Your Ending Is Sending Viewers to Your Competitors

Hey,

"I'll see you in my next video."

It sounds harmless, polite even.

But it's the line that makes people leave before your next video gets a chance.

I watched it happen with one of my clients, a dog trainer with a big online course business.

We pulled up the retention graph on one of her older videos. About eight and a half minutes in, up to 41% of her viewers were still watching.

By the time the video finished, half a minute later, it was down to about 15%.

So we played that section back.

She'd just said "give these exercises a try and let me know how they work", then plugged her free masterclass, and finished with this.

"Looking forward to training with you, and I'll see you in my next video."

Then a logo sting.

Everyone watching could hear the video ending, so they left. And because nothing pointed them to another of her videos, most of them went back to the homepage, where the next thing they watched could easily be another dog trainer.

(I made exactly the same mistake on my gaming channel as a teenager. Almost every creator has done this at some point.)

These are the phrases I tell my clients to stop using, because each one tells the viewer the video is over.

• "To recap..." or "To summarise..."
• "Give this a try and let me know how it goes"
• "Like and subscribe" or "Leave a comment below"
• "That's it for today"
• "I'll see you in my next video"
• A logo sting or outro animation

So she cut the wrap-up completely. On her newest video, the last teaching point flows straight into the next video, with no recap and no cut in between.

"There's actually something else that's missing. We need to change a couple of things in your day-to-day routine in order to really see progress. And that's exactly what my next video is about."

The end of that graph stays flat, because nobody heard the video ending.

And 9.6% of the people who saw her end screen clicked it. Her channel average is 3.1%, and the video before this one, built the same way, did 8.5%. I tell clients anything over 2 to 3% is already doing well.

She’s not the only one. A violin teacher I work with now ends each of his practice videos by sending viewers to the lesson that teaches the same skill. The first time he did it, 6% of the people who saw his end screen clicked it, against a channel average of 1.1%.

Here's why that matters if YouTube is meant to bring you buyers.

The people still watching in the last 15 seconds are your warmest leads. They've just sat through your whole video, so they're the easiest people you'll ever get to watch another one, as long as you say the right words.

That means opening a loop. Make them feel like this video gave them 99 pieces of the puzzle they were trying to solve, and that if they don't click the next one, everything they just learned goes to waste. She gave viewers five exercises, then told them something was still missing from their day-to-day routine, and the only way to find out what was to click.

Every one of those clicks is a free view from someone who already likes what you teach. When they watch two or three videos in a row, YouTube learns they're a fan and starts showing them more of you on the homepage. And every extra video builds the trust that gets them to click through to whatever you sell, whether that's buying your course, joining your community or booking a call.

So the viewer who leaves after one video is a lead you got really close to, and then handed to someone else.

Play the last 30 seconds of your latest video and if you hear any of those phrases, you've found where your viewers are leaving.

Jamie

P.S. If you want to work with me on building this into your whole channel, so every video sends the right viewers to the next one and then on to your offer, book a call here and we'll see if we're a fit.

P.P.S. I added about 1,200 new thumbnails to the Thumbnail Vault last week, each with a note on why it got the click. Have a look here.