So you’ve dipped your toes in the video marketing water — congrats! While this is certainly a huge step towards reaching more customers, achieving more relevance, and cultivating brand loyalty, the work isn’t done once you’ve posted that first video — or even your first 20 videos for that matter.
As with any growth marketing strategy, you’re not going to hit the nail on the head right off the bat — especially with something as nuanced as video.
To really hone in on a video marketing strategy that works — one that resonates with your customers and has real share-ability and staying power — you have to constantly measure, analyze, and tweak your efforts every step of the way. And the key to all that? Your video metrics — the data points you monitor on each and every video you post.
Not sure what metrics you should be watching? Or even what metrics are in the first place? Let’s dive in on some video marketing tips and discuss.
Metrics are how you measure your video’s success. They’re the marker by which you gauge video performance, relevance, interest, and every other important facet of your strategy. Having a consistent set of metrics that you watch will help you track progress (both toward your goals and toward a more effective strategy) over time.
In general, the most important metrics you’ll want to monitor are:
This is how many times your video has been viewed. It’s a good indicator of how interesting your content is, as well as how many people it’s reaching. Just make sure you know what constitutes a view on your chosen platform. On YouTube, for example, only 30 seconds has to be watched to constitute a “view,” while on Facebook, it’s a mere 3 seconds.
Engagement is a good one to watch in tandem with view count. It tells you how much of your video is being watched, usually as a percentage. This can help you pinpoint areas where your content was (or wasn’t) relevant/interesting, or it can clue you into audience trends regarding attention span and video length preferences.
This is a good metric for videos placed on your website or in advertising. It tells you how many people actually hit that “play” button and intended to watch the video. It’s a good way to gauge whether the creative, placement, size, and other facets of your video are working — or if there’s some room for improvement. You should also look at replay metrics if they’re available. Lots of replays can indicate particularly relevant or valuable content for your audience.
If your video’s goal is to funnel the viewer to your website or toward some sort of sales goal, then conversions and click-through-rates can help you measure its effectiveness.
Not seeing the results you want? Consider changing up your call to action (or its timing in the video) or tweaking your content.
(Hint: if you’re not using video to drive conversions, then consider it. Eyeview Digital found that video increases landing page conversions by a whopping 86 percent!)
The amount your content gets shared on social sites is important, regardless of the format or medium you’re using. Not only does the interaction of your social media videos indicate the general interest in, and relevance of your video content, but it can also clue you into trends and topics that deserve more coverage (and can get your more visibility) in the future. Use social shares to hone in on the best content for your audience.
You can also have likes and comments on your radar. Be sure to dig into the comments and look at the feedback your audience is offering. It might help you create better, more effective content moving forward.