Use Subtitles

I watch YouTube
and other video-heavy platforms
with the subtitles turned on.

And I’m not alone.
50% of Americans
watch content with subtitles
most of the time.

This number skews higher
with younger generations.

A whopping 70% of Gen Z
use subtitles.

I’m a reader
so text is my preferred mode
of communication.

But I also use subtitles
for a number of other reasons.

Some experts
aren’t great speakers.
Many subtitle programs
now take out all the pauses
and verbal tics.

Some experts
don’t speak English.
And I suck
great big hairy donkey balls
at understanding
other languages.
Having the content translated to English
via subtitles
is wonderful.

Subtitles help
with taking notes.

Subtitles also are a solution
to audio issues.

There are many other reasons
to use subtitles
but the most important thing
to realize is…
people are using them.

We,
as small business builders
and marketers,
should use them also.

Ensure your video marketing
has subtitles.

Why You NEED To Add Video

54% of adult Americans read
below the sixth-grade level.

They are unable to read
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
or
any of the Harry Potter books
or…well…this post.

They are unlikely to read
ANY source material,
ANY attachments,
ANY research to back up claims.

This is why FOX news
is so popular
and why very few people call them
on their complete bullsh*t.

Many of their viewers
belong to that 54%.

They rely on people
to tell them what is true
and they don’t research it
themselves.
They don’t challenge claims
if they think
those claims MIGHT be true.

And this is why
you need video
as part of your marketing campaign
(unless your products/services
are specifically targeting readers
as my Romance Novels are).

Invest in video.

Sound On

We’ve all seen
the social media posts.
There’s a video attached
and the poster states,
“Sound On!”

Okay, if the viewer
needs the sound on
to understand
the message in the video,
it is a sh*tty video.

There should be
closed captioning, of course.

48 million Americans
have some sort
of hearing loss.

Many others watch videos
with the sound off
because…well…
we don’t like the noise
or we don’t want
the world to know
we’re watching videos.

A video should also
convey the key message
without the sound.
If words have to be spoken,
they should be
shown in text
on the screen.

Your video
shouldn’t need
to have sound on
to be understood.