Have you ever been standing in the checkout line at the store or maybe sitting in the lobby at the dentist’s office and opened Instagram to kill a few minutes while waiting? Yeah, we’ve all been there. We’ve all also probably kept our phones on silent while tabbing through Stories or swiping through the feed so as not to disturb those around us. This also means we also probably missed some valuable info in any of those Stories where people were talking.
So, as a small business that uses social media to get the word out about your brand, products or promotions, how do you combat scenarios just like the one we just described? Easy, simply add captions to your Stories!
We’ll walk you through exactly how to get captions on your Instagram Stories in this blog post, so keep reading!
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s cover exactly what captions are. Captions on videos are a written transcript of the words that are being spoken. They can also give details of other audio cues that are present, like sound effects or background noise, but not always.
Captions aren’t just limited to videos, though. Longform media like movies and TV shows often offer the option for turning captions on and off.
The main function of captions on any type of media is accessibility.
Why even go through the trouble of turning on your captions for Stories that are only going to be up for 24 hours? Well, let’s cover that briefly.
1. Public Viewing: We already mentioned how some people don’t always watch videos with their sound on, especially when they’re out in public. In fact, 75% of people say they often keep their phone on mute even while watching a video. And considering that typical Instagram users watch Instagram Stories for 28 minutes each day, that’s a lot of people who might be missing important info within your content.
2. Accessibility: This one is a big one, and super important. Captions are a must to keep your content accessible to all your customers. Over 5% of the world's population (430 million people) require some form of aid or rehabilitation for their hearing. In addition, captions are also helpful for those who speak another language. When you add text descriptions to any Stories with words, you’re ensuring that content is available for all.
3. Engagement: Videos alone receive twice as much engagement on Instagram compared to other post types and adding text descriptions only helps to boost this engagement. People are more likely to comment, like and share with their friends when they can see the words.
4. Increased Watch Time: Going back again to that scenario we described, when people are watching Stories without sound, they’re most likely going to skip right past your content when they see you talking. Adding captions helps to increase your watch time because they’re still able to consume the content without any sound.
500+ million users on Instagram access Instagram Stories daily. So, if you’re ready to increase your engagement and views on your small business’s Stories, you need to know how to add captions! Let’s get into it:
Step 1: Open the Instagram app and click the bottom middle button that looks like a square with a plus sign in it.
Step 2: Select the “Story” option. You can either record a new video or select a previously recorded one from your camera roll.
Step 3: Once your video is ready, tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen.
Step 4: Select the blue “Captions” sticker.
Step 5: After you select the sticker, you should see the words “Transcribing audio…” pop up on the screen. The automatic captions should start appearing after a few seconds.
Step 6: Move the caption text around, resize and change the font or color to your liking.
And now you’re done! You have transcribed captions to pair with your video Stories. Just a quick note that auto-captions are not a perfect science. They can sometimes reflect incorrect words and at this time there is no way for users to edit specific parts of the captions. Keep this in mind while posting!
If you want to make sure your Instagram Stories are accessible and serve your business as much as possible, adding captions to them is a must! We’ve outlined exactly how to get captions on Instagram Stories above, so you can set your set your business up for even more success.
Instagram’s Auto Caption feature makes the process a breeze. Go ahead and try it out and see if it makes a difference in your engagement rates! And if you’re looking for even more ways to enhance your business’s social media presence, RevLocal is here for you. Give us a call today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a marketing expert.
Mideya Kinney, Junior Content Writer
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