Give Your Viewers More Control with Interactive Captions

Your team takes weeks to conceptualize, script, film, edit, and release a marketing video. It tells your brand story, helps launch sparkling new features, and expands your audience reach.

But what if your viewers can’t turn on the sound for your video because they’re at work or on the subway? Or listening to audio isn’t accessible to them? And what if you have webinars, long product demos, or a video beyond 5 minutes in length, which can tend to cause a drop in engagement? In the past, it’s been nearly impossible to provide a way for your viewers to search and explore within your embedded video … until now. Introducing Interactive Captions from Wistia.

A more inclusive, engaging video experience

Interactive Captions offer a new and improved experience for your viewers, giving them the option to scroll through, search, and select parts of your video to jump to — all directly from the captions. Giving your viewers the control to interact with your video content is not only a step toward a more inclusive video experience, but also it can have a big impact on engagement.

Ready to see how it works firsthand? Go ahead and give it a whirl using this video. Hover over the play bar and click on the “CC” icon, and then click “search video.”

Want to see Interactive Captions in all their glory? View this video on a desktop computer; as Interactive Captions do not currently work in mobile browsers.

Speaking of engagement, getting people the content they care about as quickly as possible is key for amplifying this metric. While your average engagement rate might drop a bit with people searching and jumping around, you’ll quickly learn which parts of your video are the most interesting or applicable to your audience based on the spikes in your engagement graph.

But wait, there’s more! Captions carry even more value outside of the viewing experience — they also bring with them a ton of SEO benefits, making it easier for people to discover your videos online. Because most online media isn’t captioned, there’s a huge potential for growth via keyword strategy, which you can learn more about in this post.

How do I get captions on my videos?

We’ve been working behind the scenes to make this process as quick and easy as your budget will allow, along with adding new options for ordering captions right within your Wistia account. Simply click into the Customize panel and select the Captions settings area.

• Upload your own — If you already have captions, simply upload the SRT file!
• Computer-generated captions — You can also get captions at a moment’s notice for a small investment. At $0.25 a minute, your videos will be captioned quickly and affordably with computer-generated captions. And while they won’t be perfect, you’ll still have the ability to review and edit them before they go live. All in all, computer-generated captions are a way better alternative to not having any at all.
• 99% accurate captions — When getting every word, name, and phrase exactly right is just what your brand needs, you can purchase captions that have been carefully transcribed by a real human for $2.50 a minute. Within four business days, they’ll be ready to go, giving your video an extra human touch.
• 99% accurate rush captions — When your time is limited and accuracy is required, this is your go-to option. Error-free captions within one business day at $4 a minute? Your videos are going to like the sound of that.
• Regardless of which captioning journey you choose, you’re setting up your marketing videos for further success by taking advantage of one of video’s most unsung heroes. Three cheers for Interactive Captions!

Regardless of which captioning journey you choose, you’re setting up your marketing videos for further success by taking advantage of one of video’s most unsung heroes. Three cheers for Interactive Captions!