With over 1 billion users worldwide, LinkedIn has come a long way from its modest roots in co-founder Reid Hoffman’s living room. Similar to how the legal field is shifting from traditional court reporters to seeking legal transcription services, the platform has taken a cue from the social media giants and now offers multimedia posts. Professionals worldwide can now leverage the attention-grabbing nature of videos, which can be further enhanced by adding captions. Now, all that’s left to know is how to add captions to your LinkedIn videos and which option to choose.
In This Article, You’ll Learn:
- How to upload LinkedIn videos and add captions using either LinkedIn’s auto-captioning tool or manual SRT files.
- Why LinkedIn’s automatic captions may fall short in accuracy and how professional services like Ditto Transcripts offer a superior alternative.
- How captions boost accessibility, SEO, viewer retention, and engagement for LinkedIn videos.
How Do You Upload Videos On LinkedIn?
Uploading videos on LinkedIn is straightforward. Go to your feed, look for the Media button near the top, and select the video you want to upload from your computer.
Really, it is that simple.
How To Add Captions #1: LinkedIn Auto Captions
Like other social media and video hosting platforms, LinkedIn offers automatic captioning. This feature allows you to upload your file, follow the prompts, and receive AI-generated closed captions for your video post.
Here’s the step-by-step guide, starting when you upload your video file.
Editor Window
Once you upload your file, you will be directed to the Editor window, where you can view your video preview and add features, such as additional videos in one post or specify your video’s thumbnail.
In this instance, we’ll examine the CC button located at the bottom of the window.
Once you click on that, you will be directed to a page that asks if you want to add auto-captions and if you want to review them before they are visible to your viewers. Simply move the slider to the option you prefer, then click apply.
After that, click “Apply,’ and the video will be processed as your captions are generated. You’ll receive a notification once the video is ready to view on your profile.
Review Auto Captions
If you choose to review auto-captions in the previous section for your video, you will receive a message that says auto-captions are ready for review. To do so, simply click on the Review button. Please note that captions will not appear on your video until you complete the review.
Even if you didn’t choose to review captions, you will have a chance to edit them. Whether you edit them is up to you. Still, please note that your video will display captions without your approval, including any potential inaccuracies, if you don’t opt to review them beforehand.
Captions for your video will be automatically time-stamped, and you can review and edit each line as needed. You can also remove captions if you want by hovering your cursor on the left side of the specific line and clicking on the garbage bin icon.
However—and this is very important—the Remove captions button at the bottom applies to all captions, not just a single line, meaning you’d need to reupload your video to get automatic captions again.
The Verdict
Adding closed captions automatically on LinkedIn is as easy as on YouTube and other social media platforms. However, that relative ease comes with the same accuracy issues as any automated captioning or transcription software. For context, most automatic speech recognition services and platforms are only 61.92% accurate.
Additionally, auto-captions can only be generated in English. So, if your video is in another language, you’re all out of luck.
Well, not really all out of luck. You still have the option to add manual subtitles to LinkedIn videos – or you could let a professional transcription company like Ditto’s verbatim transcription services do it.
Here’s a quick comparison:
| Option | Description | Pros | Cons | Best For |
| Ditto Transcripts Transcription | Only U.S.-based transcribers | – Guaranteed 99.9% accuracy- HIPAA, CJIS, FINRA compliant- $1.75 standard rate | – Slower turnover rate compared to AI transcription services | General transcription that needs accuracy. |
| AI / Automated Transcription | Using speech recognition software to automatically generate transcripts. | – Very fast- Low cost- Convenient for quick drafts and personal use | – Accuracy is 61.92% (depends on audio quality)- Struggles with accents, jargon, crosstalk, and poor audio- Requires heavy editing for official use | Quick notes, brainstorming sessions, internal reference where accuracy is not critical |
| Outsourced Human Transcription | Hiring professional transcription providers to handle audio/video on demand. | – Typically up to 98–99% accuracy– Lower cost than in-house (savings up to 60%)- Flexible (formatting, file types, turnaround speed)- Scalable depending on workload | – Not as instant as AI- Confidentiality requires trusted providers | Businesses needing reliable, accurate transcripts for legal, medical, financial, academic, or corporate use |
How To Add Captions #2: Adding Closed Caption Or Subtitles As SRT Files Manually
You can add manual captions as SRT files to your LinkedIn videos. To do so, look for the Upload SRT button in the CC window.
As indicated, the subtitles or captions must be in SRT file format.
Automated SRT Files
Now, you can use automatic programs or platforms to generate an SRT file for your video. However, those platforms still use automatic speech recognition software, so they have the same issues as LinkedIn’s auto-caption feature. Using SRT from automated platforms is like adding unnecessary steps to your video captioning for the same results.
Manual SRT Files
Conversely, you can create your own SRT files using the text editor of your choice. Typically, SRT files are created per line, each indicating the spoken and captioned text’s hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. Here’s a sample:
1
00:00:00,498 –> 00:00:02,827
– With over 14 years in the industry,
Ditto offers world-class transcription
I think everyone sees the problem with creating your own SRT file. Namely, it is going to be very, very time-consuming. Imagine having to do this for a fifteen-minute video packed with people talking.
Professionally Prepared SRT Files
Now, if you don’t want to get stuck behind your keyboard and transcribe your videos for hours, you can get your media professionally captioned.
Ditto Transcripts can provide accurate transcription and captioning services- far better than any automated platform. We offer industry-specific services ranging from trial transcription up to the most basic random audio that needs to be transcribed.
Ditto offers:
- More than 99% accuracy on all LinkedIn transcription and captioning projects
- 100% US-based, human transcription
- Fast turnaround times
- Affordable rates to fit different budgets
- Stringent security measures that meet different regulatory requirements
- No long-term commitments or contracts (pay as you go)
- Industry-leading customer service
- Flexible features for varying requirements
- Professional translation services for Arabic, French, Spanish, German, and more
Why Add Subtitles And Captions To Your LinkedIn Videos?
So, why should professionals go to all that trouble just to add captions to their videos? Captioning has many benefits, some of which are particularly important for career-centric individuals and those seeking to expand their professional network on LinkedIn. Those benefits include:
Accessibility
Over 5% of the global population suffers from hearing disabilities that require medical attention and rehabilitation. That’s 430 million people. If we zoom out to people who suffer from hearing loss of various degrees that don’t need rehabilitation, that number balloons to 1.5 billion.
Without transcripts and captions, you’re leaving all of them out of your potential audience pool. Remember, LinkedIn is a platform for professional connections, and every connection you make matters.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Transcription and captioning are the most effective ways to optimize audio and video content for SEO, aside from metadata tuning. With transcripts and captions, web crawlers can access your content through written text, giving your content a fighting chance at getting ranked in search engine result pages (SERPs).
A Show Of Dedication
In a recently published study, Jiahui Li found that captions and transcripts can positively impact the audience’s perception of the creator, especially regarding dedication to their work. 73.46% of the study’s participants expressed that “the inclusion of subtitles in the production of the video reflects his or her [the creator’s] degree of effort.”
This perception can be invaluable to LinkedIn profiles. It makes you look more professional and allows your peers to gauge your dedication to your work positively.
Information Retention
In the same study, Li conducted a quantitative data analysis on how well audiences retain information with and without subtitles. She found that 62.28% of people who watched a video with subtitles could answer a core question about said video accurately.
In contrast, only 45.45% of the group that watched without subtitles could answer the question correctly.
By including video subtitles, people will remember what you say, making you stand out from the millions of others who make content on the internet.
Additionally, sponsored audio or video content often features information about products and services. With better information comes a better chance of a potential customer remembering the product you endorsed when they need it.
Wider Reach
According to various sources, 85% of short-form content on Facebook is viewed without sound. I would assume that LinkedIn videos are similarly considered. This makes sense, as everyone has their phone wherever they go, and not all of them bring headphones or earbuds for a quick scroll through their news feed.
An effective way to convert social media viewers into engaged audiences is to provide captions and transcripts for your videos. Otherwise, your content would just be one of many that are being scrolled past.
Your content can also be translated into different languages for further reach. Props to you for showing commitment, like finding ways to increase viewer engagement.
Increased Engagement
Just as court transcripts ensure accessibility and public benefit, captions and general transcripts increase viewer engagement in two ways.
The first way is through attention retention, usually measured in watch time. 80% more people stay until the video is over when there are subtitles.
For watch time, audiences often click away from the video at about 66% of the length when it doesn’t have subtitles. Captioned videos, however, enjoy a 91% watch-through rate. That’s a massive benefit for people consuming your content, and it is an excellent reason to employ transcription in your content creation process.
The second way captions and transcripts improve engagement is through audience interaction. 71.78% of participants in Li’s study indicated they would be willing to comment, like, or share a meticulously crafted video (with subtitles) that shows the creator’s dedication to their content.
Staying Power
Transcribing audio and video content can help ensure your content remains relevant on LinkedIn for a longer period. Even if the trend passes, your video can serve as the entry point for latecomers—and they’re more likely to choose yours since you have captions and transcripts, as per the previous section.
Maximize Your LinkedIn Video’s Potential With Ditto’s Captioning Service
Stand out from the crowd by using Ditto’s transcription and captioning services. Enjoy all the benefits of captioning with our affordable, accurate, and accessible services.
Unlike AI and outsourced transcripts from other companies, our accuracy is guaranteed to exceed 99.9%. Aside from that, we value confidentiality as indicated in our security compliance. The best part? You don’t have to put out a massive amount of money. Our transcription pricing is transparent, and we offer an easy-to-use calculator that allows you to estimate your costs according to your specific transcription needs. Or you can do it the easier way by reaching out to our human agents.
Sounds too good? I promise you, we’re the real deal. If you don’t believe us, here’s just one of our client testimonials:
Ditto Transcripts is a Denver, Colorado-based FINRA, HIPAA, and CJIS-compliant transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for individuals and companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote.