Video marketing is an essential tool for modern businesses to connect with their audience and promote their products or services. However, creating effective video content is not just about producing high-quality visuals and sound; it’s also about making your content accessible to as many people as possible. One way to do this is by adding subtitles to your videos. According to Statista, 76% of people use subtitling. This begs the question: why are subtitles so important in videos?
Improved Accessibility
The first and perhaps most apparent reason subtitles are important for your videos is accessibility. Subtitles allow individuals with hearing impairments or language barriers to fully understand and engage with your video content. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it also opens up your content to a wider audience. So, next time you’re polishing your marketing videos in your YouTube video editor, don’t forget to add subtitles — at least for those with hearing problems.
Better SEO
Subtitles can boost the discoverability of videos online by providing a written transcript of the spoken dialogue in a video, which allows search engines to index the content of the video more effectively. When you add subtitles to your marketing videos, you increase their chances of appearing in search results when users search for keywords related to the content of the video.
Ability To Reach Diverse Audiences
Videos with subtitles can be understood by a wider range of people, regardless of their primary language. This is especially important if you are targeting a global audience, as subtitles can help to break down language barriers and make your videos more accessible to non-native speakers. Video search engines like YouTube already allow users to activate auto-translate on videos, and adding subtitles to your videos makes the work even easier for both your audience and translation bots.
Enhanced Engagement
Subtitles allow viewers to fully understand and follow along with your video content, which can lead to increased engagement and better retention of the information you’re presenting. When viewers can understand the content, they are more likely to stay interested and watch the entire video, which can increase the chances of them taking the desired action, such as making a purchase or visiting your website.
Allows for Silent Viewing
Subtitles provide a silent viewing experience by displaying written text on the screen that corresponds to the dialogue and other audio in a video. This way, viewers can still understand the spoken content of the video without needing to hear the audio. This feature is handy for people in situations where it is inappropriate to play audio (e.g., in a library or at night).
Conclusion
If you don’t have subtitles on your marketing videos, you may miss out on some potential customers. Subtitles ensure everyone can understand what’s being said in your videos, regardless of the language they speak. Adding subtitles to your videos can also help you reach people who have hearing or situational impairment. This way, it becomes easier to reach a wider audience and be more inclusive and welcoming — all while increasing engagement with your content!
