Latest / Video Marketing with Fexingo: Short Form, Long Form, and Video-First Strategy / Why Viewers Watch Video Without Sound
Transcript
- Lucas: Alright Luna, quick experiment: when you scroll through your Instagram feed or TikTok, how often do you actually tap to turn the sound on? Luna: Honestly? Almost never. I'm either on the train, sitting next to my editor, or my partner's asleep next to me. Lucas: Right. And you're not alone. A few years back, Facebook published data that something like 85 percent of video views on their platform happen with the sound off. That number has only gone up as mobile consumption grew. Luna: Eighty-five percent? That's huge. So we're essentially making video for an audience that can't hear a thing we're saying. Lucas: Exactly. And yet, I'd argue that sound is still one of the most underrated tools in video marketing. The trick is understanding when and how to use it. Luna: Okay, so there's a tension here. We know most people watch without sound, but we also know that great audio can elevate a video. How do you reconcile that? Lucas: I think the answer is to design for both modes. You build a video that works perfectly when it's muted — clear visuals, on-screen captions, strong body language — but you also layer in audio that rewards the people who do turn it on. Luna: That's like having a secret track for your superfans. Lucas: Exactly. Let's take a concrete example. MasterClass — those beautifully shot courses with celebrities. If you watch a clip without sound, you still get the gist from the visuals and the captions. But the moment you turn the audio on, you hear Hans Zimmer's score or Gordon Ramsay's voice. It adds an emotional layer. Luna: And Netflix does something similar with their trailers. They often release a version with no dialogue, just music and sound effects, optimized for social feeds. Lucas: Right. So the principle is: your video should pass the 'mute test' — someone scrolling past should understand the core message without sound. But if they do turn it on, they get a richer experience. Luna: What about B2B? I feel like a lot of B2B videos are just talking heads with no captions, assuming everyone's wearing headphones at their desk. Lucas: That's a huge missed opportunity. In B2B, a lot of decision-makers are on their phones during commutes or in between meetings. If your video doesn't have captions, you're losing them. I've seen a software company increase their click-through rate by 40 percent just by adding accurate captions to their LinkedIn video ads. Luna: Forty percent? That's not a small bump. And it's such a low-effort fix. Lucas: Yeah. But here's the nuance: captions aren't just for the mute crowd. They also help with comprehension. There's a study from the University of Iowa that showed captions improve recall by about 20 percent, even when sound is on. So it's a win-win. Luna: So should we always include captions? I mean, even for a cinematic brand film? Lucas: I'd say yes, but maybe not embedded in the video itself. Some brands, like Apple, use a separate 'CC' button so the video stays clean for those who want the pure visual experience. But on social platforms, where autoplay is muted by default, you need the captions baked in. Luna: What about sound design itself? Most marketers just slap a generic royalty-free track over their video. Does that actually add value? Lucas: It can, if it's intentional. But generic music can actually hurt. If the track is distracting or doesn't match the tone, it creates a disconnect. The best audio is invisible — it supports the visuals without drawing attention to itself. Luna: I read a stat recently: 69 percent of viewers watch video with sound off in public spaces. So the silent viewing isn't just a preference, it's a context thing. Lucas: That tracks. And it reinforces why we need to think about the entire viewing environment. Someone on the subway is different from someone on their couch with headphones. The best video marketing treats these as two separate experiences. Luna: So how do you practically produce for both? Do you create two versions of each video? Lucas: Sometimes. But more often, you produce one video and add a 'sound-on' layer. For example, you might have a voiceover that explains the key points, but also include on-screen text that covers the same information. That way, the mute viewer reads the text, and the sound-on viewer hears the voiceover. Luna: What about videos that rely heavily on dialogue, like interviews or testimonials? Lucas: Those are tricky. If the dialogue is essential, you need to make the captions prominent and maybe include visual cues like the speaker's name and title on screen. But you can also add a short intro that visually sets up the context, so even without sound, the viewer knows who's talking and why. Luna: I've seen some brands use a 'sound on' graphic or a finger-tapping animation to encourage viewers to unmute. Does that work? Lucas: It can, but it's a bit of a crutch. If the video is compelling enough visually, viewers will naturally want to unmute. A 'turn on sound' call to action feels desperate. Instead, design a moment that rewards the unmute — a subtle sound effect, a music drop, a key quote delivered with emotion. Luna: So the hook should be visual, but the payoff can be audio. Lucas: Exactly. Think of it like a movie trailer. The first few seconds are all visual — a striking image, a quick cut. Then, maybe a voiceover or a piece of music kicks in. That transition from mute to sound is what grabs attention. Luna: Let's talk about metrics. How do we know if our sound-on strategy is working? Lucas: Platforms like YouTube and Facebook give you a 'sound on' rate in their analytics. You can also compare engagement rates between videos with and without audio optimization. But the real test is conversion. If your video leads to a landing page, track whether sound-on viewers convert at a higher rate. Luna: I'd love to see a case study on that. Lucas: There's a good one from a company called Wistia. They ran an A/B test on a video — same content, one with captions, one without. The version with captions had 12 percent higher view-through rate and 7 percent more shares. And that was with the sound on for both groups. So captions help even when audio is available. Luna: That's persuasive. So the takeaway: design for mute, but don't neglect audio. Give viewers a reason to unmute. Lucas: Right. And don't forget accessibility. Captions aren't just for social media constraints — they make your content available to the hearing impaired. That's both good ethics and good business. The global deaf community is about 70 million people. That's a significant audience. Luna: Plus, captions help non-native speakers. It's a universal design principle. Lucas: Exactly. So to wrap up: before you publish your next video, watch it on mute. If you don't understand the story, re-edit until you do. Then, add audio that enhances, not distracts. And always, always include captions. Luna: I'm going to go back and add captions to all our episodes from now on. Lucas: Smart move. And who knows, maybe some viewers will actually turn the sound on to hear our brilliant conversation. Luna: Or maybe they'll just enjoy the captions. Either way, we win. Lucas: That's the spirit. Thanks, Luna. And for everyone listening — or reading — we'll see you next time.