How to create impactful silent videos for your brand

How often do you watch videos with the sound off? If you’re in a public space, it’s becoming increasingly convenient to watch a video without sound, especially given more creators are focusing on providing meaningful closed captions, subtitles and transcriptions.

In 2019, Verizon Media and Publicis Media conducted a survey regarding how captions affected video viewing habits. The results showed that 69% of people watched video with the sound off in public spaces and 25% of people watched video with the sound off in private spaces. If you’re not captioning your videos, then significant chunks of your audience aren’t getting the full picture of what you’re trying to convey.

1. Create content that is consumable any time, any where

More than ever, people are consuming content anywhere, anytime. Watching videos on the commute to work, sitting in a waiting room, eating lunch on the go, in a work meeting (no judgment here!) - there are so many instances where your video content can capture the attention of your audience. Which is amazing news for visibility, but what if they’re not in the right environment to watch your content on loudspeaker?

It’s important to watch your videos on mute and assess if the message is still coming across strongly. Whether that means adjusting your brand and product placement to ensure it’s front and center or making it more accessible from a subtitles perspective.

2. Other types of visuals can tell a compelling story - use animations/graphics where relevant

Looking to refresh your content? Don’t just rely on shooting footage and using dialogue - using animations and graphics can help keep your content engaging. Presenting statistics using graphics and animation, for example, helps you tell a story to your audience without needing to use dialogue to unpack this information. While sometimes having audio can help you explain a topic, it’s important to look at multiple methods of conveying information in order to keep your content fresh.

3. Are you adding transcriptions, captions and subtitles?

Transcriptions, captions and subtitles can help you create better content for those who are watching your videos with the sound off. Subtitles help you translate dialogue into a different language, captions contain information about the sounds/music a video contains, and transcriptions describe both the visuals and audio within a video. Each has a different purpose, but all help you explain the sounds present within a video to those who might be hearing impaired (or have the sound off).

Vudoo is WCAG 2.1 AA certified, so using Vudoo can help you create content that is accessible by all members of your audience. If you haven’t previously considered adding transcriptions, captions and subtitles to your content, then now is the time to start.

4. Audio should be just one part of the story

Of course, not all your content needs to be silent! In fact, using audio sparingly will help make it more impactful when you do create content that’s focused around audio. The absence of something makes people more likely to focus/consider what is present. According to an article by The Drum, 79% of all videos on LinkedIn are watched silently, while some media publishers have reported that 85% of their video views on Facebook are silent.

When you’re creating content, making sure you’re telling a story that doesn’t rely heavily on either audio or visuals will help you create more compelling content, as you’re not always able to control the surroundings in which people consume your video content.

5. Focus your audience’s attention on what really matters

Looking to take your video content to the next level? Interactive video can help you engage your audience in ways that traditional video can’t. Embedded CTAs can direct your audience to high-value resources (like web pages and informative overlays), while also giving you the power to collect more information about your audience through polls and lead gen forms.

Whether you’re creating silent video, or you just want to enhance your video capabilities, Vudoo is here to help. Having worked with companies across a range of industries, Vudoo’s interactive video technology allows businesses just like yours to create more compelling pieces of video content and learn more about their audience. Get in touch with the Vudoo team to learn more about Vudoo!