When nearly 90% of consumers report buying products after watching videos, you can’t afford to ignore video marketing in your brand’s content strategy. But just randomly posting videos isn’t enough. If you want to understand what connects with your customers and drives clicks, follows, and purchases, you need to track video YouTube metrics.
Below, learn all about the most important video engagement stats and metrics, courtesy of an expert Rhode Island videographer and YouTube marketer.
What are Video & YouTube Metrics?
Video metrics are data points that help you understand how people watch and interact with your videos. You probably already know two of the main video metrics: Views and likes. But platforms like YouTube and TikTok go deeper on the creator side with more in-depth tools.These stats help you get to know your audience better and understand their preferences. So, you can tailor your approach for maximum success.
What Video & YouTube Metrics Should I Track?
With that in mind, the following 10 video metrics can give you key insight into your video’s performance and better inform your marketing strategy.Remember that each platform may call the same metric different things. For example, where YouTube has “average view duration,‘ TikTok has “watch completion rate.” But both track the same basic stat.
Impressions
Impressions count the number of people who see your video in their feeds. You can get impressions by sharing on social media, publishing a video as an ad, or by your video showing up in search results. Essentially, they help you understand where your videos are showing up.Impressions can also inform whether you need tweaks to get them in front of the right viewers. For example, a poor performance in search results could indicate a need for better keyword optimization.
Click-through Rate
Click-through rate (CTR) measures the number of people who “click through” to your video after seeing it in an ad or search result. Most YouTubers aim for a click-through rate of 5 to 10%.A high CTR indicates that your videos look intriguing enough to pique your viewers’ curiosity. A lower CTR means viewers are scrolling past, meaning that a more eye-catching thumbnail or title may be in order.
Play Rate
If your video is a YouTube ad, the play rate shows the number of times people click and play the video after seeing it in their feeds. YouTube calculates the play rate by dividing the number of plays by the impressions. For example, if you get 10 plays for every 100 impressions, your play rate is 10%.Low play rates can indicate that your ad isn’t quite connecting with viewers and may warrant some tweaking.
View Count
The number of people who watch your videos! On YouTube, someone needs to watch the video for around 30 seconds for it to register in your view count. Bots or web crawlers also don’t count on views, although social media sites sometimes have trouble filtering them out.A spike in view counts can indicate a new share or a boost from the algorithm, letting you know that you’re on the right track.
Rewatches
Rewatches determine the number of people who return to watch your video again. For a view to count as a rewatch, it needs to come from the same account or IP address. On YouTube, they also need to watch for at least 30 seconds.If your video has a high rewatch rate, you can feel confident that your video is helpful and interesting, since it keeps your audience coming back for more.
Video Completion Rate
Video completion rate determines the number of people who watch your video to the end. While it’s totally normal for some viewers to get distracted, a low completion rate can indicate that your video isn’t engaging. So, keeping an eye on this metric can help you identify weak spots in your content.Average View Duration
The average view duration (AVD) determines how much time viewers spend watching your video, on average. While it’s similar to the video completion rate, this metric has a slight difference.The video completion rate only measures people who watch your video through to the end. Meanwhile, the AVD averages together the total amount of time people spend watching the video, including people who click away or skim through parts.
If you have a high completion rate and a lower AVD, that could indicate viewers skimming past a boring section. That can give you an idea of where to improve.
Engagement
Engagement determines how your viewers interact with a video through likes, comments, and shares.Engagement is one of the best ways to get direct feedback from your audience. Through comments, you can hear directly which elements resonated with viewers and which missed the mark. And, the like-to-dislike ratio can tell you if your video is helpful or leaves a lot to be desired.
Conversion Rate
A video’s conversion rate measures the number of viewers who take action after watching, like clicking through to your website or placing an order from your Google Shopping account. Most YouTubers aim for a play rate between 1% and 5%, but stats can be highly personalized to your brand goals.Audience YouTube Metrics
While it’s not strictly tied to your video performance, it’s also crucial to keep an eye on your audience stats. YouTube collects data on the demographics of people who watch your videos, including age range, gender, and location.It can also give you insight into other videos and channels. that are popular with your target audience. So you can pinpoint the differences between you and your competitors and close the gap.
Revamp Your YouTube Video Marketing with McVeigh Media
Getting a YouTube channel off the ground can feel like a daunting task. If you’d rather let a professional take the reins, McVeigh Media is here to take everything off your plate.Let us analyze your target audience, optimize your uploads, and track your results through YouTube metrics, so you can grow your brand and connect with your customers. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.
Posted by Sean McVeigh
