What are some effective strategies to increase video retention and watch time?

Start your video with a "natural" looking screenshot that includes a human face in the video. Never start your video content with a promotional-looking graphic, stock footage or b-roll. Stand out in the feed by avoiding "talking-head" style videos that have sensory adaptation - meaning people are very used to the style and glaze over it. Instead, try videos that stand out on LinkedIn - videos of animals outside, children dancing, people running a race, someone giving a graduation speech in graduation garb - and ensure the video is motivating or inspiring.

If the intention of your video is to be found in a search (provide value & share an answer to a frequently asked question) get right into it. Let the viewer know they’re in the right place within the first 10 seconds by addressing the concern right away. Your viewer will be more likely to watch through to the end. Make sure your audio is high-quality by using a microphone. Viewers will click off if the sound quality is poor.

Feature a clear photo of a face on your thumbnail for more “connection” with your viewer. Add words that compliment the title, but not too many - think “billboard”. Use colors consistently for your branding. With enough frequency, your thumbnail style will more recognizable in the feed.

Add subtitles! Don’t assume viewers will listen to your audio, actually most of them scroll their socials on silent mode. (I do!) To make sure these viewers get your message as well, add subtitles. This will increase your chances to get heard. If they like your content when it’s muted, chances are, they’ll unmute the video and listen. If they only see visual without context, and it’s not catchy enough, they might just keep scrolling. Also make sure there’s no typo! Use spelling check tools like Reverso or Grammarly. And you can also translate subtitles in various languages to market your content across different countries :-)

When using music, make sure to choose royalty-free options. Resources like Epidemic Sound are great for finding acceptable tracks of all styles.

Interactive video content now goes beyond videos created for social. Planning for interactives during the developmental stage optimizes the rollout for both the editors and viewers. Producing several short form educational videos for LMS platforms the interactive elements are often coded in after a video is finished, so we have to coordinate between instructional designers and video editors to produce a viable interactive video. Thinking about the screen real estate and what information will be revealed through the interactive elements are crucial in building a unique user experience that viewers will appreciate and not be stumped by.

One way you can engage with your audeince is with humor. Humor has long been recognized as a powerful tool in marketing. Whether it's a witty commercial, a humorous social media post, or a clever tagline, humor can capture attention, build rapport, and create a positive association with a brand.

Your personality and expertise will attract your “tribe “ and loyal viewers over the long-run. If you provide value consistently, you will build trust, serve your target audience and ultimately continue to grow your business with the help of quality videos.

Consider A/B testing different titles and thumbnails. Also, look at your viewer retention graph to see where drop-offs happen. Is it when you asked for subscribers too early? Did you wait too long to get into the relevant content? Was it bad audio at the start? See if there is any change needed for future videos.

If you post videos on YouTube I find two metrics to be the most useful: 1. The click through rate on thumbnails. This tells you the percentage of people who saw the title and thumbnail of your video and decided it was worth clicking through to watch. Use that information to learn what titles and thumbnails are engaging people. 2. Average view duration. This tells you , on average, what percent of a particular video people are watching? Once they click are they finding what they are looking for. Use this to see how well you deliver on the promise of the thumbnail and title.