How to sustain interest throughout a video
 â â â [Demand Curve]( [Read on demandcurve.com]( The Growth Newsletter #187 How to sustain interest throughout a video There are organic people and paid people. The two camps rarely interact. But ad marketers can learn a ton from TikTokers, YouTubers, and Tweeters.  And content marketers/creators can learn a ton from ads.  Let's dive into some A+ lessons from organic, viral short-form videos ð½ï¸  â Neal Brought to you by [dofollow.com](âthe B2B SaaS link-building specialists.  Cheap backlinks tank your website authority.  If you want to future-proof your SEO strategy and make sure your site can withstand any algorithm change Google throws your way, you need to start getting backlinks from high-authority sites that actually make sense for your business.  The experts at [dofollow.com]( help B2B SaaS startups get links from 80-90DR sites in your industry that boost your authority, rankings, and traffic.  Start with a [free link building assessment]( and see where you stand against your competitors. Want to be featured in front of over 101,000 founders and marketers? [Learn more here](. How to sustain interest throughout a video Insight from [Jenny Hoyos on Marketing Against the Grain](.  Jenny has 1.6B views on 124 YouTube Shorts, averaging ~13M views per video.  Previously, we covered the [overall structure she uses for her videos](, but she recently shared a teardown line-by-line, second-by-second for one of her videos with 21M+ views, [How Many Ice Cream Flavors Can You Get with $1?](  Let's dive in!  Note: These tips apply to any short-form video content, including B2B video ads.  The Hook  Hereâs the opening Hook: Hook Takeaways: - Get right into it. No pre-ample. Just start doing it and explain as you go.
- Donât waste time saying anything explained visually. She didnât need to say âof frozen yogurtâ because you know that already.
- Use visuals to aid comprehension. The $1 bill on the cup visually reinforces the concept of âshe only has $1, and itâs going to be spent on froyo.â Note: Hook and explain quickly. Check out the [1,3,5+ framework]( for more. Foreshadow/Context  Next, she sets the stage with conflict and stakes with the line: âThatâs going to be like $20 and itâs only vanilla:â Takeaways: - Quickly give context on what they need to watch the video. If a cup with a single flavor costs $20, then it will be hard to get a lot of flavors for $1.
- Her over-the-top facial expressions are to show you how to feel.  Transition  Then, she Transitions into the main action of the video seamlessly: âSo I brought a tiny cup to get every flavor without spending more than a dollar.â  Takeaways: - Transition into the action quickly and seamlessly. Donât waste time standing in front of the camera introâing. Just explain as youâre doing it.
- Recap the concept again. Youâre hitting people with a lot of info at once, and you randomly came up in their feed. Keep reminding them and re-hook them.  Body  Then she fills the tiny cup with froyo and does a lot to keep you engaged: She adds drama to make it interesting: - The machine spits, and her mom says: âTheyâre going to kick you out.â
- She introduces the main struggle (with intense music), âI was more concerned that the more flavors I added, the less space I had in my cup.â
- She purposely makes a âmistakeâ by adding the same flavor twice.
- She eats a bit of the double flavor and asks, âIs this cheating?â and her mom says theyâre going to call the cops on her. Â She inserts her CTA halfway through the video with a subtle comment from her mom: âAll this for one subscriber,â which gets people in the mindset to subscribe. - Add CTAs in the middle of the video at peak action rather than at the very end. A big virality signal is someone re-watching your videoâa boring CTA at the end prevents that.
- But itâs also smart, as many people will bounce right after they get the payoff from watching the video (seeing how many flavors she can fit and if itâll cost less than a dollar). If you do the CTA first, almost everyone will see it. Â She adds a visual reminder of the concept and the progress: Conclusion - As she finishes and walks towards the scale, she says: â14 ice cream flavors, is it going to be less than a dollar? This reminds people of the premise, so theyâre more invested in the answer.
- Her mom says: âNo, I donât think so,â to add drama.
- She stands there holding $1 and looking stressed to add drama and continue to reinforce the concept.
- She uses intense, crescendoing music and a series of fast cuts between her face and the cup, like a drum roll, to add drama and intensity again.
- She subtly encourages people to watch her other related video by ending the video with her mom saying, " No ice cream for you again!â
- It ends abruptly, as her mom says that, so the video's retention rates are high throughout (if you linger after the high note, people wonât re-watch).
- Again, donât put the primary CTA here. Put it earlier in the video when everyone is hooked on watching it, or do it subtly as she did.  Want to learn more? Watch [Jennyâs full video,]( [her analysis](, our previous [breakdown of her Short structure](, and [her interview on Creator Science](.  It doesn't matter if you make organic content or ads; this is key info. What did you think of today's newsletter? ð Loved it: Forward to a friend, or replyâa simple ð will do! It really helps. ð¤·ââï¸ Meh: You can unsubscribe [here](), or manage your subscription [here](. ð¤ I'm new here: You can join the party [here](.
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