Why marketers need to take note of TikTok’s #cc

Closed captions (#cc) that spell out what is being said (or sung) on TikTik videos can help bring content to the attention of a wider audience and even to a distracted audience. 

Why it matters

Many phone users keep their devices on mute during the day (75% of people overall and 86% of millennials, according to Sharethrough, an ad exchange), meaning that they will usually just scroll past videos with no captions.

What captions do on TikTok

• They can feel like modern-day karaoke for users watching lip-sync videos. 
• They can help focus distracted users’ attention on an individual piece of content.
• They can make it easier to share screen-shots of content across other platforms.
• They can make it easier for deaf or hard-of-hearing users to understand content.
• They can help make it easier for a global audience to understand content.. 

Key quote

“Most marketers are still pushing the traditional 15s and 30s [commercials] from TV, without captions, that are mostly incomprehensible when the phone is on mute” – Dan Greenberg, President, Sharethrough.

Sourced from Los Angeles Times