Online video viewers abandoning clips after just 10 secs

With so much choice and distraction it's not surprising to discover that it doesn't take long for a video viewer to get bored and click away. In fact, for 20% of viewers it takes 10 seconds or less to abandon a video that doesn't hold their attention, found recent research by Visible Measures.

By 30 seconds into an online video as many as third of viewers have moved on, at 1 minute 44% have left and almost 60% have gone at the 2 minute mark.

According to Visible Measure's Matt Cutler, "if your online video campaign has 10 million viewers, 2 million of them saw less than 10 seconds of it. Ouch."

Ouch indeed. And if you think that putting out shorter videos is the answer, think again. The propensity to click away from an online video doesn't appear to decrease for shorter clips. For instance, after 60 seconds of viewing time an average 44% of viewers will have abandoned the clip, whether that clip runs for one minute, two minutes, or even five minutes, found the research.

The solution? Get to the point.. quickly. Don't dilly dally around with introductions and blurb or legalese, grab the viewer's attention with tightly focused content and a clear, simple call to action.

To give your online video more of a chance of going viral, inject some humor.

Tags: online video