The Results of the Caption Test

Last week, I wrote about HOW videos are posted - followed by an experiment to see if the right caption or on-screen text could encourage authentic engagement.

I remarked how I typically post my editing tricks with simple, descriptive captions. This time, I invited viewers to provide feedback by captioning my video 'Rate this transition'. On TikTok, I even wrote the phrase directly on the video.

Some basic napkin math tells me that my average video receives roughly 30 comments per 100k views on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. The new caption bumped those numbers to 190, 80, and 170 comments per 100k views, respectively. That's an increase of 2.5x-6.3x the comments!

It had the added bonus of feeling a bit more like a community interaction. By opening the front door and warmly inviting people in, I think viewers felt a lot more motivated and comfortable to voice their opinions.

I recently did something similar in my Patreon community where I asked members what creative work they were the most proud of (so I could watch it). There was a surprising amount of responses.

There's so much value in occasionally pointing the microphone outward (in a genuine way).