Use Instagram Video Captions to Boost Performance

Bet you didn’t know that adding Instagram video captions will boost performance! As of January 2019, Instagram has become the fifth most popular social media platform, falling only behind Facebook (and their messenger app), YouTube, and What’s App. That means they currently outperform Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+, Skype, and many others. Businesses, organizations, and influencers have all taken notice and created a presence on the booming network.

Originally an “image” sharing service, Instagram has evolved into a heavily video-based platform. It is used for two-way communication with audiences; allowing for real-time polling, Q&As, messaging, content re-sharing, and many other interactive features.

At this point in time, Instagram doesn’t currently have an auto-captioning feature integrated into their platform. But that doesn’t mean captioned Instagram videos can’t be used to increase accessibility, video engagement, longer watch times, and conversions.

How to Add Instagram Video Captions to Boost Performance

1. Record a video or select a pre-recorded video to caption
2. Upload to cielo24 and order captions (starting at less than $1 per minute)
3. Burn your “open” captions to your video using a player like VLC
4. Upload your captioned video file to Instagram as a post or a story

Why it’s Specifically Beneficial to Caption Instagram Videos

There are a number of reasons why captioning video is generally a smart business move – including increased accessibility, opening your content up to second-language audiences, improved SEO and ranking, and increased conversions.

But Instagram’s platform functions entirely around still image and video content, formatted through a single scrolling function (either through stories, which scroll horizontally, or posts, which scroll vertically). People move quickly through the platform and captioned video content helps you stand out in these ways:

Catch your viewers’ attention

Most people are engaging with Instagram videos on mute, especially given that Instagram auto-mutes all content and viewers have to tap the video to turn on the sound. If you post a video without captions, you risk losing 85% of your potential audience. Scroll on, they will. And your message and carefully crafted video content will all be for naught.

“I caption my videos because I know the overall story is going to have more viewer retention if I do. People are not always watching Instagram video in a private environment; they are usually waiting in line at the grocery store, watching Netflix, or at work. So they can’t listen full volume to the videos, but they will read.”

Aidee Chavez Frescas, Social Media Manager and bilingual Spanish and English speaking social media influencer

Increase CTA conversions

84% of consumers have bought something after watching a video. Instagram allows users to attach calls-to-action to posts and stories, such as the ability to swipe up and learn more or click on the video to sign up. By captioning video content, you will experience 12% longer view times, your message will be digested, and you will receive stronger conversions.

Join a global phenomenon

Because Instagram has such a strong international presence with 80% of users residing outside the US, captioning your video content opens you up to a huge portion of Instagram’s user database that might otherwise be unable to engage. Depending on which report you are referencing, English is either the second or third most popular language worldwide, and the vast majority of English speakers are not native English speakers. So, adding English captions to your video will help people from all over the globe better understand your message. This is especially true since English captions are known to increase engagement amongst second-language English speakers. And moreover, you can add video captions in other foreign languages, as well – including Spanish, French and German, which are all available through our Self Serve platform. Enterprise accounts have access to 16 foreign languages transcriptions and translations, as well.

Using Video Transcripts on Instagram Video

Video transcripts are not to be overlooked on Instagram, either. When you caption your video files, you automatically receive a transcription file. And those transcripts can prove incredibly valuable on the Instagram video platform. Video transcripts can be used to craft short-form “post captions,” they can be added as text overlay in stories if you don’t have the time to burn video captions onto your videos before sharing, and they can be posted in full as your “post caption” (and continued on as comments if they extend the max post caption length). All of these provide yet another opportunity for viewer engagement and increased conversions.

cielo24 Audio and Video Transcripts and Captions Solutions

At cielo24 we offer a Self Serve web app that allows you to get started ordering video transcripts and captions immediately, without the wait for contracts or quotes. You can select a preliminary amount of free machine-based transcriptions and captions – which provide a lower level of accuracy guarantee, or human-verified transcriptions beginning at less than a dollar per minute.  For more information on our video transcription, captioning and video intelligence solutions, contact us online or call us at 1-855-243-5624.

cielo24 is removing barriers to increase video marketing ROI, searchability and compliance for all your videos!

cielo24’s new Self Serve app is easy to use and extremely cost-effective. Within minutes a video can be uploaded to your account and you will receive a free machine-based, searchable transcript with keywords.

 Take a Video Captioning test-drive >>