How Does Visual Cohesion Enhance Retention?

When I was working with a client to start a new channel recently, I recognized it as a good time to address a super big problem with their old channel: a lack of consistency or good visual identity.

I think some people greatly undervalue what good a clean and cohesive visual brand can do to keep their audiences coming back. While this was for a YouTube channel, it applies everywhere (to brands, companies, etc.). This can be something as simple as picking a good font, which is more important than you may think, to shooting with a different lens if possible, to color grading shots differently, or even to making clean graphics that feel harmonious.

When making the first few videos on this new channel, as the editor, I took charge in bringing that new visual identity. In doing so from the start, we were able to keep retention rates and engagement much higher. While the old channel averaged 4-5% people who watched the whole way through, the new one averaged 13-17%. While that could be because of other factors, the new channel had way longer videos (by sometimes a factor of 5) and audiences also kept coming back at higher rates than they had for the other channel. Keeping that visual image consistent and high-quality, even and especially in thumbnails, allowed audiences to recognize these videos quickly and therefore be more likely to watch and stay to the end because we gained their trust.