Boost your viewer retention without podcast episode trailers

A few weeks ago, I talked you about podcasts episodes trailers.

The Diary Of A CEO podcast is paving the way. Many try to emulate their trailers.

It’s not a guarantee for getting millions of views. However it’s a main factor for increasing viewer retention, which has a direct impact of views.

But you need a top class video editor for that.

So I’ve been digging and I found podcasts getting thousands if not hundreds of thousands of views on their episodes without having such a trailer.

Without having a trailer actually?

But they have one thing in common: the host’s ability to build curiosity from the first second.

Let’s dive in with 3 examples.

1) Why are we so fat these days?

This episode of Codie Sanchez’s BigDeal podcast with Mike Israetel starts with this question above.

One punchy question, no time wasted.

To give you some context, here’s the thumbnail and title.

Note the link between those above and Codie’s first question. I could link those together and my quote would make total sense:

« Pharma isn’t the problem for our health problems. Fine! But why are we so fat then? »

As soon as the video starts, you’re getting your first answers from the guest.

And just like that, you’re hooked.

2) In the lead up to the 2024 Election, Donald Trump went on…

…14 podcasts.

That’s how started this episode from the Colin and Samir Show.

This episode is not an interview, but more like a solo episode with two hosts (ie. Colin and Samir). Nonetheless, the video doesn’t start with a podcast intro.

Instead, you’re jumping right in.

Here are the thumbnail and title:

If you’re interested in PR or podcasting or both, you might want to know how youtube podcasts predicted the 2024 election.

Did Trump’s strategists know that podcasts would be a huge help for his campaign? How did they pick the podcasts that Trump would go on? How many podcasts are we talking about?

Right after clicking on the thumbnail, you get your first elements of answer.

Boom, you’re hooked.

3) Yesterday was the anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America, how fitting?

Said Chris Williamson to his guest Graham Hancock, who replied:

« I guess it is. But of course, he didn’t discovered it ».

What a start.

Here, the thumbnail and title mention buried secrets of America’s history.

“Buried” and “hidden” make it quite obvious that some people have been trying to cover stuff up. And because we’re talking about history, it makes you think that this has been happening for a very long time.

Curiosity gap? Checked. So you click.

If there was no doubt in your mind that Columbus did discover America, you’re getting your first shock with only 8 seconds on the timeline.

And just like that, you’re hooked.

So what should you do then?

As you’ve seen above, this works when the first words of the video match with the thumbnail and title.

Outside of podcasts, top youtube creators have a clear idea of what are the thumbnail and title of a video are before they make the video.

Therefore, when the time comes to script the video and record it, they know what should be said first.

Podcast is different. It’s not scripted. But you know what your first question is before recording.

So you need a punchy, concise question or statement that builds enough curiosity to make your viewers stay.

Write titles and craft thumbnails that serve as an introduction for this punchy question/sentence.

Then you should have something that grabs your viewers’s attention.

Because while podcasts trailers rely on your editor’s ability to build curiosity, starting an episode without any trailer relies only your ability as a host to start the episode with THE right sentence.

That’s all for me today,
Loïc.