How to increase audience retention on YouTube?
Are you tired of losing the audience from your channel?
You are creating quality content but still; you are facing bad video statistics.
Then you are in the right place! Today we will learn about Audience Retention,
A prominent question arises:
What is Audience Retention?
Audience retention (sometimes referred to as “Viewer Retention”) is the average percentage of a YouTube video that people watch.
Videos with high audience retention scores tend to have increased visibility on YouTube’s platform.
For example, let’s say you just published a video that’s 14 minutes long. If people watch your video for an average of 7 minutes, your audience retention on that video is 50%.
The more your video is watched, the more audience retention you have.
Here comes a basic query:
Why is audience retention important?
Youtube loves videos that keep people watching.
The word binge is a perfect fit for it. If you are successful in keeping people from binge-watching your video, then your video will manage to be in the top search of YouTube.
Audience Retention consists of watch time (how long your video is watched) and the other is how many times your video is watched, these are the core factors of Audience Retention.
If you managed to maintain the aforementioned factors in your videos, then you don’t need any marketing, Youtube itself will be the promoter of your channel.
In fact, when YouTube rolled out a change to their algorithm a few years ago, they said:
“We have started adjusting the ranking of videos in YouTube search to reward engaging videos that keep viewers watching”.
Not only that, but YouTube recently confirmed that Audience Retention has become a big part of their algorithm:
“And videos with consistently high audience retention and watch time have the potential to show up more frequently in search and suggested locations on YouTube.”
The Principal has asserted the best ways to grade yourself in the top charts.
So it’s clear that videos with high audience retention rank higher in YouTube search (and get promoted in other places on the platform, like the YouTube homepage, shorts section, and trending section).
Now we know how vital Audience Retention is. Let us learn how to boost audience retention on your channel:
Create a Magnetic Hook
According to YouTube, the first 15 seconds of your video can make or break your video. In the first few seconds, YouTube viewers decide they will continue to watch your video or leave it.
So if your first 15 seconds didn’t perform well, people will leave your video and that can kill your audience retention.
That’s why it’s important to start your video off with a compelling hook.
You can use various types of hooks like “Clearly Stated Value”. This is the most straightforward type of hook. You simply give the viewer what they came for! No bait, no introductory stories, nothing but the actual content. For example, (“In this video, you are going to learn how to make a cheesecake”)
You can also make a “preview”. Preview what’s coming up later on in the video. If you watch videos of faze rug, MrBeast, Logan Paul, ethos then you will relate to this.
The 15 seconds will be the deal-breaker for you!
The next method is:
Pattern Interrupts
So now, after hooking your viewer for the first 15 seconds, it’s time to make them continue to watch the entire video. That can be done with pattern interrupts.
What’s a Pattern Interrupt?
“A pattern interrupt is a technique to change a particular style or situation.”
When a viewer gets bored, they switch to some other video. To glue your audience, you need to keep changing patterns in your videos.
Change in camera angles, B rolls, different settings, on-screen graphics, video editing styles, etc.
That’s how you can break the pattern. If you will stay on the same pattern throughout the video, it will bore the audience and you will see drastic results in your audience.
Use a Script
The unscripted video comprises “umms”, “ahhs”, and “hmmm” in the video. That will unnecessarily prolong the video and eventually make the video boring.
Work on a well-structured script, with neat topics divided, interesting facts, a little pinch of humour, and of course no “umms”, “ahhs”.
Add Open Loops
Do you know why Netflix shows are so addicting? Because this master move is called “open loop”. An open loop is where you preview something that’s coming up later in the video. Netflix uses the “next episode” open loop, “find out who’s the killer of sofiya in the next episode”. This will make your audience throw anything they are doing and make them watch your videos.
You can easily add Open loops in your YouTube videos. How? Simply preview something that’s coming up later in your video.
So now you are the Megamind of “Audience Retention on YouTube”. If you think this video can help anyone, don’t hesitate to share this.
That’s all for today! Stay tuned for more power-packed content.
