Let’s say you’re an individual or you’re running a business entity using YouTube for promotion. If so, you might already know about some of the metrics you can utilize to tell whether you’re getting the engagement you want. Some of those include:
- Comments
- Likes
- Shares
However, you could argue that YouTube views are the most critical metric of all. After all, if not enough people are watching what you’re producing, then the messages you want to send are not finding their audience.
What you may not be aware of, though, is that two different kinds of views exist. One is ordinary, and the other is referred to as “high retention.” They are not quite the same, though both will help you as you try to attain your marketing and promotional goals. We’ll explain the difference in the following article, and we’ll also break down why each one matters so much.
How to Get More Views
Before we get into a detailed breakdown of both regular and high-retention views, we should mention some ways you can try to get more of them. You should have all of the following tactics in your arsenal as a content creator:
- Teaming up with other influencers or famous individuals so they can bring their audience to one of your videos
- Creating content that’s infused with humor or whatever other tone you feel is appropriate for the products and services you’re trying to market
- Using SEO best tactics in your videos, such as keywords in the video’s title and description
All of that should help, but you have the option to buy YouTube views as well. Either slow-dripped regular or high-retention views you buy for YouTube can help you start to get more organic engagement.
This is a fairly common practice, enough so that both big companies and tiny mom-and-pop startups do it. It’s a great way to announce to the whole YouTube platform that you have arrived, and you’re ready to show the viewers what you’re all about. Just find a reputable website that sells these kinds of engagement packages, and you’ll soon be in business.
Now, let’s examine how the two view types differ on this platform.
What is a Regular View?
Whether you’re using YouTube for business or just for fun, you are attempting to grow your audience, and that means getting as many eyes on the short films you’re producing as possible. When you’re talking about that, what you mean is your total number of viewers. You can monitor that easily enough as a channel’s admin. But how long is the average watch time on YT?
Visitors spend an average of a little less than 20 minutes per day on the platform. Of course, there are also going to be individuals who spend far less or more time than that.
Because of this wide discrepancy in viewership, it’s hard to quantify what a “regular” view is. All you should know is that a reasonable average view duration for the short films you’re producing should be about 50-60% of the total length. Anything up to that could be considered a “regular” view.
What About High-Retention Views?
The high-retention version of YT viewership is a little different. It’s any time somebody is watching at least 70% of the videos that you’re posting via your channel.
There are various strategies you might employ to try to get someone to watch more of your videos. It’s just like trying to develop an audience on Instagram, or TikTok, or any other social media platform you are trying to leverage to gain more notoriety. It’s all about producing content that’s so compelling that the viewer cannot look away.
That’s the challenge for you as a content creator. You have to come up with ideas or subject matter that is so captivating that random individuals on the platform become your followers. From that point, it becomes easier to get them to open their wallets.
Which Kind of View Matters More?
As for which view type is better for your channel, company, or brand, you could make the argument that high-retention views matter more. If you are getting more of this variety, that probably means:
- You’ve developed a formula for a video concept that’s compelling enough that someone will watch to the end, or most of the way to the end
- You’ve hooked a specific audience, the same thing a creative team that produces a TV show tries to do
- You’re establishing brand loyalty, which is probably the most vital thing you can do using social media
It’s also worth mentioning that if you create more videos that have higher audience-retention scores, that will push those videos to the top of the algorithm when it comes to specific keywords and phrases. Your channel will be seen as more noteworthy or powerful. Therefore, the more short films you can make that get people to watch all the way through, the better it is for promotional purposes.
Shorter Views Still Matter Too, Though
However, even if some of the individuals who have come across your videos are not staying to watch the majority of them, that does not necessarily mean you’ve lost those viewers as an audience. They might come back later to watch the rest of it. They may not have the time or patience to watch the whole thing, but what they watch might still make an impression.
A short view is better than not watching any of your channel at all. The person who sees even a few seconds of what you’ve made might know the name of your company now for the first time. Perhaps they didn’t know about you before, but in the short time they engaged with what you produced, you’ve created an impression.
Sometimes, that impression will come into play later if that person needs something in your niche. People are a lot more liable to purchase a product or service from a company they’ve heard of vs. one they know nothing about.
Try to Get Both View Lengths
While people watching what you’ve made for longer is probably more valuable to you in the long run, even brief views are also to your benefit. Keep modifying your content on the platform and see if you’re getting people to stick around to watch longer.
If you see the high-retention numbers start to go up, you know that you’re on the right track. If they stay low or start heading in the opposite direction, you know you have to switch up your content strategy.
