Further Insight from the Caption Test

I recently wrote about a simple caption test and its positive results - largely that it boosted authentic engagement in a really honest way.

It's been a month since I posted that video, and I've noticed that the initial momentum has kept up and lead to a greater amount of views and comments.

Which is surprising! It's honestly a really simple trick, yet it's now my most viewed TikTok for the year and has outperformed most of the typical videos on my Facebook page. Interestingly, those are the two platforms where I wrote the caption directly on the video.

My observation, which I didn't make in the previous write-ups, is that including the on-screen caption absolutely sets up the viewer to anticipate a transition. From frame one, they understand they'll see a cool transition. Zero thinking required.

Which makes sense in the context of fast-scrolling feeds. Most people need to grasp what they're getting into within the first second of starting a video in order to commit.

Which could be a sad observation? Are we at a point where people need to be spoon fed to stick around for a 10 second video? Or maybe it's my job to be more compelling with the start of each video.

What I can take from this is to explore ways (visual or text) that let viewers know immediately what they're in for (without any of that 'wait for it!' clickbait).