What is audience retention?

Audience retention, also known as viewer retention, is the percentage of how much of your video people watch. Videos with high audience retention scores are good and tend to have increased visibility on YouTube.

Assuming you published a video that is 8 minutes long and is watched for an average of 4 minutes, then your audience retention on that video is 50%.

Why is audience retention important?

YouTube loves engaging videos that keep people watching and even reward such videos. In fact,  YouTube lately confirmed that audience retention is still 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.”

That means videos with high audience retention rank higher in YouTube search and also get promoted in other places on the platform, like the YouTube homepage.

That said, let’s see how you can boost your audience retention.

Best practices

Create a compelling hook

According to YouTube, the first 15 seconds of your video can make or break your entire video. This means if your first 15 seconds are boring, people will stop watching, which will definitely kill your audience retention.

For that reason, it is crucial always to start your video with a compelling hook. Something that will grab the attention of your audience and make them continue watching. 

Here are the types of hooks you can use:

• Clearly-stated value: With this hook, you clearly let your audience know what they will get from watching your video. Something like, “in this video, you are going to learn how to make more $$ freelancing.”
• A preview: this is simply a preview of what is coming up later in the video. For example, “And later in this video, I will show you how to lose 10 pounds in 10 days.”
• A sneak peek: simply start your video with a captivating moment coming up later in your video. Watch these two videos (* *) to learn more.

Use pattern interrupts

Once done hooking your viewers in the first 15 seconds, the next step is to keep them engaged, and pattern interrupts don’t disappoint. 

So, what is a pattern interrupt?

The Huffington Post defines pattern interrupt as a technique to change a specific behavior, thought, or situation.

How does this relate to audience retention? It is simple!

When a viewer gets bored, he either closes the browser or clicks on another video. That, without a doubt, is not good for audience retention. Note that this can happen even when you have great content. 

Fortunately, when you switch things up with patterns interrupts, your viewers are likely to stick around, and that will surely skyrocket your audience retention.

Pattern interrupts can include things like changing the setting of your video or showing graphics on-screen. Essentially, anything you do to change things up counts as a pattern interrupt.

Use a script (or outline)

Unnecessary content in your video is likely to piss off your viewers. For example, words such as “ahhs,” “hmmms,” “umms,” etc. no matter how good they look, may strike a heavy blow in your effort. 

Fortunately, there is a way to avoid them — nicely plan and outline before you shoot. When you do this, you will find that your videos come out in a way viewers love.

Add graphics and visuals 

Adding graphics and visuals to your videos make them more engaging, and that helps in audience retention. Graphics, visuals, and animals, for example, helps your audience decipher key concepts from your video. In fact, a viewer learning new stuff will undoubtedly be lured to watch a video with graphics and visuals to the end.

They also work as pattern interrupts. Remember, we talked about pattern interrupts? Then make sure to use visuals well. 

Learn from peaks and valleys

Have an active YouTube channel? Then you have a goldmine you can use to improve your audience retention. 

The goldmine here is the audience retention report that you can use to see exactly where viewers tend to stick around (peaks) and drop off (valleys).

For example, if you find most drop-offs occur where your videos have a lot of text on-screen, then you would want to use less text-based slides in the future. 

Include open loops

Open loops, sometimes referred to as the Zeignarik Effect can keep people engaged in an activity out of sheer curiosity. They help preview something that is coming up later in your video.

Tips and advanced strategies

Use jump cuts

Common among vloggers, jump cuts help people keep watching by turning long, static shots of a subject into a series of slightly different shots. Besides, they are easy to do. 

Don’t start with your logo

As we mentioned earlier, the first 15 minutes of your video can make or break your performance on YouTube. A logo isn’t a compelling hook and if you must use it, let it come after you have hooked your audience.

Add B-rolls

A B-roll shot is a very strong pattern interrupt (specifically when the B-roll shot is dramatically different than what the viewer has seen so far).

Use humor

Viewers that are laughing are likely to stick around to the end. So if you can sprinkle some humor, don’t hesitate to do so. But remember to keep your viewers in mind when doing so to avoid rubbing them the wrong. In other words, choose your humor wisely!