How do You Measure the Success of Your Videos?
Publishers create and deliver video keeping in mind which device, which platform and which orientation users will view the content. But uploading a video is only the first step: content owners need to know how the video is performing on their social media and owned and operated properties. So how do you measure the success of your video content? Here are 3 important video metrics every content owner should know and measure.
View Count
View count is the most basic video metric, measuring the number of views a video generates. While this number is an indication of how many people your video has reached, it is not always a genuine measure of a video’s success. That’s because platforms have different ideas of what constitutes a video view and thus measure it differently: a video view is counted after 3 seconds on Facebook, after 30 seconds on Youtube, and immediately on Snapchat.
Challenges with Publishing Websites
On publishing websites, calculating this metric is even more complicated and takes into account a number of factors, such as the video player, the existence of a pre-roll and the time after the video is played. In all, the video count is a good indication of awareness but not retention, shedding light on only the quantity of views rather than the quality of them.
Play Rate
As many platforms experiment with autoplay video without leaving much choice to the user, play rate is a more useful metric for publishers with click-to-play videos. This metric measures the percentage of people visiting a page that actually click on a video embedded in that page. Play rate measures how relevant a video is to the user and thus indicates whether the video is placed in the best possible context. In order to maximize the play rate, publishers should take into account the placement of the video on the page, the selection of the thumbnail and the title of the video to make it appeal to the user, enticing him/her to click play.
Watch Rate & Completion Rate
Once your viewers have clicked play, it is important that your video keeps them engaged. The watch rate refers to the percentage of a video that a viewer has watched. This metric is a good measure of the quality of your views because it reveals how helpful or engaging the video was to your viewer, as well as the typical cut-off point of your video. You can also calculate the completion rate, which is the percentage of times the video plays to the end. If viewers consume your video to its entirety and its completion rate is high, your video is fulfilling your viewers’ expectations. You can maximize the engagement of your users by ensuring a quick load time and a great user experience, as well as optimizing the length and relevance of the video to the user.
Social Media Metrics
In addition to these metrics, the number of social likes, comments and shares can be tracked on individual social media platforms as well as your properties. While it is important to make sure your videos are share-friendly, that can only come after you ensure that your video is 1) viewable, 2) relevant and 3) engaging your viewers.
