Lesson · Day 2
The three parts every viral short shares — a killer hook, a tight body, and a clear CTA — and how each choice shapes your retention curve and reach.
Every scroll-stopping short has three parts. Slide to change the length of each.
Total: 60s
First seconds — a question, a bold claim, a surprising visual.
→ Perfect — grabs & sets stakes
The value — story, tip, or transformation.
Call to action — follow, save, comment, visit.
→ Clear ask — good
Every second, some viewers scroll away. This curve is exactly what the platform sees.
Avg retention
67%
Move the sliders and watch the curve above respond.
How many people are still watching after 5 seconds?
Is the body engaging enough to hold them?
Does the last second make them rewatch?
Views are calculated live from your average retention.
Estimated reach
0
views
📐 The formula
views ≈ 500 + (retention%)³ × 250,000
Retention is cubed — going from 50% → 80% doesn't double views, it quadruples them.
TikTok / Facebook / Instagram show your video to a small batch first. If retention stays healthy, they push to a bigger batch — and keep going until people stop watching.
How well your video holds the first ~200 test viewers.
viewers
watched
viewers
watched
viewers
watched
viewers
watched
viewers
watched
Total reach
31,200
views across all pushes
Why retention drops as reach grows: the first batch is your ideal audience. As the platform pushes to broader crowds, fewer people find it interesting — retention falls naturally. When it drops below ~35%, the algorithm decides the video has peaked and stops pushing.