-form video content.)
Video content is king. In the digital age, the value of closed captioning and subtitles is not diminishing, it’s growing. Harness the power of video content online for your projects. If your content or even your whole show finds its way online, investing in closed captioning and subtitles can help give you the boost that you need.
David Appelt
David is our special projects manager and part of the StationDrop team. He is a central Ohio native and Capital University grad with a media and communications background.