Boosting Channels’ Growth: Strategies for Effective Trailers

How to Create a YouTube Channel Trailer to Increase Revenue

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Many YouTube content creators assume that no one checks out their channel trailer . Some may not even know about the concept of a trailer, while others are not sure how to create one. We will explain the concept of a YouTube channel trailer, how to make a great trailer, and how to get more subscribers and views through a quality trailer on your YouTube channel.

• Part1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer
• Part2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel
• Part3: Best YouTube Trailer Maker
• Part4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

Part 1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer?

Think of a channel trailer as an introduction to a movie or television show. You can choose to show the trailer to anyone who is not subscribe to your channel, when they land on your channel page.

The objective of a trailer is to hook the audience, promote your personality and content, and convince them it will be worth their time to check out some of your videos. And you must do all these things within 30 to 45 seconds !

Most content creators can benefit from creating a channel trailer. Unless you are a famous personality through a sports/acting/television/singing career, people who land on your channel may have no idea who you are. A proper trailer gives them an introduction to your personality and content.

Part 2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel

After you know how to create a YouTube trail, why not add your new created trailer to YouTube channel right now. Here is the right steps.

Step 1: Go to channel

Log in your YouTube account. Then click your users icon to find My channel. At the top right corner, click CUSTOMIZE CHANNEL and then choose For new visitors.

Step 2: Add trailer to YouTube

After clicking plus icon in the middle to add your amazing trailer, a playlist window will appear. Now select the trailer you want to use. Click Save. Then you will see a trailer is added. You can also change trailer or remove trailer.

Part 3: Best Channel YouTube Trailer Maker

1. Wondershare Filmora

Searching for a free and powerful video editing tool that you can use on both Windows and Mac computers? Wondershare Filmora may be the ideal program for you. It is very easy to use, even for beginners who do not have that much editing experience.

Features:

• It is free and very easy to add captions to the trailer video.
• There are many interesting options for adding video effects within the program.
• It features a modern interface that is intuitive and easy to operate. All the important controls and settings are easily accessible through the menus and submenus.
• The program operates smoothly, even on older machines.

2. WeVideo

Hoping to edit content while you are on the go? By using a less powerful laptop, library computer or a friend’s device, you could edit your trailer within a couple hours. WeVideo is an online video editor that makes it so easy to edit videos in up to 4K resolution.

Features:

• The program is fast and very easy to use. It does not even require any downloads.
• As it is an online program, there are no compatibility issues with Windows, Mac or even Chromebook devices.
• It is possible to mix and match up to 600 different formats for graphics, audio, video and other effects.

3. Virtual Dub

If you are seeking something that is open source and free, you may be interested in Virtual Dub. It is a completely free and open source program that you can use for quick capturing, encoding and editing video.

While it is not going to give you the same power and options as some of the other editors, it is a very simple tool that can be effective for specific use cases. If you are just hoping to record, encode and quickly put together a 30 second YouTube trailer, it is the ideal program.

Features:

• Offers the ability to capture videos on Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Works best with AVI files, but it is possible to use other video formats such as MKV and MP4 as well.
• It is possible to create video using a series of image files - or merge image files into existing video content.

Part 4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

1. Let Viewers Know What is Coming

People appreciate routine. You can mention how many times a week you create content and the days when you publish. You can also have a brief overview of the type of videos you make, which will tell a new viewer what to expect if they subscribe to your channel!

2. Keep It Short

YouTube trailers that are more than a minute long will not succeed. People have a very short attention span. They want to be hooked immediately. 30 to 45 seconds is the sweet spot, with 30 seconds preferable! It may sound overwhelming to condense everything about your channel into 30 seconds, but that is where a great video script can help! However, sometimes both short videos and long videos work.

3. Use Some Fun Annotations

YouTube is great for having unique and helpful graphics on the screen while your video is playing. Having some fun and useful annotations, such as the days you make videos or a subscribe icon, during the intro video can be very helpful to new viewers. They also help to boost viewer engagement with your content!

4. Assume You Have New Viewers

Do not create a YouTube channel trailer with inside jokes or comments. This trailer is for people who know nothing about you or your channel. You are trying to hook them into your content, not provide a few laughs to existing subscribers.

5. Update Your Trailer Regularly

As a content creator, you may find that your brand changes every six months to a year. Maybe you change up your look, type of content, frequency of uploads or other parts of the channel. Ensure you are updating your trailer each time you make significant changes to your channel!

Conclusion

Creating a channel trailer for your YouTube page is a wonderful way to introduce a new audience to your content. They learn about you and the topics that you are passionate about. It convinces them to watch one of your videos and subscribe to your channel. And by using one of the YouTube Trailer Maker software options above, you will be creating quality trailers for your channel in no time!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Many YouTube content creators assume that no one checks out their channel trailer . Some may not even know about the concept of a trailer, while others are not sure how to create one. We will explain the concept of a YouTube channel trailer, how to make a great trailer, and how to get more subscribers and views through a quality trailer on your YouTube channel.

• Part1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer
• Part2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel
• Part3: Best YouTube Trailer Maker
• Part4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

Part 1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer?

Think of a channel trailer as an introduction to a movie or television show. You can choose to show the trailer to anyone who is not subscribe to your channel, when they land on your channel page.

The objective of a trailer is to hook the audience, promote your personality and content, and convince them it will be worth their time to check out some of your videos. And you must do all these things within 30 to 45 seconds !

Most content creators can benefit from creating a channel trailer. Unless you are a famous personality through a sports/acting/television/singing career, people who land on your channel may have no idea who you are. A proper trailer gives them an introduction to your personality and content.

Part 2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel

After you know how to create a YouTube trail, why not add your new created trailer to YouTube channel right now. Here is the right steps.

Step 1: Go to channel

Log in your YouTube account. Then click your users icon to find My channel. At the top right corner, click CUSTOMIZE CHANNEL and then choose For new visitors.

Step 2: Add trailer to YouTube

After clicking plus icon in the middle to add your amazing trailer, a playlist window will appear. Now select the trailer you want to use. Click Save. Then you will see a trailer is added. You can also change trailer or remove trailer.

Part 3: Best Channel YouTube Trailer Maker

1. Wondershare Filmora

Searching for a free and powerful video editing tool that you can use on both Windows and Mac computers? Wondershare Filmora may be the ideal program for you. It is very easy to use, even for beginners who do not have that much editing experience.

Features:

• It is free and very easy to add captions to the trailer video.
• There are many interesting options for adding video effects within the program.
• It features a modern interface that is intuitive and easy to operate. All the important controls and settings are easily accessible through the menus and submenus.
• The program operates smoothly, even on older machines.

2. WeVideo

Hoping to edit content while you are on the go? By using a less powerful laptop, library computer or a friend’s device, you could edit your trailer within a couple hours. WeVideo is an online video editor that makes it so easy to edit videos in up to 4K resolution.

Features:

• The program is fast and very easy to use. It does not even require any downloads.
• As it is an online program, there are no compatibility issues with Windows, Mac or even Chromebook devices.
• It is possible to mix and match up to 600 different formats for graphics, audio, video and other effects.

3. Virtual Dub

If you are seeking something that is open source and free, you may be interested in Virtual Dub. It is a completely free and open source program that you can use for quick capturing, encoding and editing video.

While it is not going to give you the same power and options as some of the other editors, it is a very simple tool that can be effective for specific use cases. If you are just hoping to record, encode and quickly put together a 30 second YouTube trailer, it is the ideal program.

Features:

• Offers the ability to capture videos on Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Works best with AVI files, but it is possible to use other video formats such as MKV and MP4 as well.
• It is possible to create video using a series of image files - or merge image files into existing video content.

Part 4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

1. Let Viewers Know What is Coming

People appreciate routine. You can mention how many times a week you create content and the days when you publish. You can also have a brief overview of the type of videos you make, which will tell a new viewer what to expect if they subscribe to your channel!

2. Keep It Short

YouTube trailers that are more than a minute long will not succeed. People have a very short attention span. They want to be hooked immediately. 30 to 45 seconds is the sweet spot, with 30 seconds preferable! It may sound overwhelming to condense everything about your channel into 30 seconds, but that is where a great video script can help! However, sometimes both short videos and long videos work.

3. Use Some Fun Annotations

YouTube is great for having unique and helpful graphics on the screen while your video is playing. Having some fun and useful annotations, such as the days you make videos or a subscribe icon, during the intro video can be very helpful to new viewers. They also help to boost viewer engagement with your content!

4. Assume You Have New Viewers

Do not create a YouTube channel trailer with inside jokes or comments. This trailer is for people who know nothing about you or your channel. You are trying to hook them into your content, not provide a few laughs to existing subscribers.

5. Update Your Trailer Regularly

As a content creator, you may find that your brand changes every six months to a year. Maybe you change up your look, type of content, frequency of uploads or other parts of the channel. Ensure you are updating your trailer each time you make significant changes to your channel!

Conclusion

Creating a channel trailer for your YouTube page is a wonderful way to introduce a new audience to your content. They learn about you and the topics that you are passionate about. It convinces them to watch one of your videos and subscribe to your channel. And by using one of the YouTube Trailer Maker software options above, you will be creating quality trailers for your channel in no time!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Many YouTube content creators assume that no one checks out their channel trailer . Some may not even know about the concept of a trailer, while others are not sure how to create one. We will explain the concept of a YouTube channel trailer, how to make a great trailer, and how to get more subscribers and views through a quality trailer on your YouTube channel.

• Part1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer
• Part2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel
• Part3: Best YouTube Trailer Maker
• Part4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

Part 1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer?

Think of a channel trailer as an introduction to a movie or television show. You can choose to show the trailer to anyone who is not subscribe to your channel, when they land on your channel page.

The objective of a trailer is to hook the audience, promote your personality and content, and convince them it will be worth their time to check out some of your videos. And you must do all these things within 30 to 45 seconds !

Most content creators can benefit from creating a channel trailer. Unless you are a famous personality through a sports/acting/television/singing career, people who land on your channel may have no idea who you are. A proper trailer gives them an introduction to your personality and content.

Part 2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel

After you know how to create a YouTube trail, why not add your new created trailer to YouTube channel right now. Here is the right steps.

Step 1: Go to channel

Log in your YouTube account. Then click your users icon to find My channel. At the top right corner, click CUSTOMIZE CHANNEL and then choose For new visitors.

Step 2: Add trailer to YouTube

After clicking plus icon in the middle to add your amazing trailer, a playlist window will appear. Now select the trailer you want to use. Click Save. Then you will see a trailer is added. You can also change trailer or remove trailer.

Part 3: Best Channel YouTube Trailer Maker

1. Wondershare Filmora

Searching for a free and powerful video editing tool that you can use on both Windows and Mac computers? Wondershare Filmora may be the ideal program for you. It is very easy to use, even for beginners who do not have that much editing experience.

Features:

• It is free and very easy to add captions to the trailer video.
• There are many interesting options for adding video effects within the program.
• It features a modern interface that is intuitive and easy to operate. All the important controls and settings are easily accessible through the menus and submenus.
• The program operates smoothly, even on older machines.

2. WeVideo

Hoping to edit content while you are on the go? By using a less powerful laptop, library computer or a friend’s device, you could edit your trailer within a couple hours. WeVideo is an online video editor that makes it so easy to edit videos in up to 4K resolution.

Features:

• The program is fast and very easy to use. It does not even require any downloads.
• As it is an online program, there are no compatibility issues with Windows, Mac or even Chromebook devices.
• It is possible to mix and match up to 600 different formats for graphics, audio, video and other effects.

3. Virtual Dub

If you are seeking something that is open source and free, you may be interested in Virtual Dub. It is a completely free and open source program that you can use for quick capturing, encoding and editing video.

While it is not going to give you the same power and options as some of the other editors, it is a very simple tool that can be effective for specific use cases. If you are just hoping to record, encode and quickly put together a 30 second YouTube trailer, it is the ideal program.

Features:

• Offers the ability to capture videos on Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Works best with AVI files, but it is possible to use other video formats such as MKV and MP4 as well.
• It is possible to create video using a series of image files - or merge image files into existing video content.

Part 4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

1. Let Viewers Know What is Coming

People appreciate routine. You can mention how many times a week you create content and the days when you publish. You can also have a brief overview of the type of videos you make, which will tell a new viewer what to expect if they subscribe to your channel!

2. Keep It Short

YouTube trailers that are more than a minute long will not succeed. People have a very short attention span. They want to be hooked immediately. 30 to 45 seconds is the sweet spot, with 30 seconds preferable! It may sound overwhelming to condense everything about your channel into 30 seconds, but that is where a great video script can help! However, sometimes both short videos and long videos work.

3. Use Some Fun Annotations

YouTube is great for having unique and helpful graphics on the screen while your video is playing. Having some fun and useful annotations, such as the days you make videos or a subscribe icon, during the intro video can be very helpful to new viewers. They also help to boost viewer engagement with your content!

4. Assume You Have New Viewers

Do not create a YouTube channel trailer with inside jokes or comments. This trailer is for people who know nothing about you or your channel. You are trying to hook them into your content, not provide a few laughs to existing subscribers.

5. Update Your Trailer Regularly

As a content creator, you may find that your brand changes every six months to a year. Maybe you change up your look, type of content, frequency of uploads or other parts of the channel. Ensure you are updating your trailer each time you make significant changes to your channel!

Conclusion

Creating a channel trailer for your YouTube page is a wonderful way to introduce a new audience to your content. They learn about you and the topics that you are passionate about. It convinces them to watch one of your videos and subscribe to your channel. And by using one of the YouTube Trailer Maker software options above, you will be creating quality trailers for your channel in no time!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Many YouTube content creators assume that no one checks out their channel trailer . Some may not even know about the concept of a trailer, while others are not sure how to create one. We will explain the concept of a YouTube channel trailer, how to make a great trailer, and how to get more subscribers and views through a quality trailer on your YouTube channel.

• Part1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer
• Part2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel
• Part3: Best YouTube Trailer Maker
• Part4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

Part 1: What is a YouTube Channel Trailer?

Think of a channel trailer as an introduction to a movie or television show. You can choose to show the trailer to anyone who is not subscribe to your channel, when they land on your channel page.

The objective of a trailer is to hook the audience, promote your personality and content, and convince them it will be worth their time to check out some of your videos. And you must do all these things within 30 to 45 seconds !

Most content creators can benefit from creating a channel trailer. Unless you are a famous personality through a sports/acting/television/singing career, people who land on your channel may have no idea who you are. A proper trailer gives them an introduction to your personality and content.

Part 2: How to Add YouTube Trailer to Channel

After you know how to create a YouTube trail, why not add your new created trailer to YouTube channel right now. Here is the right steps.

Step 1: Go to channel

Log in your YouTube account. Then click your users icon to find My channel. At the top right corner, click CUSTOMIZE CHANNEL and then choose For new visitors.

Step 2: Add trailer to YouTube

After clicking plus icon in the middle to add your amazing trailer, a playlist window will appear. Now select the trailer you want to use. Click Save. Then you will see a trailer is added. You can also change trailer or remove trailer.

Part 3: Best Channel YouTube Trailer Maker

1. Wondershare Filmora

Searching for a free and powerful video editing tool that you can use on both Windows and Mac computers? Wondershare Filmora may be the ideal program for you. It is very easy to use, even for beginners who do not have that much editing experience.

Features:

• It is free and very easy to add captions to the trailer video.
• There are many interesting options for adding video effects within the program.
• It features a modern interface that is intuitive and easy to operate. All the important controls and settings are easily accessible through the menus and submenus.
• The program operates smoothly, even on older machines.

2. WeVideo

Hoping to edit content while you are on the go? By using a less powerful laptop, library computer or a friend’s device, you could edit your trailer within a couple hours. WeVideo is an online video editor that makes it so easy to edit videos in up to 4K resolution.

Features:

• The program is fast and very easy to use. It does not even require any downloads.
• As it is an online program, there are no compatibility issues with Windows, Mac or even Chromebook devices.
• It is possible to mix and match up to 600 different formats for graphics, audio, video and other effects.

3. Virtual Dub

If you are seeking something that is open source and free, you may be interested in Virtual Dub. It is a completely free and open source program that you can use for quick capturing, encoding and editing video.

While it is not going to give you the same power and options as some of the other editors, it is a very simple tool that can be effective for specific use cases. If you are just hoping to record, encode and quickly put together a 30 second YouTube trailer, it is the ideal program.

Features:

• Offers the ability to capture videos on Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Works best with AVI files, but it is possible to use other video formats such as MKV and MP4 as well.
• It is possible to create video using a series of image files - or merge image files into existing video content.

Part 4: 5 Tips for Creating a Great Trailer

1. Let Viewers Know What is Coming

People appreciate routine. You can mention how many times a week you create content and the days when you publish. You can also have a brief overview of the type of videos you make, which will tell a new viewer what to expect if they subscribe to your channel!

2. Keep It Short

YouTube trailers that are more than a minute long will not succeed. People have a very short attention span. They want to be hooked immediately. 30 to 45 seconds is the sweet spot, with 30 seconds preferable! It may sound overwhelming to condense everything about your channel into 30 seconds, but that is where a great video script can help! However, sometimes both short videos and long videos work.

3. Use Some Fun Annotations

YouTube is great for having unique and helpful graphics on the screen while your video is playing. Having some fun and useful annotations, such as the days you make videos or a subscribe icon, during the intro video can be very helpful to new viewers. They also help to boost viewer engagement with your content!

4. Assume You Have New Viewers

Do not create a YouTube channel trailer with inside jokes or comments. This trailer is for people who know nothing about you or your channel. You are trying to hook them into your content, not provide a few laughs to existing subscribers.

5. Update Your Trailer Regularly

As a content creator, you may find that your brand changes every six months to a year. Maybe you change up your look, type of content, frequency of uploads or other parts of the channel. Ensure you are updating your trailer each time you make significant changes to your channel!

Conclusion

Creating a channel trailer for your YouTube page is a wonderful way to introduce a new audience to your content. They learn about you and the topics that you are passionate about. It convinces them to watch one of your videos and subscribe to your channel. And by using one of the YouTube Trailer Maker software options above, you will be creating quality trailers for your channel in no time!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Master the Art of Attraction & Retention on YouTube with Our Top 6 Tips

6 Ways To Increase Audience Retention on YouTube

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Audience retention is one of your most important stats on YouTube. It is even more important than your view count. Your view count really only tells you how many people are finding and clicking on your videos, not whether they are actually watching them. Audience retention refers to how much of a video a viewer watches before clicking away, which is very useful information to have. If you know when people are leaving your videos then you know what you need to work on.

You May Also Like: How to analyse your and your competitors’ YouTube Channel >>
How to structure a YouTube video >>

• Part 1: What is Audience Retention?
• Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?
• Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?
• Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

Part 1: What is Audience Retention?

To put it in simple terms, YouTube audience retention is about how much of each video your viewers watch. It’s usually expressed as a percentage, so if your viewer gets half way through, they will have a retention of 50 per cent.

For YouTube analytics, audience retention is taken as a mean of the retention figures for each of your viewers. For example, if you post a ten-minute video and half your viewers get to the five-minute mark, that’s a retention of 50 per cent. If the other half watch it right to the end, that’s a retention of 100 per cent. The mean of these two figures is 75 per cent, and that’s what YouTube will use as your audience retention figure.

This retention rate affects how highly your video is ranked on YouTube, with videos boasting higher audience retention rates appearing higher in the search results than those which do not. This is because both YouTube and Google are highly focussed on customer satisfaction, and a long watch time means a very happy customer was watching that video. For this reason, it’s well worth considering how to increase YouTube audience retention as it demonstrates that you’re making great content as well as helping you get more viewers.

Part 2: How to See Your Audience Retention Report in YouTube?

YouTube will produce reports to help you keep track of your audience retention. There are two types of audience retention reports; absolute and relative. Absolute allows you to view a graph of your video’s retention and see when people might be clicking away, or if they are skipping to later parts of your video. If you lose a lot of viewers in the first 15 seconds of your videos then that is a clear indication that your content is not what the viewers who find your videos really want. The relative report is where your video is compared to the average retention of similar videos.

Note that by ‘similar videos’, YouTube means videos of a similar length. There is no way to compare your videos only to other videos in your genre. The relative report will always be somewhat skewed because your videos will be measured against very different content.

To see an audience retention report log into your YouTube account and go to yourCreator Studio. There, selectAudience RetentionunderAnalytics.

Part 3: What is a Good Audience Retention Rate on YouTube?

When you’re considering how to increase YouTube audience retention, it can be good to have a goal in mind. Obviously 100 per cent is going to be the Holy Grail of retention rates, but how many videos are actually going to achieve that? It only takes for one person to ‘accidentally’ click on your video and rapidly click away, or for someone to have to stop for outside reasons, to drag your average down.

According to the YouTube community, a good goal to aim for is around 50 per cent, but as there is a lot which can affect your retention rate, that number may be different for you. Low view numbers sometimes get higher retention rates because it’s mainly subscribers watching, whereas channels with millions of views may suffer due to more people abandoning. Rather than setting yourself a golden number, focus instead on increasing your retention rate from wherever it is now, and celebrate your own success instead of measuring yourself against others.

Part 4: 6 Ways to Increase YouTube Audience Retention

If you’re serious about learning how to increase YouTube audience retention, here are five of the best ideas for you:

1. Compare your videos

Investigating your audience retention report will highlight the videos where you achieved maximum success. Think about what you did here, and work to replicate that technique. Perhaps you were talking about a product, or maybe your structured your video slightly differently. It’s up to you to dissect your video and find out what it was that kept people watching for longer, so that you can repeat this success in the future. You can also use some influencer marketing platform such as InflueNex to take a look at the videos in your similar channels, and learn the popular videos on their channels.

2. Get on with it

Research shows that YouTube viewers have an incredibly short attention span. Depending on who you believe, you could have as much as six seconds or as little as just three to grab their attention and compel them to carry on watching. If you want to improve your audience retention, coming in with an engaging, attention grabbing statement right at the start is crucial to your success. Nobody wants to waste their time watching someone waffle on for ages about their granny or their favorite hobbies, so get right down to it straight away, by telling them what’s in store.

3. Make it visually engaging

Perhaps all you’ve got is a presentation to make. You’re not a gamer, you’re not showing clips of your cat and you’re not doing a makeup tutorial, so surely all you need is a camera, good lighting and your face, right? Wrong. Viewers like to see the visual content changing, and videos which have a range of scenes are usually far more successful than those where it’s just a person talking to camera. Think about how you can insert cutaways, pop up text, different footage and other graphics to keep it interesting for your viewers.

4. Make it shorter

This one is a no brainer really. If you make a one-minute video, how hard is it going to be to keep viewers watching to the end compared to a 20-minute marathon. However, going too short can be negative too, unless you really do have something very quick and simple to showcase. Long videos work well for YouTubers in the gaming niche, in particular, because viewers want to know the end result, but for most of us, these sorts of viewing statistics are hard to reach.

If you consider a viewer who watches three minutes of your content, would you rather they watched three minutes of a ten-minute video and then clicked away bored, or would you rather they finished an entire video that was only three minutes long? Both in terms of audience retention and of your own reputation, having a viewer finish a short video is much more valuable to you than losing someone half way through a long one. That person probably enjoyed your content to the end and will more than likely watch another one of your videos. Conversely, the one you lost half way through was bored enough to stop watching and will probably not bother viewing any other videos of yours in future.

5. Keep them hooked

Think carefully about your YouTube video structure. Ideally, you will tell them at the very start that you’ve got something amazing to share with them later on. This could be a tip, a tutorial, a new product reveal or even something funny. Whatever it is, tell them they’re going to love it from the start, and keep reminding them to watch from the end to get this gift. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them great content all the way through, just that you should save a carrot for the end of the ride to reward those loyal viewers.

So, now you know how to increase YouTube audience retention, what are you going to do about it? Have a go at modifying your videos to boost the numbers who will watch to the end and let us know how you got on.

6. Use an Excellent Video Editor

Content is the king. It is necessary to use a powerful video editor to help you edit videos. With an excellent video editor like Filmora, you can custom stunning videos effortlessly.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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