How can subtitles improve audience engagement and retention?

• April 9, 2024

When you produce videos and publish them, you expect them to be seen by a wide audience; that’s called retention. This is already a good thing to do, but keeping this public in the long term is better. We are then talking about commitment.

What are subtitles for in this whole thing?

They are a Swiss Army knife for the audience watching your content.

Subtitles are useful to a multitude of users for just as many reasons:

• They allow the deaf and hard of hearing to have access to what is said in the video.
• Those who are still improving in the language of the video or who do not speak it can keep track (especially if you have the speech speed of Eminem!).
• We can also mention the dreamers, those who have their heads in the clouds and watch videos while doing another activity and cling to subtitles.
• Content can sometimes be tedious to understand when speakers are not clearly visible on the screen. Subtitles make it possible to identify them and follow what is taking place.

“The more the format inclusive is, the more will grow your community” as Yoda once said.

By adding subtitles to your videos, you broaden the scope of people who are impacted by your content. This audience will be satisfied with their understanding at the end of the viewing, which will make them want to come back to see what you produce.

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After all, it’s like a good dish: the easier it is to understand and of good quality, the more you want to taste it again!

You will have understood that subtitles allow your audience to develop commitment to your content through the inclusiveness and ease they add to it.

SEO, what’s that ?

SEO is another interesting point for your video viewing statistics. It is a must-have strategy for creators looking to stand out online in order to reach their target audience. It consists of three levers: technique, keywords and popularity.

So, what can subtitles have to do with SEO?

If users are investigators, they can find your content. Obviously, that does not represent the majority of people.

This is Captain Subtitles’ moment to shine:

When simple and generic keywords are entered into the search bar, a video’s subtitles (for those who have them) are analyzed to give a boost to show relevant search results.

This improves SEO and therefore audience retention, which is a key indicator of success, attesting to the level of satisfaction and loyalty of the audience.
The more popular your video is, the more often it appears at the top of search results.

And finally, a small recap of success’s recipe:

• 1. Gather the most searched keywords related to your video’s theme.
• 2. Create captions in which you will incorporate these keywords.
• 3. Finally, put everything in the oven and serve generously.
• 4. Everyone will share your delicious recipe (aka your content).