Guide
Retention rate is the share of viewers still watching at each second
Updated
Retention rate is the share of viewers still watching at a given point in your video. Read it as a curve: it shows where people left, so you know what to fix.
In short
- Retention rate is the share of viewers who are still watching at a given point in your video.
- To work it out, divide the viewers still watching by the viewers who started, and multiply by 100.
- Platforms show it as a curve across the whole video, and often as one average percentage watched.
- The curve shows the exact moment people left, so you know which part of the video to fix.
- Only compare retention between your own videos of a similar length on the same platform.
How is retention rate calculated?
Divide the viewers still watching at a point by the viewers who started, then multiply by 100. Do that for every second and you get the retention curve.
- In this example, 400 of the 1,000 people who started were still watching at 15 seconds, so retention there is 40%.
Worked example
Made-up numbers, to show the sum.
| Point in the video | Still watching | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Start | 1,000 | 100% |
| 3 seconds | 700 | 70% |
| 15 seconds | 400 | 40% |
| End | 250 | 25% |
Point in the video: Start
- Still watching
- 1,000
- Retention
- 100%
Point in the video: 3 seconds
- Still watching
- 700
- Retention
- 70%
Point in the video: 15 seconds
- Still watching
- 400
- Retention
- 40%
Point in the video: End
- Still watching
- 250
- Retention
- 25%
What is the difference between the retention curve and the average?
The curve shows the share still watching at every second. The average percentage watched turns the whole video into one number.
- Two videos can have the same average while one of them loses half its viewers at one bad moment.
- YouTube calls the curve audience retention, and the average the average percentage viewed.
Retention curve and average percentage watched
| What | Retention curve | Average percentage watched |
|---|---|---|
| What it shows | The share still watching at every second | One number for the whole video |
| Good for | Finding the moment people left | Ranking your videos against each other |
| What it does not tell you | How many people saw the video | Where people left |
What: What it shows
- Retention curve
- The share still watching at every second
- Average percentage watched
- One number for the whole video
What: Good for
- Retention curve
- Finding the moment people left
- Average percentage watched
- Ranking your videos against each other
What: What it does not tell you
- Retention curve
- How many people saw the video
- Average percentage watched
- Where people left
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
What does the retention curve tell you?
Most curves drop at the start and then flatten. Where and how they drop tells you what went wrong.
Curve shapes and what they usually mean
| Shape | What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Drop at the start | Many viewers leave in the first few seconds | The opening did not make them stay, or the ad reached the wrong people |
| Steady slide | No big drops, but viewers keep leaving | The video moves too slowly for a phone feed |
| Sudden drop in the middle | A sharp fall at one moment | Something at that moment lost them |
| Flat end | The line stays level near the end | The people who stayed watch to the end |
Shape: Drop at the start
- What you see
- Many viewers leave in the first few seconds
- What it usually means
- The opening did not make them stay, or the ad reached the wrong people
Shape: Steady slide
- What you see
- No big drops, but viewers keep leaving
- What it usually means
- The video moves too slowly for a phone feed
Shape: Sudden drop in the middle
- What you see
- A sharp fall at one moment
- What it usually means
- Something at that moment lost them
Shape: Flat end
- What you see
- The line stays level near the end
- What it usually means
- The people who stayed watch to the end
How do you improve retention rate?
Fix the part of the curve that drops, one change at a time, so you can see what helped.
- If many people leave at the start, rewrite the opening so the first sentence says what the video is about.
- If viewers leave steadily, cut the pauses and filler, and change the picture more often with b-roll, zoom-ins or captions.
- If there is a sudden drop, watch that exact moment, then cut or rework what happens there.
- Compare the new version with your own recent videos of a similar length, not with numbers from other accounts.
Mistakes when comparing retention rates
Retention numbers only compare fairly when the videos are alike.
- A 15-second video keeps a bigger share of viewers than a 2-minute video, just because it is shorter.
- On short videos, replays can push the average percentage watched above 100%.
- TikTok, Instagram and YouTube count views differently, so do not compare retention across platforms.
- Retention shows who kept watching, not who bought. Look at it next to your sales or sign-ups.
Where Cutroom fits
Cutroom handles two of the usual fixes for a steady slide: fewer pauses and more changes on screen.
- On its Punch and Native edit styles, Cutroom shortens the pauses it finds between the transcribed words and removes the ums and uhs that show up in your transcript.
- It adds b-roll clips on the words you pick, and captions timed to your voice.
- You upload one clip of up to 3 minutes and get a 9:16 video back. A 30-second video costs 110 credits.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it.
Questions people ask
- What is a good retention rate?
- There is no single good number, because video length, platform and replays all change it. Compare each video with your own recent videos of a similar length. If a change does better than your usual number, it worked.
- How do you calculate retention rate?
- Divide the number of viewers still watching at a given second by the number who started, then multiply by 100. Do that for every second and you get the retention curve.
- How is retention different from hook rate?
- Hook rate looks only at the first few seconds. Retention covers the whole video. A video can hook people well and then lose them right after, and looking at both tells you which problem you have.
- How is retention different from watch time?
- Watch time is the total minutes watched, which grows with reach and length. Retention is a share, so it shows how well the video held the people who saw it. A widely seen video can have a lot of watch time and poor retention.
- Does retention affect reach?
- Usually, yes. YouTube and TikTok both say that how long people watch is one of the signals they use to recommend videos, so a video people keep watching tends to be shown to more people.
Cutroom shortens pauses on its Punch and Native styles and adds b-roll and captions to your words. Your first video is free.