Video metrics: how to measure the ROI of your video

Video metrics are essential to measure the return on investment your video content is providing

After investing both time and resources into your video marketing, it’s important to know if you are getting the returns you want to. There are lots of different video metrics that are available to measure this, depending on what exactly it is that you want your video to achieve.

Know what you want from your video

First things first: know what you want. It is important that you know from the get go what you want your video to achieve. Without a goal set, you can’t really measure your ROI because – well – you won’t know what to measure. Are you wanting your video to simply promote your brand, or to lead your target audience to your website? If you know what you want, you’ll know what to look for. As a result of that, you can measure if your video content is doing what you want it to.

Views on your video don’t tell the whole story

Probably the simplest video metric available to determine how your video is doing is to look at how many views it has. Views indicate the general reach of your video. It’s what you should be looking at if your main aim is to raise awareness of your brand.

However, don’t just assume that because your video has a high number of views, it’s doing the job for you completely. A high view rate doesn’t directly translate into an increase in traffic to your site. Here’s why: you only have to watch three seconds of a video on Facebook for it to count as a view, while on YouTube, you’re required you to watch thirty seconds for it to clock. See the problem? It’s no good having a video with a high view count if your target audience is switching off after the first five seconds.

In order for your target audience to reach your call-to-action (CTA) at the end of the video – and get them looking at other content, you want them to stay engaged and watch the whole video. Of course, it’s still great to have a high view count on your videos. It shows that your content is connecting with its target audience and that’s a good thing. But it’s also important to remember that there are more important video metrics to consider than a high view count.

Share your video on social media

Sharing your video content on social media is a great way to help promote brand awareness. It can also draw people into your brand. As a general rule, more views on your video tends to result in more shares, and happy days all around! More than anything else, putting your video content on social media provides a good indicator for how well your message is being received, particularly with your target audience. While it’s important, don’t rely on your video content on social media to develop huge leads. It’s all about developing your brand awareness.

Monitor your engagement rate…

Monitoring the rate of your engagement is an important video metric to be aware of. Put simply, it tells you how much of your video the viewer watches. A really high engagement rate is optimal as this means that your viewers are watching your video in its entirety. A lower engagement rate suggests that your audience is dropping off after a couple of seconds. Monitoring this – and looking to see where exactly in your video the viewers are dropping off – can tell you what parts of the video the viewer is responding well to. If you find you are having a problem with engagement, consider editing and adjusting your video accordingly. This will help you appeal more to your target audience.

…and click-through rate.

The click-through rate (CTR) of your video is a vital tool. It can tell you how many people your video has resonated with, and as such, want to know more. It’s a vital video metric if you’re looking to move your audience on after watching your video. Of course, you should use a strong call-to-action at the end of your video. This will push your audience further on after watching. A strong CTA at the end of your video can turn passive viewers into interested clients. If you’re struggling to achieve a good CTR, try changing your call-to-action at the end of the video. Make it more appealing, or even place it at a different point during your video.

Conversion rate is very important

If your goal is for your video content to turn into viable leads and an increase in clients, this is the metric you really need to pay attention to. The conversion rate is essentially the rate at which your video has encouraged the viewer to act upon your video. This could mean signing up to your newsletter, visiting your homepage or buying from you. Think of the conversion rate of being the biggest indicator as to how well your video is performing, with other video metrics feeding into it. Ensure that your video is relevant to the viewer depending on which stage of the sales funnel they’re at.

Want to learn more?

For more information about return on investment for your video contact us today!