It’s hard to stand out of the clutter when there are 500 hours of videos uploaded to YouTube every minute. But did you know that YouTube pushes videos which have a high watch time further up the search engine rankings? Your ticket to to virality lies in how you get your audience to watch your videos until the end. Here are a few ways you can keep your audience glued to their seats all the way to the end of your video:
1. Capture people’s attention in the first 8 seconds of your video
A research conducted by the Statistics Brain Research Institute indicates that people’s attention span only lasts for 8.25 seconds. This shows that we need to introduce a hook so strong and impactful that people can’t help but watch more. Elements like suspense, shock, humour and unexpected revelations grab attention.
2. Avoid talking about yourself too much
Many creators make the mistake of beginning a video by introducing themselves and talking about their personal experiences. Cut to the chase and give people what they clicked on your video for. Stay relevant to the topic, make your point and focus on shaping your content around your video’s main theme.
3. Create suspense by leaving questions unanswered until the video ends
Tell your viewers that you’ll reveal an answer, secret or a surprise at the end of the video. People have a psychological tendency to seek answers to unanswered questions for closure.
4. Introduce pattern interrupts in your video
People can get tired of watching monotonous videos that only show a talking head. Include a variety of different elements in your video every 10-15 seconds. For example, introduce pop up emojis, change your camera angles or put in some stock footage. In the following video, Jeffree Star changes his camera angles frequently and shows snippets of video clips to break the monotony.
5. Give people incentives for watching the whole video
Giveaway freebies to people who watch your video until the end. Tell your audience that you’ll be announcing winners of your previous giveaway at the end of each video. So people will stay tuned to participate in the giveaway and hear the results.
6. Create quizzes that people need to watch your entire video to solve
Scatter clues throughout your video and at the end of your video ask your viewers to solve a puzzle. For example, you can ask people how many times they’ve said the word “exciting” in the video or how many pop ups in the video are red in colour. The only way your users are going to know the answers to these questions is if they’ve watched the entire video.
7. Use background music that’s relevant to your theme
Change your music according to the theme of your video. If you’re joking around, add in sound effects or if you want to create suspense, slap on music that builds up to a climax. Your video’s music should set the mood you want to elicit from your audience.
Once you’ve managed to get your audience hooked to your content, it’s just a matter of time before your viewership and subscribers soar.
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