Do you find that your video performance is a hit or miss?
Many content creators try to replicate popular formats but can’t pinpoint what made them work.
Inevitably, their views fluctuate completely randomly.
They end up with hours and hours wasted and their efforts unnoticed, unsure of what their next steps should be, thinking…
“Why is it working for them but not for me?!”
The thing is, when it comes to virality, the devil truly is in the details.
Those minutiae that may seem insignificant but actually drive measurable growth.
These are the performance drivers my team constantly researches to drive results for clients (if you need help, just book a call with them).
One such crucial detail of viral videos that confuses many creators is the correct use of captions.
If you omit them, your viewers will be left in the dark. If you use them incorrectly, they will distract from your message.
So let’s break down the right way to use captions to maximize your views.
But first, here’s when you shouldn’t use them at all.
If your visuals tell the story, captions can actually become a distraction.
We saw this with Erin Gorrie and her puppies in last week’s newsletter.
The premise of her video was these playful dogs disrupting her classes—and her student’s reaction here pretty much spoke for itself.
Adding text would have only distracted the viewer. After we suggested she remove them, her videos started performing better.
In most other cases though, visuals alone aren’t enough to engage your audience instantly.
In fact, 85% of video views happen with the sound off.
And if your viewers don't have any context of what’s happening on mute, they will scroll past it.
Now, there are three ways captions can boost your views.
The most obvious one is by providing subtitles.
If you have a dialogue going on in your video, captions make it easier for your viewers to follow along.
Especially if they’re listening without sound or if English is not their first language.
Here’s how Jimmy Knowles uses it in his Two Character, One Lightbulb videos we covered previously.
In another example, @jaxwritessongs sings a comedic song with her babysitter.
Notice how she uses captions with distinct colors and positioning to signal to sound-off listeners whose line is on.
The second way captions can boost performance is to create a curiosity gap.
Emilio Piano opens one of his most viral videos (121.5M) with the caption:
“This is what happens when you play Italian music in a café”
This creates anticipation for a surprise—or, in this case, multiple—that will give a reason for viewers to watch till the end.
By the way, Jimmy uses this same strategy to create a setup in his storytelling.
Which shows that you can double down on captions IF you use them strategically.
The third way captions can serve your video is to narrate it.
In this example, Alex Stemp opens with:
“I saw this beautiful roller skater and I asked if I could give her a photoshoot”
Then, instead of using the original sound of his footage, he tells his story through captions.
The trick is to find the sweet spot between sharing too little or too much information with your viewers to understand and enjoy your content.
Next week, we’ll get into how unlikely combinations can set virality records.
Want help with your social media strategy? Connect 1-on-1 with Hook Point's team here to see if we are the right fit to work together.
