Much of video advertising online plays without anyone hearing it. It starts automatically while someone scrolls through the feed, and it starts muted. The technical term for this is muted autoplay: the video plays on its own, but without sound, until someone actively taps the speaker icon. And hardly anyone does.
For advertisers, this is an underestimated problem. Anyone who puts music, a voice or a slogan into their spot but ends up in the muted feed is giving away an entire sensory channel. This article shows why sound matters so much for ad impact, what the research says, and why advertising on television has a structural advantage here.
Why so much advertising plays muted
The muted start is not an accident, it is built into the logic of social platforms. Feeds are built for environments where sound would be disruptive: at the office, on the train, in a waiting room, next to sleeping children. So that automatically starting videos do not startle anyone, they play muted by default. Sound is a deliberate decision the user has to make, and most of the time they do not make it.
The result: a large share of video advertising in the feed is perceived only through the picture. Everything meant to be carried by sound simply does not get through. The same applies to out-stream formats that run outside a video player, as shown in the article In-Stream vs. Out-Stream.
What sound contributes to impact
Sound is not a side detail, it carries a significant part of the advertising message. A spoken product description, a catchy jingle, a recognizable brand melody, all of that works through the ear and anchors the brand in memory. When sound is missing, that part of the impact is missing too.
An academic study (Bellman, Arismendez and Varan, 2021) examined exactly this and compared video advertising with sound, without sound, and muted with subtitles. The result: muted advertising achieved lower brand recall than advertising with sound. The loss was especially clear for spots that carried a lot of information on the audio track, such as spoken text or acoustic brand branding. That exact information is lost the moment sound is missing. And subtitles could not make up for it.
Television's structural advantage
Here the difference between channels becomes clear. On television, the sound is almost always on. Anyone watching a film, a series or a match has the sound deliberately on, that is part of the lean-back experience. Advertising that runs in this environment is therefore not just seen, but also heard.
This is not an add-on you would have to book separately, it is the basic feature of the medium. On television, your advertising arrives with both, picture and sound, exactly as it was designed. The slogan gets heard, the melody sticks, the voice carries the message. Exactly the impact that gets lost in the muted feed unfolds fully here. How strong this full contact is compared to the feed is also shown in the article on the media quality of streaming advertising.
What this means for your advertising
When you produce a video spot, you put work and budget into the sound: the music, the voiceover, the brand sound. It would be a shame if that part simply fizzled out on delivery. That is why it is worth looking at where your spot ends up.
In the muted feed, you should assume that only the picture works, so design accordingly so the message also works without sound. On television, by contrast, you can use sound to its full extent, because it gets through. For messages where sound, voice or music make a difference, the big screen is therefore the stronger environment.
Want to deliver your spot with full picture and sound? Book a free demo, we will show you in 30 minutes what that looks like. Or get started directly in the Ad Manager.
FAQ
What does muted autoplay mean? Muted autoplay means a video starts automatically, but without sound. The user has to actively turn the sound on, which hardly anyone does. On social platforms, this is the standard for video advertising in the feed.
Does muted advertising perform worse? In general, yes. An academic study found that muted video advertising achieved lower brand recall than advertising with sound, especially when important information was carried on the audio track. Subtitles could not make up for it.
Why does advertising in the feed play muted? Because social feeds are built for environments where sound would be disruptive. Videos therefore start automatically muted so they do not startle anyone. Turning the sound on is a deliberate decision the user rarely makes.
Does advertising on TV play with sound? Yes. On television, the sound is almost always on, because it is part of the viewing experience. Streaming advertising on the big screen is therefore perceived with both picture and sound, exactly as intended.
Should my spot also work without sound? For the feed, yes, it makes sense to also carry the core message visually there. On television, by contrast, you can use sound to its full extent, because it gets through. It is best to plan the spot to fit the environment it runs in.