Why are people clicking away at the start of my videos?

[Acerthorn]

I'll attach fifty screenshots to this post. These are the absolute audience retention rates (as of the time of this writing) for the last 50 public videos on my channel that have them. You can see the videos they correspond to by going to the channel of youtube.com/acerthorn, clicking on the "videos" tab, and - with the videos sorted by newest to oldest - view the videos starting with "When Gamer Entitlement Really Does Become a Problem" (the most recent video for which audience retention analytics are available) and ending with "Let's Play Fallout: New Vegas Blind #01 - Ack the Amnesiac," while skipping over the announcement videos such as "Let's Plays are Going Part Time," "Harry Potter Retrospective - the Introduction" and "Acerthorn's Patreon Page." I didn't look at their analytics because they weren't designed to get views, per se, but just to keep my audience abreast of what's going on.

Now, some of these audience retention analytics are more jagged than others. Some go up and down like a roller coaster. Others, after the first few minutes, tend to be relatively slow but steady declines. However, there is one common element among all of them: The very start of the videos usually see a dramatic drop in viewer retention.

Some of my videos are more than an hour long, so maybe some people are intimidated away by the video's length. But then, why are the other videos that aren't that long having the same problem? A commonly-cited reason for videos that have this problem is that the intros are too long. Some of my videos have intro sequences ... no more than ten seconds long ... but there are just as many other videos in this list of 50 that don't have any intro sequence. I instead just get right to the point. And yet, I still get the same huge drop in retention at the outset.

Can somebody please take a look at my videos and find a common element that might actually be causing this problem? Something that each of these videos actually have in common (not just something that's a problem with some videos but not all) which would explain why they all have the same audience retention problem.

 

[NateStanley]

Hi Acerthorn! Just checked out a couple of your videos and one thing that I've seen is that you jump straight into your video. Keep in mind that it's those first ten seconds that are the make it or break it moment for many viewers. In your TES and FO videos your intro consists cinematic footage from trailers or other game cinematic. Know your audience. People who are interested in lore videos, easter eggs, retrospectives or other detailed looks into games are probably already big fans and have seen these same exact clips several times. Try having a prelude to your intro with commentary relating to your video or a clip from later in the video - not some Ali-a over dramatic reaction, but just something to grab the viewers attention.

Good luck!

 

[Acerthorn]

You don't get it, do you? It happens to ALL my videos! You only described one category of my videos. But if that really were the source of the problem, why isn't the problem exclusive to my TES and FO videos?

 

[NateStanley]

You don't get it, do you?

Guess I don’t, sorry.

I'll take a step back, glance at a couple more of your videos and rethink my reply.

Here we go:

People who don't know your channel, content, and personality don't want to risk wasting 25 - 90 minutes of their life of their life on what might be not be entertaining content to them, they just don't know.

Since these people have already clicked on your video, this isn't a problem about SEO, gaming the YouTube algorithm, or popping thumbnails. It's a problem about content.

I really think your issue is that half hour long videos from a small channel who have yet to solidify himself in a niche content corner as a proficient content creator are daunting for people to watch, especially when they want to sit down and find something entertaining. Why should they watch your 30 minute video on game lore when they could, instead, go to a YouTube channel like The Game Theorists, FudgeMuppet, or MrRhexx? You're not offering something unique and when new viewers see this, unless they're adventurous, they'll just pop off to one of these channels for a guaranteed good video.

You either prove to the viewer in the first two minutes of your videos (when it appears people click away) that you are in fact different and that it is worth their time to take a risk on you. Right now, you don't do that.

Do I get it now?

 

[Acerthorn]

Is there any objective evidence that smaller channels should make short videos? Do you have a source for this?

 

[NateStanley]

Yup, here you go:

Why are people clicking away at the start of my videos?

I'll attach fifty screenshots to this post. These are the absolute audience retention rates (as of the time of this writing) for the last 50 public videos on my channel that have them. You can see the videos they correspond to by going to the channel of youtube.com/acerthorn, clicking on the...

yttalk.com

Joking aside, no. But looking through your videos, you're not stranger to changing up how you do videos to see if improves your channel


see:

If you're honestly looking on how to improve viewer engagement, there is no magical answer. You'll have to try things out.

 

[Acerthorn]

If the problem is that the videos are too long, how come I still get this problem with this video:

 

[NateStanley]

If the problem is that the videos are too long, how come I still get this problem with this video:

What do you want me to say?

That video is literally a minute long and people click away within seconds of opening it.

So what's happening in those critical first few seconds?

The video is revealed to be "Youtube Poop", a type of video popular in 2013 that has since died off and been tossed in the same category as rage face comics when it comes to humor that has not stood the test of time.

Spoiler: Trend Graph

People clicked away because they were simply just not interested in the video.

I'll walk you through what an average user experience would, hypothetically, be like:

>be me, browsing youtube
>see video titled, "Kerry Hopkins tells the truth"
>think "who's that, it looks like she's in a court room"
>click video thinking it will tell me
>it's immediately revealed to just be a minute of sharply spliced dialogue clips to make her say dumb things
>click away

Don't get me wrong, I like the content of your videos. I love TES and FO lore- I think its very interesting. I love explanation videos that get me immersed in said lore. I'm sure there are also people who would love all your content. There IS an audience for you, but there are inherit flaws in how you're attracting them.

 

[NateStanley]

Okay, so sorry for the double post mods.

so i realize this hasn't been entirely helpful for you, and instead of just leaving this as a back-and-forth rant thread, I decided to do something to help out
(ignore the thumbnail)
please give it a watch in its entirety

 

[Acerthorn]

What do you want me to say?

That video is literally a minute long and people click away within seconds of opening it.

So what's happening in those critical first few seconds?

The video is revealed to be "Youtube Poop", a type of video popular in 2013 that has since died off and been tossed in the same category as rage face comics when it comes to humor that has not stood the test of time.

People clicked away because they were simply just not interested in the video.

Then how come the problem isn't unique to that video?

Okay, so sorry for the double post mods.

so i realize this hasn't been entirely helpful for you, and instead of just leaving this as a back-and-forth rant thread, I decided to do something to help out
(ignore the thumbnail)
please give it a watch in its entirety

I can't watch the video. It's private. It needs to be either public or unlisted for me to be able to see it.