Have you ever watched a video on Facebook? Chances are you have. Did you watch it with your sound turned on? According to a Digiday article, chances are you haven’t. The article states that an overwhelming 85% of Facebook videos are watched on mute. It seems a little odd to watch videos, meant to be listened to, without the volume cranked up. However, Facebook users, and apparently a lot of them, make it work.
This seems particularly helpful for those checking their Facebook timeline at work or places where sound would be inappropriate. Sometimes you just have to get a few cat videos or recipe “how to’s” in while at the water cooler. Yet how can they get any enjoyment out of it? Digiday explains that through subtitles and a strong lean towards the visual as opposed to audio, filmmakers are starting to work around this challenge. We’re seeing big bold captions on the top or bottom of videos lately. Some will add text commentary as well. These videos need to hold a viewer’s attention for a minimum of three seconds for it to count as a view, so they better have something stimulating on the screen right away. This is even more true with Facebook’s app and how all the videos on one’s newsfeed comes right after the other like a television channel. This means that there are lots of things to skip, which makes it as important than ever to be eye catching. Since viewers are watching and not listening, marketers and businesses need to take this into consideration. Yet you don’t need to be Spielberg to succeed. Making videos accessible to those who won’t or can’t have their speakers cranked up is a simple step in sending out your videos.
For more info, check out Digiday’s article here: http://ow.ly/xfx7300pGPF
How do you think videos fare when they’re on mute? Let us know your thoughts on this subject!
