Video Marketing, the numbers don't lie.

You produce a video for your business (video testimonials, brand videos, animated videos, whatever...), post it to YouTube, then what? Is your video production a success? Did you reach your target audience?

Many people have heard of the term “video marketing” (also referred to as video content marketing). If you haven’t, maybe this is why your videos are not receiving the attention you think they deserve. Read on to find out what you may have been missing in your video marketing efforts.

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What is video marketing and how can metrics be used for business?

This article explores the numbers behind your digital marketing. These common traits of posted video content can help you ensure success when online video marketing.

There are 7 main video metrics to consider when thining about video marketing. We'll define them and give some suggestions on how you can improve them. Some of these metrics are more important than others, but you should be aware of them all when posting your video content.

Apply these tips to help you achieve your video content marketing goals and see your digital marketing numbers take off.

1) Social Sharing

Social sharing shows how many people are sharing your content over social channels. [Think the "Share" button on Facebook.] Many people think this is the be-all, end-all, when it comes to their video marketing strategy. It is important and definitely should be considered when thinking about your digital marketing. But it's not the only number you shoud dwell on when reflecting about to guage whether you have successful video marketing or not.

Why is social sharing important? Because it leads to "views" and views often lead to more sharing. It can be a defacto view of how your audience connects with your online video.

If your marketing campaign goal is the biggest audience possible, try these steps:

Specifically create content to be shared. Make it entertaining or educational.
Share your video with an influencer or tag them when using Facebook video. I know of one wedding videographer who not only "tags" the bride and groom. He tags the entire bridal party and parents as well. More people tagged, probably will lead to more sharing on Facebook.
Most importantly, simply ask your viewers to share your video. Seems too easy I know, but people love to help others succeed.

2) View Count

It's a simple count of how many people have seen your video clips. Your audience probably got to the video by one of their friends sharing, as noted above.

But beware, not every platform counts views the same. Facebook and Instagram count views after watching 3 seconds, YouTube after 30 seconds. It seems all the social channels have their own way to count. This is helpful if you are comparing two videos on YouTube (since they are counted the same way), but not if comparing the same video posted to YouTube -and- Facebook.

If you're looking to boost your view count here's a few tips:

Share your social media video through email blasts and social media.
Pay to promote your video to an audience on a social media platform like Facebook or twitter.
Link to your online video in your blog post especially if you have a large audience of readers. Or submit your video content to a targeted influencers blog to see if they will share with their audience.

3) Play Rate

Play rate is the percentage of people who actually click on your video to play. Play rate is a good metric to use when you are evaluating the relevance of where the video is placed and how appealing the video is to viewers.

If you're looking to boost play rate, you may want to try:

Increasing the size of your video [1/4 of the page vs. a small thumbnail] or move it up on the page. "Above the fold" on your webpage is important in video marketing. Many people don't even realize you can scroll down on some websites. if you have your social video posted at the bottom of the page, they may never see it. Place your videos near the top of your webpage to draw eyes to your video content.
Pick or create a better thumbnail. It's often what gets a viewer to click on social video. Never leave this blank or whatever the default is.

4) Engagement

Engagement shows you how much of your video your audience watched. This percentage tells you how much of your video ALL viewers watched. This is incredibly useful.

Engagement rate can help you gauge your video content to ensure the usefulness of your videos. Are people watching your YouTube ad to the end? If not, maybe you should "tease" your call to action early in the video to get your target audience to watch until your "special offer" at the video's end.

5) Click Through Rate

CTR is the percentage of viewers that click on whatever call to action you include in your video content. CTR gives a b2b marketer an idea of how successful your video is for the viewer to take an action.

To improve CTR's:

Try different call to actions in your video, or at the least don't just have it at the end. As mentioned in "Engagement" viewers might leave half way through your video, before they even had a chance to get into your sales funnel.
Make your call to action relevant to your video's content. Doing a video on a new model of golf shoe? Put a call to action with a 10% off coupon for that model, in the video. You will get more action than if it's "join our mailing list for 10% off".

6) Conversion Rates

Your conversion rate is the number of leads or customers you have gained from your content marketing or video ad. Maybe they made a purchase or even just subscribed or filled out a form, it all counts!

The calculation of conversion rate is a bit trickier than many of the previous metrics. You'll often need analytics software to assist you in this. Also, what is the criteria that "counts" as success towards your customers desired action? Did they watch the entire product video before purchasing? Or just 30 seconds of two minutes? You'll need to set up your criteria and goals in advance.

Ways to increase conversion rates:

Provide valuable information in your social video.
Place your video where your audience expects on your website. If it's a product video you are promoting, have it on the page that describes the product and where you can order that product. [I know, it seems obvious. But far too many times a potential customer can't find your video because marketing videos are haphazardly placed on the website].
A landing page with video marketing is a great example of getting the correct message to your target audience.

7) Feedback

See what your viewers are saying about your video marketing. Read all the comments. There's no specific way to "score" comments, but they do provide valuable audience insight.

Internet users will provide ideas for new videos, suggestions of ways to improve and general support. Read the comments carefully, they are all a potential customer..

Don't forget on many platforms such as your YouTube Channel you can interact with them. Successful video marketers will engage both good and bad comments. The comments help you to learn about potential customers, clarify your marketing strategy and your audience feel a part of a community built around your products, services, and offerings.

Follow these steps and understand the concepts. By employing a strategic video marketing strategy your numbers and sales will grow! Questions, comments or need help implementing your video marketing strategy, feel free to contact us.

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