Remember the old days when you and your friends would set out on a road trip in your hand-me-down station wagon, nothing but a stack of cassette tapes and the open road ahead? 

There was no GPS or even a printout of directions from MapQuest to keep you from getting lost. We were young and we were dumb – but we were free!

Now look at us. 

Every car ride is full of terror: Kids screaming, wiping Cheetos dust on the back of the front seats. Arguing with our partners over which fast-food place we should stop at to have an abysmal experience. Threatening to turn the car around if one more person asks one more damn time: “Are we there yet?”

You wouldn’t dare drive without directions pulled up on your phone and risk stretching out this torture.

The world of marketing is quite similar. Without a map, you’re lost – and screwed. 

Now, maybe you prefer blissful ignorance. You run your video marketing campaigns like a group of misfits crammed in a 1978 Ford Country Squire, barreling down the highway with absolutely no sense of where you’ve been or where you’re going. You don’t talk about ROI, CAC, CTR, or CTAs because you have no idea what any of that means and you don’t care.

But, unless you have an endless ad budget that lets you throw everything against the wall and see what sticks, you’ll need to care.

Welcome to the world of video analytics! With data, you can take a marketing road trip that doesn’t suck – or if it does, you leap from the car at a very low speed and shake it off.

Video content analytics can’t exactly keep you from making a terrible ad to start with but the data can tell you – in excruciating detail – just how bad it was, and why. 

In this guide, we’ll give you some pointers on the top video metrics to track, tools for video marketing analytics, and tips on how to measure video marketing success. 

By the end, you’ll have the basics to make sure your video marketing is converting and you’ll know what to look for to measure engagement and ROI. Best case scenario: Put these tips to use (or work with us) and your next campaign will be so successful you can skip the dreaded road trip with your family and afford to fly instead, for expedited misery.

Let’s start with a quick overview of analytics for video.

Video Marketing Analytics: Because Guesswork Is So Last Century

If you’re already trying to woo customers with video content and it isn’t working, rest assured: It is absolutely you, and not them. 

I mean, it could be them but even if it is, it’s still your fault for targeting the wrong them.

With video insights from performance metrics, you get to see if anyone cares about your content (they do, kinda, but it’s complicated). Businesses and brands now have the power to meticulously track performance metrics, ensuring that every dollar spent isn’t just floating away into the ether. 

When you pair awesome video with even halfway decent analytic approaches, you tap into the most powerful form of marketing money can buy. Consider this:

  • People watch a mind-boggling 17 hours of online video content every week on average. That’s like watching Titanic four and a half times. 
  • A whopping 66% watch videos to learn more about a product or brand — because reading is just too hard, apparently.
  • More than one-third use videos to unwind. Nothing says relaxation like a marketing pitch disguised as entertainment.

Now that we’ve convinced you to hop on the video marketing and analytics train, let’s dive into the good stuff: the metrics. 

Concentrated young African American businesswoman in eyeglasses analyzing video marketing analytics on computer.

Key Metrics to Track Video: AKA The Secret Sauce

Starting every video campaign with a specific goal is crucial — be it increasing brand awareness or boosting sales. Here’s what you should be keeping an eye on:

  • View Count: How long are people sticking around? Shorter videos are great for those top-of-the-funnel prospects who are just window shopping, while longer ones work better when they’re ready to whip out their wallets. 
  • Watch Time: Keep an eye, in particular, on the video quartile rate, which will show you where viewers are giving up (for example, the number of people who watched at least 25% of your content).
  • Comment Sentiment: Are viewers leaving glowing reviews or is it more of a dumpster fire in the comments section? Track the vibe, folks.
  • Engagement Rate (Likes, Shares, Comments): If people aren’t hitting that like button or sharing your video with their 10 closest friends, it’s time to re-evaluate.
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR): Let’s be real — if no one’s clicking, no one’s buying. CTR is all about how many people bother to click on your video, which, spoiler alert, says a lot about your title, call to action (CTA), and thumbnail. 
  • Cost Metrics: If your video isn’t helping to boost sales, then why bother? Analytics – like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Cost Per View (CPV) – help you pivot your content or strategy if the cost outweighs the benefit.
  • Conversion Rate: How many people added something to their cart after watching your video? Or how many viewers filled out a lead form at the end? 
  • Bounce Rate and Exit Rate: Are people peacing out before your video even ends? Track it and tweak it. Also, make sure to optimize your video for mobile devices so that small-screen viewers are disappointed.
  • Viewer Demographics and Behavior: Who’s watching your videos? What keywords were they using when they ran across your content? Knowing these data points can help you deliver tailored content experiences and juice your video SEO for a broader audience.

Tools of the Trade: The Video Analytics Arsenal

Choosing the right tools can make or break your video marketing strategy. Here’s the lowdown on some of the best in the biz:

  • Google Analytics: The granddaddy of analytics tools, Google Analytics can be integrated with your on-page video marketing campaigns for some serious number-crunching.
  • Vimeo and YouTube: Both platforms offer basic analytics with the bonus of integrating with Google Analytics for more advanced tracking.
  • Social Media Native Analytics: Whether you’re on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram, these platforms have built-in analytics to help you measure performance, demographics, watch time, and traffic sources. Why not let the algorithm do the heavy lifting?

Analyzing Video Performance: The Moment of Truth

Once you’ve got all that juicy data, it’s time to make sense of it. Start by setting clear objectives for your video marketing campaigns — if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived?

This includes calculating your ROI. Yes, this means busting out the calculator and tallying up all those pesky expenses — equipment, production fees, travel costs, and even your intern’s salary. If the numbers are in the black, pat yourself on the back.

Finally, keep an eye out for trends and patterns. What worked? What tanked? Use this intel to fine-tune your future campaigns by: 

1. A/B Testing: Test, tweak, repeat. It’s the name of the game. Start with a bunch of low-fi videos, run them, pick the winners, and then produce high-quality versions of the best performers.

2. Adjusting Content Strategy: If your strategy isn’t working, change it. Seems obvious, but you’d be surprised.

3. Personalizing Content: Tailor your videos to your audience. Because nothing says “we care” like a little personalization. Once you know what works best, video should be a vital part of any marketing attempts — from email newsletters to paid ads, and beyond. With each distribution channel, look to personalize the content by producing and delivering videos specific to the target audience.

How Do You Evaluate Video Performance?

For us, it comes down to cold hard cash. A video campaign should, ideally, cost you nothing. Well, it will cost you something but what we mean is the return on investment should far, far outweigh what you spent to produce your commercial or brand film.

A bunch of views are great but if it’s only superficial interest and the video content didn’t get more customers through your doors, then the video’s performance can’t be called “great,” can it?

So, what are you waiting for? Dive into those analytics, optimize your content, and watch your ROI soar.

And hey, if you need a hand, Hackstone’s got your back. Give us a call or shoot us an email — we’re ready to help you take your video marketing to the next level.