If you are using video for marketing you know how important it is to add subtitles to videos.

However, this process does not seem to be as straightforward as you originally thought.

YouTube creators know that in order to get this done they need to either have the script already written, word for word.

Otherwise, they would need to painstakingly write out the text using the YouTube Creator Studio.

While this may seem logical for the casual onlooker I want you to stop and think of what that process looks like for a second.

You spend endless hours planning, shooting and editing a video to get the copy, thumbnails, description, keywords and tags right.

Imagine having to upload 3-5 of those videos every week and still needing to write the subtitles or captions.

What if there was a way to get this done faster or to have them auto generated in the background while your videos are uploading.

The truth is that there isn't a one size fits all solution for all social media platforms.

In this post, you will learn how to easily add subtitles to almost all your social media videos including Facebook, Pinterest, IGTV, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

So that you can grab the attention of your followers without feeling overwhelmed and frustrated every week.

What are Subtitles and Why You Need Them?

In case you are new to the world of video marketing on social media let me spend some time explaining what are subtitles or captions.

Subtitles are basically the script of the video or audio file that you watch or listen to online when the sound is off.

Camille Hughes of Intro to Digital reported that "video traffic accounts for about 80% of all consumer traffic".

She goes on to say that "videos that are about two minutes, generate the highest engagement levels."

Did you know that 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound? The most interesting part is that 60% of Instagram videos are watched with the sound on.

The number one reason why you need subtitles or captions are for those people who would like to consume video without sound.

If you think that this is weird try to remember a time when you really wanted to watch a video but didn't have earplugs or headphones.

Consumers dictate how marketers should cater for their every need just by their behaviour alone.

Yes, I know of some people who would try to lip read the actors on video but I am just not there yet.

Which Platforms Accept Video + Criteria

At the time of writing this post, I can think of 5 social media platforms used by business to promote content via video outside of YouTube.

These platforms include:

* Facebook* Twitter* Instagram (IGTV + Stories)* Pinterest* LinkedIn

Let's spend some time looking at each platform as well as their capabilities for subtitles.

Facebook

Of all the social media platforms, Facebook seems to be ahead of them all because they now offer autogenerated subtitles or captions.

Did I mention that these auto-generated captions are close to 100% accurate?