In today’s digital age, video has become a powerful tool for companies looking to promote their products and services, connect with their audience and generate results. However, measuring the impact and return on investment (ROI) of video can be a challenge for many marketers. Fortunately, there are a number of metrics and strategies that can help evaluate the success of a video campaign in terms of visibility, engagement and conversion.

Visibility metrics:

Visibility refers to how many people have seen your video and how much time they have spent watching it. Here are some key metrics to measure the visibility of your clip:

Views: This basic metric indicates the number of times it has been played. However, it is important to also consider the duration of the view, as a view of a few seconds does not have the same value as a full view.
Audience retention: Measure how long viewers stay watching your video. This metric can help you identify if there are specific times when viewers tend to lose interest and abandon playback.
Reach: Measure how many people have been exposed to your clip through specific platforms and channels. You can get this information by tracking impressions, shares and mentions on social media.

Engagement metrics:

Engagement refers to viewers’ participation and interaction with your video. These metrics will help you measure how much is involved your audience and what actions are taking after seeing it:

Comments and reactions: Quantifies the number of comments, likes, likes, loves, amused, amazed, saddened, and angry that your video receives on social media platforms. These metrics indicate the level of emotional interaction and audience response.
Shares: Measure how many times your video has been shared on different platforms. This will give you an idea of the organic reach and virality of your content.

Click-through rate (CTR): If your video is accompanied by a link or a call to action, the CTR will tell you what percentage of viewers clicked on it. This can be useful for evaluating the effectiveness of your calls to action and the ability of your content to generate additional traffic to your website or other platforms.

Conversion metrics:

Conversion metrics are essential to measure the direct impact of your audiovisual productions on business results. Here are some key metrics you can use:

Conversion rate: This metric will tell you how many viewers converted into customers or took a specific action after watching your video. You can track this metric using tracking pixels, tracking links or specific promotion codes.
Revenue generated: If your goal is to generate sales or revenue, you can directly measure how much money you have made as a direct result of your campaign. This involves tracking conversions and associating them with the revenue generated.

Cost per acquisition (CPA): Calculate how much it has cost you to acquire a customer or generate a conversion. This metric will allow you to evaluate the profitability of your video campaign and compare it to other marketing channels.

It is important to note that these metrics must be interpreted in the context of your marketing objectives and strategies. The impact and ROI of video can vary by industry, target audience and channels used. Therefore, it is critical to set clear goals, test and adjust your strategy based on the data collected.

Use the right tools

To measure the impact and ROI of video, you need to use the right tools. Tools are the applications or programmes that allow you to collect, analyse and visualise data from your content. There are many possible tools, but not all of them are compatible or useful for your strategy.

In general, tools can be classified into three types: internal, external and mixed. Each of them refers to a different source of your video data.

Internal tools are those that provide you with data from within the platform where you host or broadcast your productions. For example, YouTube Analytics, Facebook Insights or Vimeo Analytics. These tools provide you with specific and detailed data on the performance and results of your videos on each platform. However, they do not offer you comparative or integrated data with other platforms or other channels.

External tools are those that provide you with data from outside the platform where you host or disseminate your content. For example, Google Analytics, HubSpot or Wistia. These tools provide you with general and global data on the performance and results of your videos on different platforms and on different channels. However, they do not provide you with as accurate and in-depth data as in-house tools.
Mixed tools are those that provide you with data from both inside and outside the platform where you host or broadcast your videos. For example, Vidyard, Sprout Social or Hootsuite. These tools provide you with combined and integrated data on the performance and results of your videos on different platforms and on different channels. They also offer you more comprehensive and more personalised data than in-house or external tools.

Conclusion

Measuring the impact and ROI of video requires a strategic approach and the use of various metrics. Viewability, engagement and conversion metrics are critical to evaluating the success of your video campaigns. By understanding how these metrics relate to your business objectives, you can make informed decisions and optimise your video marketing efforts for strong, measurable results.