Any time you invest in something, you expect to make a return on that investment, or ROI. The same goes for video marketing; if you’re putting time and effort into making high-quality videos, you should see a return on that investment, right?
Although tracking marketing efforts is easier these days, measuring the ROI of video content can actually be tricky. It’s not quite as simple as just counting page views, clicks, and subscribers. Getting the most out of your video marketing efforts requires analyzing and interpreting a wide array of metrics. In this article, we’ll cover what these metrics are.
What Types of Metrics Are There?
Before we discuss which metrics matter the most, it’s important to understand that all metrics can be divided into two primary categories: qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative
Examples of qualitative metrics include brand sentiment, mentions, and reviews.
Brand Sentiment
Brand sentiment is focused on the impact your brand has on people when they see, hear, or read about it. It’s a measure of how they feel about your company and what they really think about it. It’s not an easy thing to measure because it’s subjective and not always apparent. One way to get a sampling of brand sentiment from your videos is to monitor the comments and likes they generate.
Mentions
Similar to brand sentiment and monitoring video comments, you’ll also want to monitor any mentions you receive on YouTube. Mentions are when another channel tags you in one of its video titles or descriptions. This also helps you better understand the reach of your brand and the impact your brand is having on viewers.
Reviews
Are there people reviewing your brand? Whether you put out brand videos, explainer/how-to videos, product breakdowns, or reviews of your products and services people are talking about your brand. people tend to be more honest when creating reviews, which allows you to better understand how people really feel about your brand.
Quantitative
Quantitative metrics mostly consist of numerical data, and is largely what we think of when we think about metrics. This type of data can help you understand trends, including which types of videos better resonate with your intended audience. Examples of quantitative metrics include click-through rate, viewing time, lead generation, and revenue.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
You’re probably already familiar with CTR from your other marketing channels. CTR is determined by dividing the total number of video views by the total number of people who clicked on your video. It’s a good measure of the effectiveness of your video thumbnail, title, and call to action (CTA).
Viewing Time
Calculating the average time people spend watching your videos will give you a good idea of how engaging your videos are. Engagement can also be measured by actions taken by viewers, such as leaving a comment, clicking the like button, or sharing your videos.
Lead Generation
The whole point of your video marketing plan is to build interest in your products and/or services and generate targeted leads. You can analyze lead generation with tools like Google Analytics. For example, if one of your call-to-actions is to purchase a specific product, and you notice a jump in traffic on that product page, look at the source. Is it coming from YouTube? If so, your videos are working!
Revenue
Lastly, money earned is the truest test of the ROI of video. Revenue from videos can be tricky to measure precisely. Using the same example we listed above, if you are creating targeted videos for one specific product, which links to a product page on your website, you’ll want to keep track of the traffic source to the page. If you notice more leads on that page, you’ll also want to track how many of those leads turned into conversions (e.g. filling out a form to request a quote or adding a product to a cart), and how much money that lead spent.
Determining Which Metrics Matter
The truth is that all metrics matter. It’s mainly about how you use them to create better videos for your audience.
Qualitative metrics are especially great for businesses that are new to video content, as there won’t be much quantitative data to go off of. Additionally, interpreting qualitative data can also better help you understand your audience, how they feel about your brand, and what they’re looking for. It can encourage you to create better video content or steer you in a direction that’s more effective for your targeted audience.
On the other side, quantitative metrics can help you understand which types of videos are performing better than others, and can also be tied in with your website’s metrics as well.
To get a full picture of your video marketing efforts, including ROI, you will need to factor in both qualitative and quantitative metrics and come up with measurable goals. How many leads are you looking to get from your video? How many videos do you want? How do you want people to feel about your brand? In other words: what does success look like to you?
Tracking Goals
Once you have your goals clearly defined, continue to track them as you continue to publish more videos. Are leads not coming in? Are people not engaging with your content? If so, what can you do to change this? Could you optimize titles or change your call-to-action? Your metrics can help you identify these problems and can also suggest solutions. When you track your goals, you’re giving yourself the ability to reach wider audiences, put out content your viewers want to see, and ensure your brand is getting the recognition it needs.
Learn More About the Value of Video from MODI
Measuring the ROI of video content isn’t challenging when you have a professional team by your side. At MODI, we can help you identify your goals, establish a video funnel, and create high-quality videos that align with your existing marketing strategies and ROI targets. To learn more about what video can do for you, schedule a free discovery meeting with one of our strategists.