Video content is often the most effective form of content for brands. It engages, explains, and inspires. Thus, video content production is exploding across the globe as marketers, influencers and every-day people use it as a way to capture attention in a fast-moving, digital world.
But how do you know if your videos are actually realizing that result? And for marketers, are your videos compelling enough to generate leads? Answering these questions requires data. It’s all about the data…
Video analytics for marketing is a key aspect of content analytics that your team needs to be tracking and analyzing regularly. To help with this, we’ve put together this handy guide to provide you with insights and information around video analytics, so you can truly measure their return on investment (ROI).
Video Is Everywhere
The landscape of video for marketing is already well developed. According to a State of Video Marketing survey, 85 percent of businesses use it. Of those that use it, 92 percent say it’s an important part of their content strategy.
Image: Wyzowl
Video has become a cornerstone of content marketing efforts. Why? Two reasons: Audiences consume it easily and often, and it provides strong ROI.
Audiences Want to Watch Videos
It’s not just younger generations that are glued to YouTube. B2B businesses are leveraging it as well because 59 percent of executives prefer it over text. It’s a quick and visual way to convey a message.
Video Delivers Traffic
Content marketing is all about attracting audiences. Video does this really well for many brands. One case study found that video attracts 300 percent more traffic. Furthermore, websites are more likely to rank higher in search if it includes video, as it improves SEO. Visitors may spend up to 2.6x more time on pages with video than they do on those without it.
Much opportunity exists for video to deliver content marketing ROI. But simply creating a few videos, sharing them on social media, or placing one on your home page doesn’t necessarily equate to success. So, what does? Let’s explore what you need to know about video analytics for marketing.
How Do You Define a Video’s Success?
Like every content project, you start with a goal. Goals will be unique across companies and even across individual videos. Goals break down into individual metrics, and there are several key metrics in video marketing that you need to understand.
Key Video Metrics
Impressions
- Indicates the number of times the video loaded and was available to view; it doesn’t mean actual views.
- Does it matter? Most content marketers aren’t impressed by impressions. We expect a video to load on a website, but that doesn’t mean we watch it. So, it’s not extremely helpful in defining success.
Views
- Calculates the number of clicks on the video, wherever it lives.
- Does it matter? Yes, but with caveats. A “view” means someone started the video, and what counts as a view varies by platform. Make sure you know what constitutes a view on your particular platform before you analyze this data.
Play rate
- Find this by dividing the number of views by the number of impressions.
- Does it matter? You need views and impressions to get this metric, so these figures are useful after all. Play rate is a good test of how well your video captures your audience’s attention. This is especially helpful if you are testing video thumbnails, which is the image that the video viewer displays by default before a viewer clicks play.
Engagement rate
- Reveals how “interesting” the video was to those that clicked.
- You find this number by looking at people still watching the video at a certain point, divided by those that started watching it.
- Does it matter? It’s a very granular analysis, but worthwhile to understand how relevant and engaging the video was to your audience. It can let you know what’s working and what’s not. If engagement is low, try A/B testing with versions that have small differences.
Average View Duration
- Calculates the average amount of time (minutes/seconds) your video was watched across all video views.
- Does it matter? Much like engagement rate, average view duration is a good indicator of video quality. If the average duration is less than ten seconds, your video’s intro or quality wasn’t compelling enough and viewers bounced right away. Higher durations mean your videos are delivering value and viewers are sticking around to get the goods.
Conversions
- Did the viewer act on a call to action at the end of the video, or click a link you left for them?
- Do they matter? Of course, since driving actions are the point of content marketing. Different types of conversions mean different things, however. Sometimes it’s a direct purchase, but usually, it’s just another step in the customer journey, like scheduling a demo or downloading another piece of content. Still, conversions are essential in determining video marketing ROI.
Reach / Shares
- Did users share the video on social media?
- Does it matter? Yes, expanding reach means more possibilities for all the other metrics. When users share your video, it indicates their level of trust and interest in your brand.
The Content Informs the Metrics
Along with the goal, you have the story itself. What story are you telling? And why should it matter to your audience? Different types of videos will have different ideal metrics. For example, if you’re looking for virality with a video, that’s really about brand awareness, and you may care more about reach and views.
If the video is more in-depth, such as a product demo or explainer video, then you’re more concerned with play rate and engagement rate. If the video is purely promoting a specific offer, then conversions are what matter the most.
What Video Analytics for Marketing Tools Should You Use?
Most platforms that host video content have their own basic analytics built in — YouTube or any other social media platform. However, there are many tools that give you more details and visibility.
TubeBuddy
It’s a free browser extension and mobile app that integrates with your YouTube. It provides a wealth of information, including views, earnings, engagements, SEO, and more.
Image: TubeBuddy
VidYard
This tool has an analytics feature that shows view progression and helps you understand the audience so that you can turn views into results.
Image: VidYard
Vidooly
This platform has a host of features. It has benchmarking data and delivers a robust dashboard of AI-powered analytics, including: audience insights, content strategy analysis, media planning recommendations, and video performance measurement.
Image: Vidooly
Divvy Analytics – Video Dashboard
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our own video analytics capabilities that are available within our analytics module. With a quick connection to your YouTube channel and Facebook/IG accounts, you’ll get real-time video performance data (including all the metrics mentioned previously), as well as some unique auditing and governance capabilities that many other analytics tools don’t offer.
Are Your Videos Successful?
With this guide and your chosen video analytics solution at the ready, you can start evaluating the effectiveness of your video content right away. As you learn more about the performance of individual videos, you’ll get even better at video marketing, ensuring it delights and attracts audiences, moving them closer to becoming a customer.
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