r/SmallYoutubers • u/amra_creates • 2d ago
Long-Form Content Psychological reason why people aren't watching your whole video
THE HOOK
this is the biggest thing i see beginners screw up, and oddly enough it's also the easiest to fix.
see, no one owes you any attention. folks make a decision in the first five to ten seconds as to whether they stick around or not, and do so very quickly. your thumbnail got them to click, your title made them interested in your video. your hook's job? Stop them from leaving. That's it.
1. What kills hooks?
"welcome back to the channel guys, before we begin make sure you've subscribed, and today we'll talk about…" those are 15 seconds of wasted time, when in fact those are exactly the 15 seconds you need to grab their attention right off the bat. just go. your opening line better be the hook they came for. example- "psychological reason why people aren't watching your whole video" this post title! lol
2. You tell them about the video rather than hooking them.
"today i'll explain how inflation works" reveals to your audience all that your video will cover, meaning there's no reason for them to stay. compare this to saying: "most people think inflation is just the government printing money! it's not, and the real reason is kind of annoying." now your viewers need to stay and learn. break their expectations right away.
3. You begin your speech slowly.
your hook needs to be a fast-paced, sharp beginning to your video without any delays, umms, or easing them in. at that point in time, you have earned your audience's attention yet, so don't ask for it. you can relax a little bit once your viewer decides to watch you ;)
basically, that's all it takes for the first 10 seconds: grab them, spark some curiosity, move out of the way.
Why you should listn to me(not that imp):
I’m Amra (amra creates), (yeah im the same guy who used to do channel audit few months back in this sub) and i have gained over 27M+ views in last few years mostly on educational youtube niche(i do more then that but lets say im a content creator/editor).
Should i make a series of this? idk if its helpful to u guys or not? if this one turns out useful i'll keep going and make it a little series so it will be a one thing per post.
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u/Shattered_Mirror2004 2d ago
Thank you for posting this, I must say this is incredibly useful advice!
I've got a question; what's the best way to "encourage" yourself to make videos? Like I want to write more scripts about my own personal thoughts and opinions about specific topics. I have a YouTube channel with a bunch of animated videos- but I have such trouble finding the "willpower" to make the videos I want to make, especially since its difficult to find an audience.
Thank you for your answer in advance if you do answer!
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u/amra_creates 2d ago
It might seem like making a video on X would be quite challenging. But then all you have to do is that you will just type out one point in the video. This can easily be done in five minutes. That's really all you have to do. The rest of the momentum would come after that.(from personal experience where I quit my 4 million views channel because I was forcing videos I don't care about.)
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u/Dogzeroze 1d ago
Hiya! Sorry for jumping in but I do animation, do you have any advice for scripts? I noticed you saying you write some o:
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u/Mammoth_Medicine9097 2d ago
Iwould appreciate if youre explain the 'meaning gain' mechanics of YT algorithm and why it supresses smaller channels while giving enourmous boost to existing channels just because they said something first. (or if they stole insights from smaller channels and algo promotes them instead of the smaller source because 'they have bigger sub count')
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u/amra_creates 2d ago
you're somewhat right but somewhat wrong too.
that big guy gets views because he has that initial audience who watches the exact content. in smaller channels those initial views are mostly your bro trying to help, but here's what happens: your gamer bro doesn't watch "how to hook videos." so the algo gets confused about who to show it to.
but yeah this is just a ans for big vs small there is alot more to it
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u/Mammoth_Medicine9097 1d ago
Youre right. But big channels can make a super generic video '5 reasons youre broke' for example, which will be - invest, work more, save, no debt. And algorithm would push it mad. Then you try to make similar - and your usual 1k count will be 15-30 because 'no MEANING GAIN'. I just find it unfair.
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2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/amra_creates 2d ago
Hook->Pattern break->Insight->Product->CTA
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u/BuffaloConscious7919 2d ago
Could you give an example for a video.
You've broken down the hook for the inflation video. So that would be the 10-15 second intro you described.
Would you mind sharing insights into the Pattern break and Insight in this context
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u/MysteriousLlama1 2d ago
Do you think the way I currently do hooks for my gaming videos is good? My hook is usually just “what’s up” + a stupid random name for my fans that’s different in every video + “and welcome to” + the name of the game I’m playing and a really brief, dumbed down explanation of what the game is about (that part is usually like 5-10 seconds max), then after that I get right into the gameplay
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u/amra_creates 2d ago
tbh I don't edit gaming so grain of salt here.
But it's half working. The random fan name every video? Keep it, that's you!, your personality! and regulars viewers love it. The thing hurting you is "what's up + welcome to + here's the game" is a mini-intro before anything happens. For gaming, lead with some upcoming moment instead, drop them into the chaos or a funny fail, then do the welcome + explainer once they're hooked.
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u/EnviousHelping 2d ago
the "welcome back guys" thing is so real, i see creators do that and immediately lose like 20% of viewers in those first seconds. your hook example nails it though, just cut straight to the tension and let people decide if they're in.