7 Video Metrics to know for 2021 and beyond |

Oct 26, 2023

The world will be watching three trillion internet video minutes per month by the end of 2021 that's the equivalent of five years worth of video each month. This is roughly one million minutes of video per second. This is a huge amount of. With marketers generating greater video content, important performance metrics for video have never been more important.

It goes far beyond the total view count, expanding the ways of understanding specifics of viewer experience. In this post I'll go over the most important video metrics you'll want to look into to maximize your video's performance.

What are the video metrics?

Video metrics are analytics for performance that allow you to understand and measure the impact of your videos. These metrics provide you with crucial information into the overall performance of your video. These metrics often include the percent and average time of view duration of viewers that actually watched. Video metrics that are detailed can alter how you have previously assessed your video's success.

Important video metrics and analytics to evaluate performance

Video is expected to comprise 70% of all mobile traffic until 2022. With this high percentage, filtering success beyond views is vital. There are more important data elements to be analyzed that influence your video strategies. We'll review the key metrics you need to know that determine how audience perceives your video.

1. View Count

This has to be the most standard metric and it does not even scratch the surfaces. It gives you the total number of times the video has been played. The views of your viewers determine the total impact of your video. If you want to create awareness and then reach a huge audience, then this measure will become your gold measure.

One thing to be aware of in view count is how views counted based on the channel(s) that you're using. For example, on one channel, a view can count at 3 seconds, while on another it counts a view in 30 seconds. It is important to take this into consideration especially when using multiple video mediums. Here are 3 tips to help boost your view count:

  1. Upload your video to social media. Use a dedicated hashtag alongside to distinguish the video as your company's name. Choose to go organic or use social advertising that is paid.
  2. Share your video via email. If you already are on a mailing list send your video out as a formal marketing campaign. You can also add CTAs to incentivize your audience to share your video via the social media network they are on.
  3. Engage with influencers who are relevant. Look for relevant partnership with influential influencers. Invite them to share your video in general posts or in stories, to expose your brand's name to their followers.

2. Audience retention

The retention of an audience is the average percent of the video viewers watch. In the beginning, if the quality of your video are weak with viewer drop offs, audience retention takes a hit. To put this metric in terms of numbers, suppose you've published a video that's 8 minutes long. If viewers watch the video for an average of 4 minutes, your Audience Retention for that video is 50%.

In order to increase retention, kick off your video with a good hook that draws your viewers into. A good hook grabs the attention of viewers right away, making viewers want to keep watching. Here are a few examples of the different kinds of hooks work:

  • Standard Teaser. You've seen this countless times with hooks like: "And later in this video I'll show you how you can lose 10lbs within a week".
  • Sneak Peak Begin with. Begin your video with a mix of important scenes that are coming at some moment later in the video without giving the details too easily. Think of how you watch an episode of a television show or movie.
  • A clear and upfront benefit. This is a basic technique that is often used in training videos "In this tutorial, we'll discover how to create your own candle."

3. Impressions

Videos impressions are the time a video shows up on the screen of a person's computer, typically as an ad. However, in some instances they're action-based metrics and are determined by a visitor just watching the video's display.

If you're planning to make use of your video for an ad campaign, then you'll have to pay attention to the metrics of impression. Below are some of the ways you would analyze at these metrics measure the performance of campaigns using video:

  • Review the number of times a pay-per-click video ad was displayed for searches
  • Find out how frequently a video ad appears on social media
  • Compare metric insights through other third-party websites such as Pinterest or Google.

4. Click Through Rate (CTR)

We typically think of email marketing when we hear click-through rate (CTR). But in the case of video, a CTR refers to the percentage of viewers who click the call-to-action button in your video the video.

A video's CTR gives an exact indicator of the success the video you have created is in encouraging viewers to take action. Your call-to-action must be relevant to the video in terms of topic, tone appearance and. If your call-to-action isn't in place, it won't be received well by your viewers. Here are a few suggestions on how to make the most of CTRs within your video content:

  • Create and position your CTA. Make it visually appealing so it stands out. You can even place your CTA on different locations in your video. After enough changes, go with what works.
  • Prioritize engagement first. If your analytics show drop offs before seeing your CTA, other work needs to be completed on the your content.
  • Write compelling CTA copy. The copy should relate to the content of your video. The last thing you want to do is confuse your audience.

5. Play at a high

If you're looking to have a particular percentage of your target audience to hit play in your video, then play rate is the measure that you can use to determine the quality of your video. Play rates represent the percent of viewers who clicked play and began watching your video.

This is an excellent gauge of how appropriate your video content is to the place where it's displayed as well as how successful in entices viewers to view it. Marketo provides play rates using a simple formula:

 Play rate is  the percentage of viewers who viewed and clicked the video, divided by % of total number of visitors who visited the landing page.

6. Engagement Rate

Engagement metrics are generally the most sought-after and essential to gauge. It's where you get to the juice of how impactful the video is. This rate includes the median view times and also the percent of your content that is actually watched by viewers. This formula determines the engagement rate:

  • Engagement rate = total watched time/total number of video plays ( including replays)
  • You must meet the expectations of your viewers. If an audience member is expected to learn or see videos on how-to, however, instead they are being marketed towards, it is likely that they'll stop.
  • Get rid of the excess. Keep your video content concise and straight to the point.
  • Identify peak engagement points. If there are commonalities as to the time when viewers stop or cease to watch, determine why and make the necessary changes. c

*If engagement is low at first, don't beat yourself up over this. Keep in mind that the main purpose behind your video over all other things to improve over time.

7. Average view duration and finish rate

We must not forget average view duration. This metric is the total duration of the video's watch divided by the total number of times the video is played, which includes replays. It measures your video's ability to maintain the interest of viewers through the entire duration of the video. This metric is commonly found as a "watch time" report of your video solution and includes detailed time stamps.

Key YouTube metrics to know

YouTube is the second most used search engine around the globe, second to Google. The place where the YouTube video metricsshine are when it comes to insights into the audience, views and click-throughs. Here's insights on why these kinds of metrics must be measured to the smart youtube user.

  • Youtube offers a detailed dashboard that includes audience reports for you to understand the demographics of your viewers. Use this as a guide in creating and perfecting video content.
  • An impression is recorded each whenever someone is exposed to the thumbnail of your video. Be sure that your thumbnail is appealing and pertinent to your video content.
  • If you see a significant click-through rate that's a good indicator that your thumbnail as well as keywords work. It is a good idea to make it a habit to look over earlier videos to determine what they have in common to know what is and isn't working.

Important metrics to consider

  • Advanced video analytics allow you to determine the behavior of viewers from any location and what devices they're using to stream.
  • Go deep into your statistics to find out the ways your videos are noticed.

Lead generation from video Set KPIs

  • Play rate goal Find out what the best play rate is for your particular video. If you're using more than 1 video solution be aware that different platforms calculate different plat rates.
  • Conversion goal: This is the percent of people who view your content that turn into customers. This is sometimes difficult to measure, but when including a video on a landing page the A/B test of CTA's could improve click-through rates, so you'll have an idea of the most effective. If viewers are interacting with the content and engaging with it, they stand a better probability of becoming customers.

Social media video metrics to know

Video and social media have a lot in common. But measuring video metrics for social media are more than comments and likes. Like any other measure one must pay attention to what works to promote your business. Be aware of what you intend to accomplish with the video posted on social media. Here are some of the key metrics on social media to get familiar with:

  • Audience Reach:Reach measures how many viewers your film was viewed to. It alone can help you understand the potential size of your audience. Though a huge audience could be a good thing but it only gets more effective when you measure it against other metrics similar to yours.
  • number of followers:Keep a close eye at your social media followers before releasing a video. Inspire your followers to share, follow, like and comment on the content. Social media influence spreads quickly and sharing your contents will boost your algorithmic rankings. This can lead to increased traffic to your site. If you're not seeing growth with every new video, a change to the content might be necessary.
  • Engagement:This is a huge number. It speaks to the amount of social engagement in relation to your brand and video. Are people having conversations about your content? Do they share your content as well as re-tweeting or commenting? Consider your goals using social media in relation to engagement. Find the right balance between creating interactivity and sharing video content.

Wrapping around

We have so much data in our possession. It's never been simpler to understand and measure the impact of video. Although the variety and range of metrics are confusing, it is important to stay only to what's important to you. It's not necessary to use each metric, but remain open to results.