Getting the Click Is Easy. Keeping the Audience Is Hard. Here Are Hacks to Improve Retention.
Feeling lucky! At the end, you’ll get one more secret to boost your views.
#1 Hack to Improve Retention: Hook & Rehook
How do you get audience interested? How do you grab them?
There are different proven ways to do that. You can try out either of these methods.
Question - ask a question to grab attention.
Context - throw the viewer right in the middle of action. Break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience
Statement - say a shocking fact or opinion, rather controversial.
Don't forget to rehook!
A good rehook states either the opposite to the hook or addresses audience objections about your product, service, or method. These might be related to how expensive, time-consuming, proven, suitable, etc. it is for them.
#2 Hack to Improve Retention: Curiosity Gap
What is a curiosity gap?
It's the space between what you know and what you don't know. It's the desire to find out more to close the gap.
How to use it? Your challenge is to make the audience realise that they don’t know enough yet. That you are the one who can give them what they want if they stick around.
Build up the curiosity gap by asking a question or dropping a fact that sparks interest. Try to keep your audience on their toes by giving away only a slice of the pie. Close the gap later on when the audience has reached the end of your story.
Pro tip: you can close the gap with your call to action. It can be a file to download, newsletter sign-up, self-assessment test, etc.
#3 Hack to Improve Retention: Foreshadow
Guide your audience through your content by constantly letting them in on what they’re waiting around for next. Remind them what new knowledge they'll gain after reading or watching it.
But don't reveal the payoff straight away! Keep up the tension by teasing the audience, step by step.
Think of movies - you always know the hero's mission from the start, but you never know how it's going to wind up. As you go along, you get more and more hints on what's about to happen.
What makes content creation easier for me, is defining the beginning and the end. It keeps me on track throughout the process. I mean, it's even 1 of the famous 22 storytelling rules by Pixar!
Knowing where I want to get to allows me to drop hints along the way to keep my audience excited. Try it out, maybe it'll work for you as well!
#4 Hack to Improve Retention: Connect
As boring as it might sound, it is all about connection.
You've probably felt that yourself, no? If you read or watch something that "speaks your language", it's easier to lock you in.
Let me explain. Imagine that you're hanging out in a park.
- A loud siren goes off - everybody turns around and looks.
- A kid screams, "Mom!" - all the moms look.
- A friend runs up to you and yells your name - only YOU look.
Build up your story on something your audience can relate to. Compare what you’re talking about with some shared knowledge, experience, or a joke.
The easiest way? How do you make new friends? Treat your audience as one of them.
#5 Hack to Improve Retention: Payoff
Can you keep a secret?
In content creation, you have to. At least in the beginning.
Let's turn to the movie analogy again. If you know in the beginning who lives or dies in the end, will you binge the entire movie? Not likely. If you lay your cards out straight away, what’s the point for your audience to stay?
The final payoff is the goal you want to reach with your content.
You know what? In your intro, you can use it as a cliffhanger. Set expectations and say what your audience will learn or how they'll benefit by sticking with you. Just don't do the full reveal, not just yet.
Extra Hack to Improve Retention: Content Reeling
As promised, here’s the extra secret to get even more views.
Ask your audience to read 1 more story or watch 1 more video. This gets the views you deserve. It’s a no-brainer, but still gone under the radar.
Wouldn't you like the audience to binge your content? I know the platform you're on would!
Watch or dwell time is one of the most important factors in many social media algorithms. Why? Because the platform provider's goal is to keep people there. If you help them do that, you've succeeded your mission as a content creator.
Want a shortcut? Get a full breakdown and use my retention hacks template to kick it off. Check it out and let me know how you'll do!