Mute Rate On Native Pre-Roll

So, you finally decided you are going to try this native pre-roll thing. The campaign starts, and you’re cautiously optimistic, but something goes wrong that you hadn’t accounted for.

Facebook, newsfeeds, all the rage.

You create this magnificent work of art, the copy touches on all of your selling points, it’s entertaining, and it flows well. You’ve picked out the perfect person to voice it, and the cadence and tone sound great. The visuals look amazing – how could anyone look away? You look forward to the results you’ve heard others are getting.

The campaign starts, and you’re cautiously optimistic. A few days go by without seeing the results you were hoping for, but you tell yourself it’s still early -maybe it is still optimizing. Another few days go by, but still not the impact everyone was bragging about.

So you start to dig a little further. People are watching, but what’s wrong? The message? No that can’t be it – we have great deals going on. Then you start to do a little research, and you find something you didn’t account for; mute rates.

According to multiple publishers, 85% of people watching native newsfeed videos are watching them with no sound.

Now that you know most people aren’t getting the message you were hoping to deliver, here are a few tips to entice people to listen or to get your message across if they don’t.

  1. Add subtitles. Some sites allow you to upload a .srt file which lets you call out each line that’s read and time to display the copy.  Be wary, these can sometimes wrap the text AWKWARDLY or format it in a way you may not want.
  2. Edit your video to add your own subtitles in your editing software. This way you can format them how you want, but the disadvantage is they will be displayed regardless of being unmuted.
  3. Click for sound. Adding a simple message or giving people a reason to add the sound.

Adding one of these three can make a big difference in getting your message across to the consumer which will help lift click through rates (CTR). Then it’s on to figuring out the next way to optimize your campaign.