Glossary
Retention rate
The share of viewers still watching at each moment of a video; its curve shows where people drop off.
Instagram, TikTok and YouTube analytics show a curve: everyone at the start, then fewer and fewer people. A sharp drop at the same point flags a specific problem: a weak hook, a section that drags, a repetition.
Platforms take it into account when deciding who to show a video to. It is often a better guide than the view count: a video seen less but watched to the end tells you it has found its audience.
Emodio measures the views of each video; the retention curve itself lives in each network’s analytics.
A bakery’s video loses many viewers right as the title changes: the transition is too slow, so it gets shortened.