Roughly one-third of the world’s population is watching YouTube, which means there’s a great opportunity to make an impact with your content. But with so much competition out there, how do you keep viewers engaged? Unfortunately, there are many “YouTube strategists” who claim to have hacked the algorithm spouting guarantees of god-tier retention rates.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
However, retention is a complex and multifaceted concept that requires careful consideration. In this post, we’ll explore what retention is, how to measure, read, and analyze it, and how to approach it tastefully when creating content for YouTube.
1. Defining Retention and Retention Metrics
Simply put, Retention refers to the ability of a video to keep viewers engaged and watching until the end. Sounds easy enough on the surface, but with 3.7M videos uploaded every day, the battle for attention and the retention of that attention is at an all-time high (excuse my Dr. Suess-ism). There are several YouTube metrics that can help indicate successful retention, such as average view duration (AVD), average percentage viewed (APV), and the retention chart.
The retention chart is particularly useful because it visualizes the percentage of viewers who are still watching at each point of the video. When reading a retention chart, here are a few terms you ought to know:
- Flatline: A section of the retention chart where the percentage of viewers remains constant. (Keeping viewers’ attention without experiencing a loss which is ultimately what you’re striving for at the highest percentage)
- Spike: A sudden increase in the percentage of viewers watching the video. (this often happens with video chapters or when viewers rewind that part of the video)
- Dip: A sudden decrease in the percentage of viewers watching the video. (where viewers either ducked out or skipped a part of the video)
- Plateau: a section of the retention chart where the percentage of viewers drastically levels off. (fairly alarming somewhere around a 10%+ decline all at once)
- Steady Decline: A gradual decrease in the percentage of viewers watching the video. (common for most videos even though there’s nothing wrong with striving to improve it)
2. Reading the Retention Chart
The retention chart in YouTube Analytics is divided into three parts: the nose, body, and tail. The nose is the beginning of the video where there’s often a certain percentage dip, the body is where the main analysis of retention should take place, and the tail is towards the end of the video where the viewer can tell that the video is wrapping up.
The retention chart in YouTube Studio offers three different analysis views for further insights and comparisons across your channel. Here are the three options summarized:
- Audience Retention: This shows how different moments of your video held viewers’ attention. It’s a percentage of total views. (Keep in mind it can go higher than 100% depending on whether people rewind or re-watch)
- Compared to Other Videos: This shows your video’s audience retention compared to all YouTube videos of similar length.
- Detailed Activity: This shows you the moment-by-moment organic traffic in your video: how many times it was seen and when viewers start or stop watching.
3. Segmenting Your Video Storyline
Traditional viewing of storylines is often done holistically, from A to B (i.e. linear story view), but this approach can reduce opportunities for retention improvement. Segmenting your video storyline can be a valuable tool for improving retention rates, as it allows for micro-story analysis and the utilization of the “5% rule.”
The 5% rule is identifying retention dips of at least 5% – 10% in the body of the retention chart. A principle that Mr. Beast preaches is consistent incremental improvements to every video. Addressing a mere 5% dip may seem insignificant, but cumulatively can transform overall video performance. That being said, viewing a video from only A to B often leads to missing retention improvement opportunities due to the sheer vastness of a whole piece of content.
If you look at the video holistically then you might identify the largest or most drastic dip in the video storyline and call it a day. As a result, you have a maximum incremental retention improvement of 5% on the next video. Now imagine you apply the 5% rule to multiple segments across your retention line in a segmented storyline view versus a holistic linear view.
By chopping up your storyline into multiple micro-stories, you open up the possibility of great retention improvement cumulatively on one single video. If you identify 5x retention opportunities throughout the segmented storyline, you could potentially address and improve the overall audience retention by 25%. This method allows for a more granular approach to retention improvement and ensures that all segments of the video are optimized for maximum viewer engagement.
4. Retention Analytics are Relative to Video Length
Retention analytics are relative to the length of the video, and there isn’t a single percentage that equates to total success. Too many “strategists” tout variable input equations like X% CTR + X% APV = virality, yet they never acknowledge the scaling relativity of these metrics compared to overall video length. For example, having a 50% average percentage viewed on a 3-minute video isn’t very good, but for a 30-minute video, it’s amazing. Anecdotally, 50% APV on a YouTube Short is simply abysmal.
A study conducted in 2021 on the top 10 videos of each time length category found that for 3-minute videos, the top 10 had an average percentage viewed (APV) of 82% and the median had an APV of 62%. For 6-minute videos, the top 10 had an APV of 71% and the median had an APV of 50%. A similar pattern holds for 10-, 15-, and 30-minute videos. Long story short, there isn’t a magic retention percentage that guarantees viral success on YouTube.
5. Retention IS Storytelling
Let’s get one thing crystal clear: Retention and storytelling go hand in hand. It’s a ridiculous myth that exceptional storytelling is sacrificed for good retention. Instead, it’s all about optimizing the viewer experience to make it more emotionally satisfying. Internet content doesn’t necessarily fit into the typical three-act story structure with the traditional five-plot narrative. It’s all about creating a narrative structure that fits the channel and audience while using data to guide decisions. As Paddy Galloway says, “To achieve this, you may need to trim some fat or increase the length of certain segments, depending on what best serves the story and the viewer. But the key is to pay attention to the data and let it guide your creative decisions.”
Don’t Focus on the “WHOLE” Picture
Retention is a critical and impactful concept in the YouTube universe. While it may be tempting to search for a hack or shortcut, the truth is that retention requires careful analysis and effort. So remember, retention is hard but not impossible, and as you improve retention rates video over video, you’ll be hooked on the satisfaction of creating great content that resonates with your audience.
In a somewhat paradoxical statement, don’t focus on the whole picture in order to truly get the whole picture.
