Every viral RETENTION TACTIC explained (with examples)

[00:00] Put the most extraordinary thing of your

[00:02] video as close to the start as possible

[00:05] to prove that your video is special

[00:07] before anyone even thinks to click off.

[00:09] Here, check out this classic Mr. Beast

[00:11] intro.

[00:13] >> WOULD YOU RISK PARTY LIFE FOR HALF A

[00:15] MILLION DOLLARS?

[00:16] >> YES, THANKS.

[00:17] >> OKAY, GOOD LUCK, MAN. YOU'RE BRAVER.

[00:18] >> What's happening in this intro is the

[00:21] definition of extraordinary. Most

[00:23] creators save the best thing of their

[00:25] video for last, saying in their intro,

[00:28] "Watch to the end to see X," and then

[00:30] only like 20% of viewers actually make

[00:32] it to the end. But tell me, what's a

[00:34] better hook? A promise that your video

[00:36] is special, or proof that your video is

[00:39] special? You see, you always want to

[00:41] grab attention with the most

[00:43] attentiongrabbing thing you can offer to

[00:46] prove that your video is worth people's

[00:49] time. Now, there's 17 more tactics to

[00:51] get your audience to watch your videos

[00:52] to the end. If you've been wondering

[00:54] what it's going to take to get your next

[00:56] video to finally take off, then you need

[00:58] to know all of these, or else your

[01:00] audience retention is going to suck. You

[01:02] see, the best creators have mastered all

[01:03] of these tactics, and in the next 15

[01:06] minutes or so, you're going to know them

[01:07] all, too. Number two, have infectious

[01:10] enthusiasm. Pay really close attention

[01:12] to how this creator, Vsauce, speaks in

[01:14] his videos.

[01:16] >> Hey, Vsauce, Michael here. A single

[01:19] piece of refined flour is on average

[01:21] just 82.67 microns wide. That means a

[01:25] five pound bag.

[01:26] >> The raw enthusiasm of the creator

[01:29] convinces you that the creator must have

[01:31] something genuinely special to share. So

[01:34] you're curious and you're excited to

[01:36] hear it. And even if you're a creator

[01:37] that no one's heard of before,

[01:39] enthusiasm causes a ton of trust.

[01:42] >> How to make pickle Pepsi at home. Guess

[01:47] how many views that video has? It has 8

[01:50] million views. And that's largely

[01:52] because the creator's enthusiasm

[01:55] convinces people that he must have

[01:57] something worth sharing. By the way, I'm

[01:59] not expecting you to somehow remember

[02:01] each and every one of these tactics and

[02:03] somehow apply all of them perfectly to

[02:05] your next video. So, what I made is an

[02:07] infographic that you can print out and

[02:08] then it's just got the summary of each

[02:10] of these tactics. And then I've also put

[02:11] together some advice on there for how to

[02:13] study these further and then once you

[02:15] get to work on your video, how to apply

[02:17] them accurately. So I put a link to how

[02:18] to get that in the pinned comment or

[02:20] first link in the description. Anyway,

[02:22] on to the next tactic. Number three,

[02:24] never let the viewer feel like they know

[02:26] enough about a subject. I'm going to use

[02:28] an example from one of my videos. So I

[02:30] want you to see how before I begin

[02:32] explaining something, I first tell the

[02:35] viewer what they're missing by not

[02:36] knowing it. Look at this timeline. We've

[02:39] been talking about all these ways to

[02:41] make the video visually addicting to

[02:43] watch, but we've been leaving out the

[02:46] other half of the video. There is a

[02:48] whole another sense for your viewer to

[02:50] experience the video in. You see,

[02:52] audience retention can really be broken

[02:54] down into just one sentence. Maintain

[02:57] constant clarity in the viewer's mind as

[03:00] to what they'll miss out on if they stop

[03:02] watching. To drive this home, here's one

[03:04] more example. You can pause and read it

[03:06] if you want to, but what I'm focused on

[03:08] is the cadence at which Vsauce is

[03:11] sharing a fun fact, then asking a

[03:13] question, then sharing the next fun

[03:15] fact. Because he keeps asking you these

[03:17] really thoughtprovoking questions, you

[03:20] never feel like you know enough about

[03:22] the subject. Number four, introduce an

[03:24] antagonist to the story to create a

[03:27] constant threat of failure and ongoing

[03:29] dramatic conflict. Now, Dreams Minecraft

[03:32] Manhunts are the absolute perfect

[03:34] example of this. This video, I try and

[03:37] speedrun and beat Minecraft while two of

[03:39] my friends try and stop me. Last video,

[03:41] I beat one hunter easily. Now, I move on

[03:43] to phase two.

[03:44] >> By trying to reach a goal, beating

[03:46] Minecraft while people are hunting you

[03:48] down to try and stop you. So many boxes

[03:51] of entertainment are checked off.

[03:53] There's an underdog to root for, the

[03:56] thrill of competition, a series of

[03:59] imposing challenges to get the audience

[04:01] worried only for the protagonist to

[04:03] creatively conquer them in novel awesome

[04:06] ways. You see, I can't wait to do an

[04:07] analysis of a full dream Minecraft

[04:09] manhunt video. So, go ahead and

[04:12] subscribe if you're excited to see that

[04:13] as well. Number five, make the parts of

[04:15] the story that lack conflict go by as

[04:18] quickly as possible. Here's Mark Robbert

[04:20] doing this in a video of him building a

[04:23] maze for squirrels.

[04:25] >> After a year of ruminating on how to

[04:27] avenge that L with a majorly improved

[04:29] version and then two months of planning,

[04:32] my buddy John and I got together for a

[04:34] 20 second build montage.

[04:37] Now, even though a very significant

[04:39] duration of the story was that planning

[04:42] and building phase of the backyard maze,

[04:44] Mark Robber summarized all of that into

[04:47] just 30 seconds. so that way the video

[04:50] could get to the exciting part as soon

[04:52] as possible. Now, this next tactic is

[04:54] honestly pretty hard to spot. So, I want

[04:56] to first show you the example just so

[04:58] you can see how hidden in plain sight it

[05:00] is. So, watch this really closely and

[05:02] tell me what specifically is smart about

[05:04] the question that Marcus asks at the

[05:07] start of this video's intro.

[05:10] All right, so you've seen the unboxing.

[05:13] Now, it's time for the breakdown. What

[05:15] is using the Apple Vision Pro actually

[05:19] like? Marcus begins the video by asking

[05:21] the question that's on everyone's minds.

[05:24] You see, later in the intro, he lists

[05:26] the fascinating facts about the Apple

[05:28] Vision Pro as well as promising there's

[05:30] both details that are absolutely

[05:32] incredible and also some bad stuff. And

[05:35] all of that is just to get us more

[05:36] interested in the Vision Pro. But to

[05:39] begin the discussion, he asked the most

[05:43] broadly appealing question. What is

[05:45] using the Apple Vision Pro actually

[05:49] like?

[05:49] >> Number seven, bring up a common pain

[05:52] point before solving it with a lesson.

[05:54] Check out how in this intro, Johnny

[05:56] Harris says to you, "I understand your

[05:58] problem.

[05:59] >> How to buy the best maps in 2025. You're

[06:02] doing it wrong. You're still using this

[06:04] to navigate life. Embarrassing.

[06:09] I'm so bored right now and I truly hate

[06:12] the way it feels. You're probably bored,

[06:14] too. You clicked on this video trying to

[06:16] feel less bored and all you've got is a

[06:18] guy scrolling on his phone alone in a

[06:20] room here. Let me see if I can help with

[06:23] that.

[06:25] Is this better?

[06:27] Good. It's not just you and me. It's

[06:29] everyone. Now, you can do this whether

[06:31] it's the intro or later in the video.

[06:34] You want to look for those common

[06:36] problems that people have and then prove

[06:39] that you understand them. This causes as

[06:42] many people as possible to care as much

[06:44] as possible about what you have to say,

[06:46] which is exactly what you want. So, do

[06:48] this throughout your video as well as

[06:50] just in the intro. Just whenever you see

[06:52] an opportunity to do it. Number eight,

[06:54] introduce a time limit to cause urgency

[06:57] and a threat of failure, which makes

[06:59] things much more thrilling and dramatic.

[07:02] Mr. Beast does this all the time because

[07:05] it's just so powerful. Here's an example

[07:07] of a time limit.

[07:08] >> What do you think we're about to do?

[07:09] >> Blow up this money if I don't get

[07:10] something accomplished here in a fast

[07:12] amount of time.

[07:13] >> Correct. Basically, you will have

[07:15] exactly 5 minutes to throw this

[07:17] grappling hook

[07:18] >> and drag as many bags of money as you

[07:21] can back onto the bed of this truck.

[07:24] WHEN THAT 5MINUT timer hits zero,

[07:27] that meteor, which will be on fire, is

[07:30] going to crash into this room full of

[07:32] fireworks with your money. Adding a time

[07:34] limit is one of the easiest ways to turn

[07:37] some boring video of you just doing

[07:39] something into some thrilling challenge

[07:42] for you to defeat. Number nine, develop

[07:44] a mystery to cause curiosity. In a video

[07:47] that Ryan Tran made about exploring a

[07:49] cruise ship, at around 3 minutes 45

[07:52] seconds, he introduces this mysterious

[07:55] room, but he doesn't show us what it is.

[07:58] Check this out. And on my way to it, I

[08:01] stumbled across something weird. What

[08:04] room is that?

[08:07] Why are there giant paw prints? Is there

[08:10] a dog in there?

[08:11] >> And then look, he brings it up again 6

[08:13] minutes later.

[08:21] This gives the viewers something to

[08:23] wonder about. So, if they left your

[08:24] video early, they'd have unanswered

[08:27] questions. And look, here's how you can

[08:29] use this tactic in your intros to create

[08:31] highly captivating hooks. Look at how

[08:33] Mark Robber introduces a mystery at the

[08:35] start of his video.

[08:38] I texted this clip to my wife, who

[08:39] wanted proof I wasn't doing anything

[08:41] stupid on a recent trip to the Bahamas.

[08:43] Now, if you're wondering what my feet

[08:44] are doing in sharkinfested waters with a

[08:46] bucket of blood.

[08:48] >> Yeah, those are literally the most

[08:49] intriguing exceptional details he

[08:51] possibly could have brought up, and he

[08:53] did that right at the start of the

[08:54] video. Number 10, share the stakes of

[08:57] something to increase the drama. Check

[08:59] this out.

[09:00] >> But first, why are you trying so hard to

[09:03] land in the fire and add an extra

[09:05] $50,000 to your prize pool?

[09:07] >> My dad's health has been an up and down

[09:09] roller coaster from some cancer to

[09:11] health stuff. this is something that I

[09:13] can use to really invest into giving

[09:15] them a good retirement and helping with

[09:16] their health.

[09:17] >> Mr. Beast not only puts hundreds of

[09:20] thousands of dollars at stake, but tends

[09:22] to ask his contestants to share why it's

[09:24] important for them specifically to win.

[09:26] This makes the audience actually care

[09:28] about what happens. But now, you don't

[09:31] need to put a bunch of money on the line

[09:33] to have stakes in your video. Look at

[09:35] how Ryan adds stakes to this video.

[09:38] >> I bet you can't last a few hours in one

[09:40] of these. Okay, he might be right, but

[09:43] I'm too insecure to accept that. So, I

[09:45] bet him that I could. And whoever loses

[09:47] the bet has to paint themselves green

[09:49] and say in front of all of you,

[09:50] >> "What are you doing in my swamp on

[09:53] camera?"

[09:54] >> Number 11. If things ever get stale,

[09:56] just introduce a new challenge to beat.

[09:58] On that same video of Ryan exploring a

[10:00] cruise ship, he does this at 8 minutes

[10:02] and 45 seconds. Today might have been

[10:06] the best day ever. I made three new

[10:08] friends, Lily, Aaron, and Lorie. It's

[10:11] very likely that none of them know each

[10:12] other, which makes me the nucleus of our

[10:14] little community. If I can take this

[10:16] nucleus of myself and build up enough of

[10:19] a community on this cruise ship, I can

[10:21] throw the coolest party of all time. In

[10:23] addition to exploring an awesome cruise

[10:25] ship, there's now a somewhat challenging

[10:27] objective, giving the audience more to

[10:29] look forward to and also something that

[10:31] could fail. Number 12, pay attention to

[10:34] the natural variations in tone within

[10:37] the underlying content of your video.

[10:40] and then enhance those emotions through

[10:42] editing choices such as the music

[10:44] choice, clip duration, and sound design

[10:46] here. The music choice in this dream

[10:48] video was excellent. Check it out.

[10:58] >> Wait, what?

[10:59] >> Stop.

[11:00] >> George, where are you? George, where are

[11:01] you? Why are you useless? Like, I

[11:02] actually hate

[11:03] >> But this is not just a strategy for

[11:05] storytellers. Look how Vsauce does this

[11:08] in a video that's just about explaining

[11:10] stuff.

[11:10] >> But out of all of these people, out of

[11:12] everyone who has ever existed, this is

[11:15] how many you will ever meet. You are a

[11:19] stranger to your own species. This is a

[11:22] video about how you will be forgotten.

[11:24] >> In both of these examples, the creator

[11:26] switched which music track was playing

[11:28] so that at all times the music was

[11:30] perfectly representing the mood of that

[11:32] moment. Number 13, have something to

[11:35] look forward to and maintain clear

[11:37] progression towards it. Look how Ryan

[11:40] does this in his video about exploring a

[11:42] cruise ship where I boarded and made my

[11:45] way to the cheapest room on this entire

[11:47] boat.

[11:53] Wa.

[11:59] So, this is the economy room on this

[12:01] cruise ship, which is crazy. Brian

[12:03] begins the video with the lamest part of

[12:05] the cruise and explores progressively

[12:08] more awesome rooms. Now, you could also

[12:10] do a top 10 or make the challenge

[12:13] increase in difficulty, like in Mr.

[12:15] Beast's Last to Leave the Circle videos,

[12:17] or in general, just have a clear goal

[12:20] that the video is working towards.

[12:22] Number 14, share what might go wrong to

[12:25] cause dramatic suspense and curiosity.

[12:27] Check out how Mr. Beast does this.

[12:30] >> Pull the pin.

[12:32] >> OH.

[12:32] >> OH.

[12:34] >> OH GOD. HE MISSED. WE ARE CLOSE.

[12:36] >> He landed in between the yellow circle

[12:38] and the ring of fire. Meaning if that

[12:40] was you, the video wouldn't be over and

[12:42] you would have got nothing.

[12:44] >> Yeah.

[12:44] >> Jimmy steps in to clarify what might go

[12:46] wrong and also the stakes. And then

[12:48] here's another example at 10 minutes 41.

[12:51] >> Those aren't real fireworks. They're not

[12:53] a problem. When that meteor falls, the

[12:55] explosions going to be insane. I'm kind

[12:56] of scared. And here's an example of Ryan

[12:58] Tran doing this.

[13:00] >> Good sailing weather.

[13:02] >> Love to hear that the Icelandic ocean is

[13:04] literally freezing and I also can't

[13:06] swim. So they give us this life vest

[13:08] that gives you

[13:09] >> 1 hour to live in the winter time.

[13:12] >> So you always want to tell the viewer

[13:14] what would happen if things failed and

[13:17] tell them all the reasons that things

[13:19] could fail. This maximizes the

[13:21] uncertainty and fear of the audience,

[13:24] getting your viewers on the tips of

[13:25] their seats. Number 15, maintain perfect

[13:29] clarity for what's happening so the

[13:31] audience always stays immersed rather

[13:33] than sometimes getting confused. For

[13:36] example, in Ryan Trey's video about

[13:38] sensory deprivation, he steps in to add

[13:41] some extra context. Check it out.

[13:44] >> The duck woke me up and now it's time to

[13:45] turn off the lights. the light.

[13:54] >> Turning off the lights added a

[13:56] completely new element to this that I

[13:58] genuinely didn't expect to be that

[13:59] dramatic, but it was. Notice how he

[14:01] added a voice over to clarify where we

[14:04] are at in the story and spark up some

[14:06] curiosity at the same time. And now,

[14:08] what other retention tactic was in that

[14:10] clip that we were just talking about

[14:11] like a minute ago? He's progressively

[14:14] eliminating more senses. So, the video

[14:17] is constantly getting more interesting.

[14:20] Number 16, introduce competition to

[14:23] cause drama, curiosity, and excitement.

[14:26] Mr. Beast often uses this because

[14:29] competition between people or sports

[14:31] teams or anything is just fundamentally

[14:34] entertaining.

[14:37] >> Oh, he almost got out of the first one.

[14:40] Okay, they're off. So far, no one is

[14:42] out. We are going until only one

[14:44] remains. THIS IS GOING TO GET US ONE

[14:46] STEP CLOSER TO THE FINAL FOUR.

[14:48] >> You can easily add a competitive element

[14:50] to just about anything. Look how Joshua

[14:53] Weissman made food compete with food.

[14:55] >> So, today we're going to make Taste and

[14:57] Rank the most popular breakfast in every

[14:59] single state in America.

[15:01] >> In both examples, you're curious who or

[15:04] what wins, and there's a dramatic

[15:06] conflict to drive the scenes forward.

[15:08] Number 17, highlight something

[15:11] counterintuitive or surprising to cause

[15:13] curiosity. Here's Vsauce doing this in

[15:16] one of his intros.

[15:18] >> But it made me think, we can send

[15:20] satellites into orbit and people to the

[15:22] moon and predict solar eclipses

[15:25] thousands of years into the future, but

[15:28] yet we cannot reliably predict which way

[15:31] the wind will be blowing in the next

[15:33] hour or so. As a creator, it's your job

[15:37] to seek out these counterintuitive,

[15:39] surprising, and unexpected things. Why?

[15:42] because those things always warrant an

[15:44] explanation. Content is much like a

[15:47] conversation with a viewer, and the best

[15:50] conversation starters are the ones that

[15:52] get people curious. Number 18, create a

[15:55] highlight reel of the best moments of

[15:58] the story or the best information that

[16:00] you have to share. This one,

[16:01] unfortunately, can't be shown in a short

[16:04] clip, but this video was an excellent

[16:07] example.

[16:08] before launching myself off the top rope

[16:10] at Wrestlemania

[16:13] and securing the first win of my career.

[16:17] You might have seen the card I was

[16:19] wearing around my neck. The story itself

[16:21] spanned months and multiple countries,

[16:23] yet was neatly packaged in a 9-minute

[16:27] emotional roller coaster ride. But it

[16:29] doesn't take a big budget to go viral.

[16:31] Look at how I Did a Thing got even more

[16:34] views than Logan by just creating a

[16:36] wooden spoon. He also turned a big

[16:38] project with setbacks and victories and

[16:40] funny moments into a 9-minute emotional

[16:43] roller coaster ride. And which tactics

[16:44] can you already see present in this

[16:46] video before you even watch it? Pause

[16:49] the video right now and count them up.

[16:50] So, first, there's a goal to beat a

[16:52] challenge for the video to maintain that

[16:55] constant clear progression towards. And

[16:58] also, the challenge is something

[17:00] unexpected. It it creates the question,

[17:02] is this even possible? This video didn't

[17:04] take a big budget at all. It was just

[17:07] about finding clever ideas to apply the

[17:09] retention tactics that got it to 13

[17:12] million views. And so I hope these

[17:13] tactics helped out a lot. And then if

[17:15] you want some more help getting them

[17:17] just remembering all of them and being

[17:18] able to apply them to your videos, then

[17:20] I made that infographic for you. You can

[17:22] sign up to uh my email list for free and

[17:24] then get that graphic. And then I'm

[17:26] starting a newsletter for just some more

[17:28] advanced advice and stuff for for

[17:30] growing your channel. So if you want

[17:31] some more free tips, then sign up for

[17:33] that. And then I need your help for just

[17:35] knowing what you want help learning. So

[17:38] if you sign up to the newsletter, then

[17:39] you can just reply to the emails I send

[17:41] to you and ask for more stuff that you

[17:45] want to learn about. And then I can be

[17:46] much more consistent with giving lessons

[17:48] over email. So sign up for that. And

[17:50] then if you haven't seen the clickbait

[17:51] version of this video where I talk about

[17:53] the click-through rate tactics, then go

[17:55] ahead and click here and you can see all

[17:57] I think there's 25 or 26 clickbait

[17:59] tactics. So go check that out.