Roughly 99% of videos ruin their chances of generating crazy-high views 📈 in the first 3 seconds. The mistake (IMO):  it’s because those videos lead with opening pleasantries:

• “Hi, I’m Jason Pantana—blah, blah, blah.”

• “Welcome to another episode of ‘nobody cares!’”

In the time it takes to say the words, your viewers will have scrolled past. Theme-song intro clips, bumpers, and logo-stings -- it’s all extraneous to your video’s subject. My point is:  get to the point straightaway! 

Facebook recently conducted a cross-platform study in which they learned that half of viewers who committed to watching the first three seconds of a video, statistically speaking, would’ve gone on to have watched for 30 seconds or longer. So, in theory, it’s a battle over capturing that first three seconds of attention. (Hence, Yoda 😂)

It’s not that you can’t or shouldn’t include intro bumpers or say who you are—just don’t do it at the very beginning when it’s make-or-break in terms of winning the viewers attention.

Pretty much every algorithm in existence (Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Google, YouTube, et al.) is predicated on holding viewers/users attention.

• If a web-surfer clicks a link on Google and immediately bounces before the page loads, Google infers that link should be demoted in the future search rankings. 

• If viewers watch only a few seconds of a YouTube video and then quickly move on to someone else’s video predictably, YouTube concludes something about that video isn’t relevant and therefore holds back its reach in its search rankings, explore pages, and its various other feeds. 

If a video is able to sustain viewership, then naturally, a platform is incentivized to push that video out far and wide. It’ll rank better in searches, distribute through explore/discovery feeds, and get pushed to more of your followers, period.

So if you wanna improve how your next video performs, hook viewers with an opening “Lean-in Line”—i.e., an attention-grabbing statement, question, or stat. Something that’ll draw viewers into what you have to say.

And remember:  the success or failure of your next video is determined in its first three seconds!

In your opinion, what are the best ways to start a video? I’d love to hear your thoughts/experiences in a comment below ⤵️