Video engagement metrics and why you need to track them
Even if you use affordable equipment and free video editing services or software, the whole process takes time, effort, and an advertising budget.
Good news: video performance can and must be measured, it’s not something ephemeral and theoretical. The exact KPIs and metrics will depend on your marketing strategy and content type, so we can’t give you a ready answer right now. But we can provide you with a list of the most important metrics so that you choose the ones which fit your marketing purposes the most.
And the last thing before we start: don’t hesitate to try different methods and change your strategy when you feel it can be useful.
View count
Whatever simple and self-evident this metric may seem, it’s nevertheless quite misleading, as each platform counts the number of views in its own way.
For example, YouTube counts only views longer than 30 seconds, while merciful Facebook shows you a new view if someone watches your video for at least 3 seconds. The most generous is TikTok: a view counter upgrades each time the video starts in someone’s in-feed, even unintentionally.
This ambiguity makes a view count more as a vanity metric, as it doesn’t really say anything about your real popularity. The recording may be played automatically, stopped in a couple of seconds, or even played till the end it may still not generate any leads or conversions.
Play rate
This metric, also known as view rate, may seem similar to the previous one, but it counts the number of times when users intentionally clicked on the video to run it. So this KPI says a little bit more about your marketing success.
A hint! To make people start your video make sure it has an attractive and intriguing thumbnail and description if there is any.
Engagement
Engagement means that viewers somehow react to your video: hit "likes", leave comments, share your content with other users, etc. Frankly speaking, it’s also a vanity metric, as people can "like"” the recording without actually watching it. On the other hand, if there are vivid discussions under your video post, it’s a good sign.
Watch time
There is an urban myth that a viewer’s attention span is about 15 seconds, and an average video-view duration rarely exceeds this number. That’s not true: TED talks or webinars may last dozens of minutes, and still, people watch them till the end.
If this KPI shows that your videos are being stopped somewhere at the beginning, maybe you need to change something: make your visuals either shorter or more involving.
A hint! An ideal promotional video should be no longer than 1 minute.
Сlick-through rate
This KPI comes in handy if you want your viewers to click some link or ad, embedded in the video. If this metric is not really impressive, consider placing your CTA (call to action) at the beginning of the video rather than at the end.
Video conversion
Conversion means how many of the video’s viewers become real leads and customers. There are different tools for measuring this KPI, as, in fact, for marketing strategies, it’s the only one that matters.
That’s exactly why you need metrics analysis! Besides that, use our marketing tips, use storytelling techniques to attract more viewers, and publish more product demo videos.