Social media platform Instagram recently unveiled a new retention chart for each reel to indicate the percentage of views from the people who watched a reel at each moment. Retention charts indicate how many viewers stay till the end of a reel, while also providing what is called the ‘skip rate’, which displays how many viewers dropped off in less than three seconds. This helps brands see which creators truly hold audience attention and could also boost credibility for influencers with high retention. Experts reckon the new retention metrics will shift focus from reach to real engagement.
The industry
For the Rs 2,344 crore Indian influencer marketing industry (EY, 2024), this could likely change the way creators approach content and the kind of conversations brand managers will have with influencers on the platform. After all, Instagram is a critical platform, accounting for an estimated 47% of influencer marketing budgets.
As per research by AI-powered influencer marketing firm Konfluence, creators today earn anything between Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,00,000 a month depending on their following and engagement. Some mega influencers on Instagram earn between Rs 3 and 5 lakh, surpassing their YouTube counterparts.
The new performance metrics will mean that some Instagram influencers will feel the pinch in terms of their earnings. “Creators who can keep audiences beyond the 3-second skip window could command 20–30% higher collaboration fees, as engagement depth starts driving pricing. The real winner here is the brand-influencer ecosystem as the retention charts and skip rates don’t just measure impact but they force both sides to get sharper,” observes Shreya Badola, group account head of branding & marketing at Wit & Chai Group.
Niche educators and lifestyle voices could see potentially their stock and brand equity rise with the new skip rate and retention chart.
Influencer earnings
The earnings landscape in influencer marketing is likely to see a significant reshuffle, points out Maha Mahdy, head of content & creator business MENA/India, AnyMind Group. “Think of these metrics as a quality control filter over the entire ecosystem. Brands can now find the micro-influencer with 50,000 followers who has a 90% retention rate on every reel, and know that partnership is going to deliver results that a 1-million follower account with a high skip rate couldn’t touch,” she notes.
Mahdy adds that the creators that are largely “trend hoppers” could feel the hit. “These are creators that rely on a quick viral sound or flash dance to get views but seldom offer any substance.”
Experts also point out that a higher number of followers do not necessarily mean higher retention or engagement. Micro creators for example, which have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers demonstrate a higher retention rate of around 70% compared with mega creators that have over a million followers, whose retention is between 40% and 50%. Regional language creators on Instagram also demonstrate a higher retention among their communities at around 60-70%.
“Earnings will increasingly depend on quality and storytelling. Both brands and creators must invest in stronger hooks, authentic storytelling, and native content to drive retention and make collaborations more impactful,” adds Ramya Ramachandran, founder & CEO, Whoppl.
The new skip rate in particular is expected to change the way an Instagram reel’s success is measured. Creators and brands will now have a more concrete picture of how their reels are received by audiences since the previously used number of views also included those who watched the reel for less than three seconds. For brands, this is akin to switching from the footfalls in a mall to measuring how long shoppers linger in your stores, says Badola.
The focus on retention over views means the days of vanity metrics are now numbered. It will also push the creator-brand ecosystem towards greater maturity, remarks Amit Dhawan, partner & CEO of ArtE Mediatech. “Brands will get sharper ROI and creators who connect will be rewarded. It will make retention the new currency as brands will need to back those creators that truly build communities with their content,” explains Dhawan.
The task now before advertisers is to identify the right collaborators to amplify their message. Influencer marketing agencies are already employing data-led tools and platforms for reliable creator discovery.