You may have heard the buzz about the YouTube 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours watch time debacle. Or, if you didn’t, in short, YouTube tightened its rules around the criteria needed to apply for channel monetization. In order to monetize, creators must have amassed 4,000 hours of overall watch time on their channel within the past 12 months and have at least 1,000 subscribers.
显然，这使许多创作者变得疯狂，但它也引起了观看时间和其他相关指标的广泛关注。
出现以下问题？
- 观看时间如何计算？
- 我怎么知道有多少小时的视频竞争wers have watched so far?
- 有多少人需要观看我的视频才能达到4,000小时？
- How can I improve overall watch time?
For creators and businesses alike, watch time became a proxy for success.
“How many hours are you at?”
But, should businesses really care? If so, how can they track their success or failure?
In this report, you will find answers to these questions and much more.
Let’s dive in.
What is Watch Time on YouTube?
重要的是要注意，观看时间不仅仅是观看视频的百分比。不幸的是，许多营销人员试图通过使视频变短，并增加视频的时间来播放算法并增加手表的时间。这行不通。
Instead, watch time is a measurement of how long viewers watch your videos, measured in actual minutes and seconds. Watch time also refers to YouTube content that increases a viewer’s time spent watching videos across YouTube in general, not just videos on your channel.
As you can see, the metric is a lot more expansive thanjust您的频道。
According to YouTube, “we are actually optimizing for how a video contributes to a longer viewing session on YouTube. So, your video isn’t more likely to be seen just because it’s shorter.”
So, simply making your videos shorter is not going to help increase watch time.
这使我们对平均视频的品牌和营销人员有多长时间感到好奇，所以我们问…
While most of our respondents (62%) are creating shorter videos under 5 minutes, it’s clear that a lot of time is being invested into video creation. Since watch time is so important, how can marketers go about creating content that indeed improves this metric for its viewers?
Editor’s note:The first step in improving watch time is having a clear handle on how all of your video content is currently performing. Grab thisYouTube观察时间性能仪表板模板and visualize your watch time on YouTube in seconds.
5 Strategies for Improving Your Watch Time on Youtube
如何在YouTube上改善手表时间？根据YouTube的说法，答案很简单：“创作者在YouTube上取得成功所做的最好的事情就是制作人们想要观看的视频。”
But how do you go about that exactly? Here’s what we learned.
- Open with a preview
- Take advantage of YouTube Analytics
- Take advantage of YouTube playlists
- Optimize your YouTube videos
- Tell good stories
Editor’s note:Find out everything you need to know about your videos’ watch time and views with thisYouTube Watch Time Analysis Dashboard Template。
1.打开预览
Many of the marketers we talked to had a simple piece of advice for increasing watch time: start your video by telling people what you’re going to talk about. A simple overview can make a big difference.
Think of it as a quick table of contents at the beginning of your video. Or “Think of them like bullet points in sales copy,” says James Pollard, digital solution manager atThe Advisor Coach。“从本质上讲，这就是他们的工作方式。”
Sean Si founder ofSeo Hacker, says you’ll need to give this overview right away. “The most crucial part of your video is the first 15–30 seconds . . . this is the window you have to convince the audience that your video is worth watching further.”
与之相关的是，您可以通过将视频分为小部分来组织视频。“例如，如果您正在使用解释器视频，则像'我们的三步过程一样结构它。”OptimizePrime‘s Harris Schachter.
HealthLabs‘ Lauren Crain included another important point. “It’s simple, but it can make a big difference: put your most important point at the end. Viewers will know to stick around longer once you’ve told them what to expect.”
(Just keep in mind that you’ll have to告诉them that the most important point is at the end.)
那么，为什么这种策略起作用？为什么简单的概述如此有效？
“用户下降的最大原因之一是因为他们认为视频中没有任何价值，” Cat Crawford与Cat Crawford Marketing。
“如果您包括在引言早期将要解决的要点，观众更有可能坚持以获取所需的信息。”
2. Take advantage of YouTube Analytics
除了提供视频中内容的快速预览外，我们还收到了一些技术提示。
“Take advantage of YouTube’s analytics,” says John Z Wetmore ofPerils For Pedestrians。“You can see exactly what percentage of your initial viewers are watching one of your videos second by second. Is there a place where many people are clicking away?”
John gave an example from his own analytics:
“In my case, I discovered that a third of my viewers were clicking away during my 17-second title sequence. The title is necessary for cable TV, but is expendable on YouTube. So now I trim off the title sequence on YouTube and people stay a little longer.”
Mackenzie Thompson, marketing associate atNational Health Care Provider Solutions提供类似的建议。“我们利用Google Analytics来指出我们的视频中用户保留峰的位置。一旦确定了视频中的位置，我们就会回去查看视频，以查看当时的工作，并尝试在将来的视频中复制它。”
It’s a simple formula, but it has increased watch times for the National Health Care Provider Solutions.
Related:如何仅使用Google Analytics（分析）测量YouTube分析
3. Take advantage of YouTube playlists
两个营销人员建议我们没有期望的事情：利用播放列表。James Nuttall治愈假期suggests that marketers “Create an enticing playlist running order so your audience opts for a linear viewing experience.”
他说，测序很重要。“在更长的观看时间里，您需要有一个有趣的顺序，该顺序从一个视频中自然流到另一个视频。”
Colibri Digital Marketing‘s Andrew McLoughlin said the same. If your playlists “Follow a more or less linear flow, each video will follow the last and lead to the next.” This creates a better viewing experience, Lenney says, and leads to increased watch times.
Impulse Creative的入境传教士乔治·托马斯（George B.
“Create, Create, Create,” said Thomas. “You need to have a bank of helpful videos that your viewers can get lost in. Businesses can not think that they can produce 5 or 10 videos and immediately see improved watch time. Give your viewers a journey they can travel on. I have gotten lost for hours on content from Nick Nimmin, Peter McKinnon, and Gary Vaynerchuk because of the sheer amount of videos.”
Thomas added, “The same thing happens with our Sprocket Talk community. There is always another update, tutorial, interview, or strategy for HubSpot users to watch and educate themselves.”
4. Optimize your YouTube videos
“The first step to increasing a company’s video watch time is actually getting seen,” says Steve Pritchard ofBen Sherman。To do this, he says, you’ll need tooptimize your keywords。
“关键字与在Google上一样适用于YouTube视频”，您应该在标题和描述中包含它们。
Pritchard also noted that your description should grab people’s attention and get them to watch.
Channel Factory‘s junior marketing specialist Matthew Bianchi suggests using a third-party tool to help you out. “Channel Factory’s ViewIQ is free for Creators and offers powerful features that allow for creators to identify trends at the channel, video, and keyword level.”
Using these insights combined with information on similar channels, genres, and relevant tags lets creators see what their audience is looking for.
专家提示:Analyze Your YouTube Channel Performance Like a Pro
To find out what types of video content perform best with your audience, you may track video engagement metrics such as watch time, number of views, likes and dislikes of each video individually using a variety of tools, including YouTube itself.
现在，您可以在监视基本指标的单个仪表板中快速监视视频内容性能，例如：
- 平均观看时间。How much time do viewers spend watching your video content?
- Watch time by video.哪些视频每月都会吸引您的大部分观众观看时间？
- 订户获得了丢失。How quickly are you gaining or losing subscribers?
- 喜欢，评论和分享的数量。您的听众如何参与？
现在，您可以从我们的视频营销专家的经验中受益，他们将plug-and-play Databox templateshowing the most important metrics for measuring your YouTube channel performance. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in marketing reports, and best of all, it’s free!
您只需单击几下即可轻松设置它 - 无需编码。
To set up the dashboard, follow these 3 simple steps:
步骤1：获取模板
第2步：将您的YouTube帐户与DataBox连接。beplay体育appios
Step 3:Watch your dashboard populate in seconds.
5. Tell good stories
In the end, capturing viewers’ attention comes down to telling good stories.
Michael Hammond, founder and creative director ofStoryboard Media Group, lays it out:
“如果你的视频是美味的,难忘的,delivers on a promise, has some intrigue, the journey makes sense… people will stick with it by spending more time-consuming.”
多彩的眼睛用Stacy Caprio提供了一个简单的技巧，可以帮助您讲述更好的故事：提前脚本您的视频。脚本确保您的视频“以良好的速度剪辑，并且在您只是拍摄袖口时就无法实现的方式很有趣。”
Of course, you still have to get people to start your videos so they appreciate your stories.JLenney Marketingrecommendsboosting views并在一天中的正确时间发布时间。根据他的经验，这意味着在一个工作日午后发布您的视频。
But you should also test post time, storytelling techniques, keywords, and everything else. “Test video lengths, test types of content, test filming styles, test everything you can,” says Amy from内容职业。
“每个创作者的频道都不同。观众不同，内容是独一无二的，而人们观看的原因是多样的。没有一个尺寸适合所有人，因此需要创建，测试和测量诸如观看时间之类的指标至关重要。”
Related:9 Ways to Improve Audience Retention on YouTube
Editor’s note:不喜欢书面内容吗？乔治·B·托马斯Impulse Creativeprovides a detailed walk-through of the key metrics around watch time as well as strategies for improving them in the video below.
Want to discover which videos create the most buzz about your brand? Visualize the performance of your YouTube channel in minutes by pulling your data into Databox.立即连接YouTube和Databoxbeplay体育appios。
