Retaining YouTube subscribers is the biggest goal of many channels, especially those looking to grow their ad revenue and brand recognition. A loyal subscriber base can help you attract new viewers who have already made a commitment to your content and values, and they are most likely to be fervent brand evangelists that recommend your videos to others.
Retention is an important metric because it tells you how many people are continuing to watch your video after the first few minutes. This helps you understand what is working and what isn’t. If you can identify moments of peak audience retention in your video, you can use them as level-ups to increase the number of times your video is watched to completion.
YouTube also offers some interesting insights into your video’s audience retention by breaking down the data on a per-video basis. You can see the retention graphs for each of your video on the “Viewer Retention” tab of the YouTube Analytics Engagement report. This metric can provide a clear picture of the best moment in your video, as well as any dips that are drawing viewers away from your videos.
Other important metrics you can track on a channel-level include view counts and average watch time. You can increase both of these by creating and promoting well-organized playlists and encouraging your subscribers to watch more of your videos by using subscription CTAs in your videos. Also, by creating and promoting your videos in niche communities like Reddit, Facebook, and forums, you can increase the number of people who will watch your videos in the first place.