Guide
On-screen text is the part of your ad most viewers actually read, because most of them are watching with the sound off. Done well it carries the message; done badly it buries the shot that was working.
Feeds on TikTok, Reels, Shorts, and the Facebook and Instagram feed all autoplay with sound off by default. A large share of viewers never turn audio on, which means whatever your voiceover or dialogue is saying lands on no one until they tap. On-screen text and burned-in captions are how a sound-off viewer gets the hook, the claim, and the offer. Treat the overlay as the primary channel and the audio as a bonus, not the other way around.
The text on your opening frame competes for the same split second as everything else in the hook. "Introducing our new collection" is a label and gets swiped. A line that states a problem, makes a bold claim, or asks a question earns the next two seconds. Front-load the words that matter — if the viewer reads only your first line, it should still make them want to stay. For more openers that work, see ad hook examples.
Every platform layers its own interface on top of your video — caption text, username, music ticker, like and share icons, and the CTA button. On vertical 9:16 video the bottom fifth and the right rail get covered constantly, so anchor anything important in the upper-middle of the frame. Keep text within roughly the center 80% and never put the offer where a button will land. The same safe-zone discipline that governs your subject framing applies to your words — it's covered alongside dimensions in best aspect ratio for video ads.
Text helps right up until it becomes wallpaper. A wall of words, tiny fonts, low contrast against a busy background, or three messages fighting for the same frame all push attention down. Aim for one idea on screen at a time, high contrast, and a font big enough to read on a phone held at arm's length. Captions that track the voiceover are fine; a paragraph the viewer has to pause to read is not. When the overlay competes with the footage, the footage usually loses — which defeats the point of shooting it.
The honest problem with text overlay is that it is easy to assume it helps and never check. The cheap way to check is to export two cuts of the same ad — one with your overlay, one clean — and compare predicted attention before either runs. PreTestAds scores each version on Hook Strength and where attention drops, so you can see whether the text holds engagement or steps on it. This is a pre-launch screen that complements your live testing, not a replacement for it — see ad creative analysis for how the metrics fit together.
Upload your ad with and without text and compare predicted attention — first analysis free, no credit card.
Test Your Text Overlay