- I apologize, but it's time for a YouTube rant.
It's a rant that irritates me as a viewer,
but more importantly, impacts you as a creator
because it affects your watch time,
which is doubly irritating
if you're working towards 4,000 watch hours.
Imagine you're scrolling through the YouTube feed
and something catches your attention.
The thumbnail looks cool,
the title intrigues,
you tap on it,
and you encounter those three dreaded words.
- In this video, I'm gonna take
my last six years of experience on YouTube.
- In this video, I'm gonna tell you which channels
are not worth starting.
- In this video,
I'll be showing you four different types of hooks.
- If I hear this phrase,
I'm gonna start skipping
to find where the video really starts
because I kind of already know from the thumbnail and title
what the video is about.
And if I don't,
those three words probably aren't your only problem.
So come on,
it is confession time. (bell chiming)
Have you ever started a YouTube video
with those three words?
Let us know in the comments below.
(record scratching) (audience gasps)
And so, that's why in this video,
we're going to show you the K-I-S-S principle. (beep)
Yes, I'm ranting to myself.
So, you should know this by now,
but for newcomers into the room,
the first 30 seconds of your YouTube video are critical.
It always represents the steepest decline in viewers
and YouTube even keeps track of this specific point
in your videos.
Viewers who make it through the first 30 seconds
are much more likely to watch for longer,
increasing your viewer retention,
and by extension, more watch time.
But enough about that.
It's time for a pop quiz
and everybody loves quizzes, right?
- [Speaker] Oh yeah, sounds good.
- Check out this question we found on the internet.
What do you think the answer is?
How much watch time is that video actually getting?
Let us know when the comments below.
We'll give you the answer to that later because first,
we need to go back to those crucial 30 seconds.
All you have to do is one simple thing.
Create a video hook.
Editor, do not put a fishing hook here.
You can put anything else but not a fishing hook.
A video hook is a simple concept,
but quite tricky to execute.
Even we here at vidIQ are still learning about this.
The principle of a video hook is that it should reinforce
what you promised in the title and the thumbnail
and tease what's to come in the rest of the video
without revealing absolutely everything.
It should create anticipation, curiosity,
make the viewer eager to find out more.
Because you see, building intrigue and tension is crucial,
but it's also just as crucial to let the viewer know
it's worth their time to watch.
So, let the viewer know what you're going to deliver
and what they clicked for,
because nobody likes clickbait
and the YouTube algorithm certainly doesn't either,
contrary to what you might believe.
YouTube knows the content of your video
and not just through metadata.
It is startlingly accurate
and if you're not delivering,
it likely won't recommend it as much as you would hope.
So, make sure you start delivering
and teasing more in the first 30 seconds
or that graph is gonna look like Mount Everest.
Now, I can maybe forgive you
for reverting to this tried and tested In This Video trope.
When it comes to educational channels,
you just need to tell people what they need to know.
Clear and simple, right?
Well, we thought that too
until we started trying to trigger emotional responses
through curiosity, empathy, and excitement.
But before we do that,
let's return to that quiz question
about watch time and skipping around videos.
The simple answer is your video only earns watch time
for the physical seconds
that a viewer spends watching the video.
So if they watch 30 seconds,
skip until the end and then watch another 30 seconds,
that is one minute of watch time, not 10.
And what will really blow your mind
is if you watch something
at a quarter speed or double speed,
but that's a video for another time.
We can take a look at any of our videos over the past year.
It is rare to see us going down the SEO route
for search-based traffic.
We would much rather see casual viewers
who are not specifically searching
for how to get more views and subscribers
to discover our content on the homepage
and suggested traffic,
and they do, more than they ever did before.
Humor is another powerful emotion
that can make your hook
more engaging and memorable. (Rob Turkey gobbling)
Really? Thanksgiving Rob Turkey is the best we've got?
Emotionally-connected viewers
are more likely to be captivated by the content
and watch until the end.
Let's say, for example,
your video is about overcoming challenges.
It's a universal struggle of the average human being.
Your hook could evoke empathy by starting with,
"Life just kept beating me down."
Or you can start with something witty
that instantly creates a positive connection with a viewer.
Oof, so I tried (grunts)
the following five-minute (grunts)
workout routine. (hand slapping)
As you can see, the results weren't that good.
Emotional storytelling is a compelling technique
to leverage in your video hook.
By sharing a personal anecdote or a relatable experience,
you create empathy within your viewers.
And the moment you do that,
they will feel emotionally invested in your content.
In a recent video, John, our thumbnail designer,
made for our channel,
which charted his journey
from being a complete beginner to a full-time YouTuber,
he created that emotional connection with the audience.
The comments that came out through that video
are incredible and touching.
The key is to induce genuine emotions
that resonate with your target audience,
and you do that by understanding their aspirations,
their fears, their desires.
But ultimately,
everything comes back to time
which is very precious in the online world.
Because there is so much choice,
people have very short attention spans
because they can quickly find something else better.
As we've already established in the YouTube studio,
it emphasizes the importance of the first 30 seconds
in long-form videos.
Your goal should be to straighten out that hockey stick.
So when we talk about video hooks,
this is the first five, 10 seconds of a video.
I understand that in some cases, "In this video,"
feels like a necessary way to kick things off.
But that doesn't take away from the fact
that it's a very overused phrase on YouTube.
As we've said before,
viewers are real people just like me and just like you,
and understanding those viewers,
that target audience,
is essential.
Crafting hooks that speak directly to someone's interests,
passions, desires, pain points.
It's as if you are speaking directly to that person.
We know that you have goals on YouTube
to get more views,
more subscribers,
get monetized,
potentially turn your channel into a business,
maybe even to go full-time on YouTube.
If that's your ultimate dream,
then this video is gonna speak directly to you.
I would argue it's the best video we've ever made.
Let us know what you think.