Nine interesting facts about how professionally created subtitles will help you reach your target audience right away!
Did you know that the main advantage of subtitling video content is saving money and time? We all know that time is a very expensive investment in today’s dynamic world, and even companies like Netflix and HBO carefully evaluate what is more cost-effective – investing in high-quality video content dubbing or choosing only subtitling. Skrivanek Baltic’s subtitling specialists say that there are a number of other additional benefits! We have compiled nine main reasons why it would be useful and even advisable to add subtitles to your company’s video content – even if it is only in Latvian and intended for a Latvian audience!
- Various studies have shown that the human brain is designed in such a way that most of us remember much less of what we hear than what we read, so subtitling video content is a great way to reach a diverse audience – young people, seniors, your company’s new foreign customers, and business partners. Videos that combine audiovisual solutions with subtitles help viewers to more easily understand complex solutions, remember product names or brands, and then conduct in-depth research online. This type of video simply stays in people’s memories longer.
- Whether people are in a library, café, at work, or at home with their families, many choose to watch video clips without sound. According to social media outlet META, 85% of users tend to watch video content without sound, while 37% of users are motivated to watch videos with sound by subtitles. Isn’t that interesting?
- Many people prefer to watch video content with the original sound for educational purposes, especially when it comes to content in English, German, French, or other popular languages.
- When a video clip or film is watched in a country where it was not filmed, subtitles have less impact than dubbing on the nuances and mood of the original content.
- Subtitles carry less risk of cultural context errors, which are often made in dubbing, such as inappropriate voice choices, failure to convey emotions, or individual speech characteristics. Subtitles help to overcome difficulties in understanding what is being said, which often arise due to fluctuations in the volume of the soundtrack, background noise or music, as well as the modulation of the speaker’s voice, gradation of dynamics and even accent. Do you know how many accents there are in English alone?
- Let’s be objective and honest – there are tens of millions of deaf or people with hearing loss in the world, people with perception difficulties or intellectual disabilities, who will be very happy if you prepare subtitles in easy language for your video content. Statistics vary from country to country, but on average, 15–25% of each country’s population has difficulty perceiving complex information. Think about it!
- Professionally created subtitles improve search engine optimisation (SEO), meaning that videos with customised subtitles will appear in Google search results (rather than subtitles generated in real time by automatic captioning tools, which are available for free on some websites).
- According to a study by the US media group Verizon Media, 80% of people only watch videos to the end if they have subtitles.
Did we manage to convince you? Here’s the ninth reason to use subtitles:
9 If video content has been subtitled in one language, it is very easy and convenient to translate and adapt it into other languages, as the translated text already contains time codes that indicate the display time of each line of text. You can choose between open or closed subtitles. What does it mean? Open subtitles are visible throughout the video, while closed subtitles can be turned on and off at any time.
Sound complicated? The subtitling specialists at Skrivanek Baltic will help you dispel any doubts and find the most suitable solution for you. Feel free to contact us, we will be happy to help!
