Numbers
Where they stopped watching
Average watch time in seconds is the number dashboards show and the least comparable one they could have picked, because six seconds on a nine-second video and six on a sixty-second video are opposite results.
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The post
34 second video, 11.2 seconds average watch
- Retention: 33 percent
- Loop rate: below 1, no rewatches
- Break-even length: about 20 seconds
Three steps
How it will work
Divide by length
Retention as a percentage is the only version of this number that compares across videos.
Check for loops
Watch time above the video length means people rewatched, which is the strongest signal short-form produces.
Find the drop
Where retention falls off a cliff is the edit you needed to make, and it is almost always earlier than it feels.
What it is for
Why this one is worth having
Shorter is not automatically better
A short video with high retention and no rewatches can lose to a longer one holding half its audience, because total time watched still counts.
The first three seconds decide most of it
Retention curves for short-form are dominated by the initial drop. Fixing the hook moves the whole curve in a way no later edit can.
Loops are the cheat code
A video that ends where it started gets rewatched, which multiplies watch time without adding a second of length.
Available now
What you can already do
Retention and hook rate are both defined in the glossary, including what the numbers do and do not tell you about a video that underperformed.
RetentionFAQ
Watch time calculator, asked and answered
What retention percentage is good?
For short-form, holding half the audience to the end is strong and a third is respectable. It varies enormously by length, which is exactly why the percentage beats the seconds.
Does rewatching count?
Yes, and it is weighted heavily. Watch time exceeding the video length means loops, which is the most efficient way to accumulate it.
Why did a video with good retention get no views?
Retention is measured on the people who were shown it. If the initial test audience did not engage, good retention on a tiny sample never gets the chance to compound.
More tools
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The product is further along than the tools
Ten free videos, no watermark, and no card to start.