Video content captures users’ attention like no other medium, offering a dynamic way to tell your brand’s story and showcase your products or services. From social media feeds to embeds on a blog page, there’s no escaping the popularity and reach of video.

But after you’ve created and posted a video, how can you measure its effectiveness? That’s where understanding video metrics comes into play. Videos have different lengths, styles, and content, so you need to analyze video-specific KPIs to determine how effective a video is at helping you achieve your goals.

By focusing on the right metrics, you can gain valuable insights into how viewers interact with your videos. Then you can make data-driven adjustments to increase engagement, build brand awareness, and drive desired behaviors.

What are the Key Video Metrics for Digital Marketers to Focus on?

There's a lot of video data that's available to you, but here are the main metrics that we recommend focusing on:

Views

Simply put, a view is how many times your video was watched by a consumer. This can be one of the clearest indicators of whether a video was effective or not. But it’s not as straightforward as it seems, because different online platforms use different criteria to determine what a view is. Here are how some of the key players in the internet video space classify a view:

YouTube: A user clicks play and watches a video for at least 30 seconds.

Facebook/Instagram regular video: A user watches a video for three seconds, with the most or all of the video player appearing on the screen.

Facebook/Instagram reels: When a video starts to play, it counts as a view – even if the content was watched for less than a second.

TikTok: Just like with reels, a view is counted as soon as a video starts to play.

LinkedIn: A user watches at least two seconds of a video, with at least 50% of the player on the screen.

Vimeo: A user presses the play button to start video playback.

Most of these platforms will count additional views if someone watches a video a second or third time. After all, a view is a view. But if the platform suspects that you’re trying to game the system by playing the same video repeatedly – or if it detects that bots are being utilized – the video’s reach can be penalized.

Tips to Increase Views:

• Create more eye-catching thumbnails that are closely aligned with your video content.
• Make video titles more interesting and thought provoking.
• Include relevant (and accurate) keywords in video titles and descriptions.
• Share videos across social networks and with influencers in your vertical.
• Utilize paid advertising for the channel the video lives on.

Watch Time/Average View Duration

One of the most important video metrics, watch time (AKA average view duration in YouTube) shows how much of a video the audience watched. On average, did people watch the video for 60% or 70% of the time? Or did they bail at the 10% mark?

This number, often expressed as a percentage, sends signals to the platform as to whether users find the video compelling or not. This, in turn, helps determine how the platform’s algorithm looks at the video. The higher the watch time percentage, the better chance that your video will be pushed to more users.

Tips to Improve Watch Time:

Try to pinpoint the time in your videos when your audience abandons the content. Is there a pattern (for example, maybe viewers drop off during a long intro segment)? For future videos, make changes at the problem spots to retain viewer interest and keep the audience engaged.

Impressions and Reach

Impressions are closely related to views. They indicate the number of times your video was displayed (but not necessarily played), including instances where it appeared multiple times to the same user. This metric is useful for understanding the total exposure of your content, regardless of whether it was watched or not.

Reach represents the total number of unique individuals who have seen your video content. So if one person watches a video three times, it would count as three views, but only reaching one person. Reach can help you gauge the overall visibility of your content and, combined with engagement metrics, offers insight into how broad and relevant your audience is. Monitoring reach helps you understand if your video distribution strategy is working.

Tips to Improve Impressions and Reach:

Focus on optimizing your video for discoverability by using relevant keywords, tags, and descriptions. Sharing across multiple platforms can also expand your video’s exposure to new audiences.

Engagement

Engagement refers to the level of interaction and interest that viewers show when watching a video. It encompasses social actions such as likes, comments, and shares – and sometimes includes watch time. High engagement indicates that viewers find the content helpful, entertaining, or informative. This metric also influences a platform’s algorithm, affecting overall reach.

Tips to Improve Engagement:

Focus on creating content that’s relevant to your audience and captivates them right away. Use interactive elements like questions or calls-to-action that encourage viewers to respond and share.

Follower/Subscriber Growth

Closely related to engagement, follower/subscriber growth tracks the number of new followers gained after viewers watch your video content. This metric is important for understanding how well your videos drive long-term interest and loyalty to your brand. A steady increase in followers suggests that your video content resonates with viewers enough to encourage them to stick around for more, building an engaged community.

Tips to Improve Follower/Subscriber Growth:

Create consistent, high-quality video content that provides real value to your target audience. It’s also helpful to remind viewers to follow or subscribe, offering sneak peeks or incentives for subscribing, if possible.

Click-Through Rate

Click-Through-Rate (CTR) is valuable for assessing how well your video engages the audience and drives interest in what’s beyond the video. It indicates the percentage of viewers who clicked on a call-to-action link from your video (typically in the video description, an overlay, or an end-screen) that led them to your website or product. A high CTR suggests that your video content successfully encouraged viewers to take the next step. It’s worth noting that it can be challenging to achieve a high CTR on a video-centric platform such as YouTube, where users are typically compelled to watch another video rather than click away to a website.

Tips to Improve CTR:

Make sure your call-to-action is clear, compelling, and directly tied to the video content. Position the CTA at moments when viewers are most engaged – often at the end or during peak points of interest.

Conversion Rate

Conversion rate measures the percentage of viewers who not only clicked from a video to your website, but also completed your desired action (form fill, purchase, download etc.). This metric is key in determining the effectiveness of your video content at driving real, measurable results. A high conversion rate means your video is not only attracting clicks but also leading viewers down the funnel toward your business goals.

Tips to Improve Conversion Rate:

Ensure that your video content closely aligns with the landing page following the click. The message should continue to address the viewer’s needs or interests, enhancing trust and making them more likely to convert.

Understanding how to utilize online video metrics is essential for anyone aiming to make an impact in the digital space. The resulting data enables you to glean valuable insights into what resonates with your audience, allowing you to create more effective content and turn video viewers into loyal customers.