Importance of Accurate Subtitles for Global Digital Video

With increased social media and heightened digital content consumption. The average human attention span has shortened significantly. It’s roughly gone down to 8 seconds (or four to five scrolls), depending on the unit of measure. Today, every individual prefers Digital Video content over other forms of content, mainly textual.

But you might wonder: What makes Digital Video content better or more appealing than textual content?

Let’s understand this through some trends and facts about video content consumption.

The 2017 UK Digital Economy Act was established to attain a target of 40% of all online video content supported with subtitling, reaching 80% by 2021.
The video audience in the UK (49.7 million people) comprises more than 2/3rds of its population.
92% of marketers believe videos are crucial to their marketing strategies.
The UK generates the third most revenue from video on demand, reaching 4.8 billion USD in 2022. The most popular streaming platforms are Netflix, followed by Amazon Prime.
Almost 6 out of 10 people prefer online videos to watching television.
In 2022, 58% of UK consumers spent money on digital video content subscriptions.
In 2021, the UK spent 6 billion GBP on digital video ad spending.
82% of teens and young adults used YouTube to consume content (2020).
On average, children in the UK spend 64 minutes watching videos on YouTube. YouTube is also the second most popular social media site in the UK.

These staggering figures suffice to convince us why video consumption has increased.
And this brings us to our question: Why are subtitles a crucial part of video marketing, and how do they make videos more enticing?

Let’s explore this below:

Video Content – The Cruciality of Subtitles

Without diving deeper into the art of videography script writing, AI-prompted content has made visualization of content significantly easier. Video content, like social media conferences, live content feeds, and stories, is increasingly popular. There are many reasons for this.

However, the main reason boils down to ‘searchability.’ This popularity is achievable through video transcription.

These services entail audio transcription, video transcription, subtitling, translation, transcreation, and localization services. Many Software-As-A-Service (SAAS) companies, such as TauRho Transcribes, provide this service. You can explore taurho-transcribes.co.uk for more on this.

Transcription of videos, whether it’s a conference, a Netflix/Amazon show, or a YouTube video, helps users search for specific content and pinpoint where that content is. For instance, a simple search on Google or Bing can help users reach a particular video that provides valuable information.

Let’s dive deeper into some benefits of incorporating subtitles in video content.

Catering to a Global Audience:

It’s safe to say that everyone watches videos, from young adults to retired folks. As smartphones have become ‘smarter,’ they accelerate global reach to information. A trending video in Somalia can have a viral butterfly effect on Nebraska.

To shed light on some cases, dance videos on TikTok, DIY videos on YouTube, and Instagram reels about travel experiences. The languages of some of the viral songs can be foreign to the audience, and subtitles in the audience’s native language can make a significant difference to the video’s impact.

It’s essential to keep accessibility and inclusivity in mind when creating a strategy for video content.

Accessibility and Inclusivity:

When video creators plan a video, a common question is, ‘What audiences would these videos attract?’ The answer is everyone.

Video content caters to anyone with internet access and a platform to view the video. Over the past decade, technology has shifted from textual content to video and graphic-rich content. The reason for this shift goes back to a quotation: “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

For a video to gain popularity, its searchability must be made accessible. Let’s understand how subtitles affect the seo optimization and searchability of the Digital Video.

Optimized SEO and Searchability

Referring to the previous point in this article, video content needs searchability for virality. This element is visible on YouTube with its chapters. This feature helps break videos into small segments so users can find the information they seek.

This same strategy is also visible on other video-centric platforms. Another example is the Google Meets feature, meeting recording, and auto transcription. Transforming video content to content makes finding it more accessible and saves the user’s time from watching the whole video.

Apart from the video’s stand-alone impact, subtitles can help amplify the impact of the idea behind the video.

Let’s understand how subtitles help strengthen the storytelling behind a video.

Storytelling Amplification

Apart from the functionality of searchability, accurate subtitling can impact the storytelling and the build-up behind the video.

Let’s take the example of language comprehension. Many visual elements in a video are there to make a subtle impact. Having subtitles for this can help target those emotions better.

So, how does accurate subtitling impact storytelling? A well-crafted subtitle can trigger emotions, enhance intricate details, and reinforce the narrative.

When creating videos, it’s essential to cater to the audience that may be unable to get the complete experience. A lot of people watch videos without the sound. Hence, let’s look at how subtitles make an impact here.

Compliance with Sound-Off Viewing:

For audiences that watch videos without audio, subtitles can be a fantastic substitute. For instance, YouTube or Instagram Shorts provide content for audiences that wish to consume within a short timeframe due to limited attention span.

This audience comprises special needs, people who are usually traveling and can’t plug their ears from their surroundings. In addition to this, reading subtitles is an effective exercise that helps in language learning. Many language learning centers recommend this method to brush up on the language and gain familiarity with common phrases.

Conclusion

Accurate subtitles can go a long way, from catering to a global audience by providing a sound-off viewing experience to improving accessibility and inclusivity of information. It helps increase video reach through SEO optimization, building on the video’s searchability.

Furthermore, it can help amplify the storytelling of the video content and create the impact that video creators want.