You’ve created some videos, and you’re using them in your Promotional Marketing campaigns, which is fantastic.  But do you know if these ads are working? Which are your most effective videos? What about your least effective? Why?

To answer these questions, you have to analyze the performance of each of your video marketing campaigns to determine their success.

By doing a rigorous and continuous analysis, you will find the areas that need to be improved and adjust the content and strategy to your target audience.

But what metrics should you look at?

To answer this question, we have to take the campaign’s goals as the basis and define which stage of the buyer’s journey these goals are associated with.

The customer journey is the process a person goes through to buy a product or service based on a need or problem.

We can divide this journey into three stages: Awareness, consideration, and decision.

STAGE 1: AWARENESS.

At this stage of the journey, your potential customer is becoming conscious of a problem or need.

Your company’s goal will be to reach the most significant number of potential customers and attract them with relevant content to discover the solutions you offer and remember your brand when buying.

It is unusual for users to become followers and even more unusual for them to make an immediate purchase.  However, this is the first step to making yourself known, positioning your brand, and directing those leads to the next stage.

The most relevant metrics to analyze would be:

1. Impressions:

This metric indicates the number of times a potential customer has viewed video content, regardless of whether they’ve clicked on it or not.

If your video ad doesn’t have a good number of impressions, you’re probably not focusing your efforts in the right direction. Question everything. For example, have you chosen the right location?

If, on the other hand, your ads have lots of impressions but very few views, the content may not be relevant to your audience.

2. Views:

Views are often confused with impressions.

However, views tell us how many times users have viewed or interacted with a video ad for a given minimum time.

The more views a video has, the more potential customers have been exposed to your brand.

For TrueView in-stream ads that run on YouTube, one of the following situations needs to occur to generate a view:

• The user sees a full ad that lasts between 11 and 30 seconds.
• The user sees at least 30 seconds of an ad that lasts more than 30 seconds.
• The user interacts with the ad.

On the contrary, it is enough for the user to see just 3 seconds of video in Instagram or Facebook for it to be considered a view. This can create false expectations, as it is possible to watch a video accidentally for 3 seconds.

In this case, you can set a duration that you think will help you determine whether or not your audience is interested in the content you’re offering and thus avoid wasting time and money.

If the views are very low or start to decrease, you have to start questioning your strategy. Maybe the ad isn’t on the right channel, or the titles are unattractive.

STAGE 2: CONSIDERATION.

At this stage, the potential customer knows the available solutions in the market and looks for information that will help them make their final purchase decision.

You want your potential customer to interact with your brand, generate a connection, and consider you an option when buying.

The most relevant metrics to analyze would be:

1. Viewing time:

If you want to know if your video is resonating with its audience, then take note of the time viewers spend watching the video.

The views and impressions statistics we’ve seen before don’t tell you the whole story when it comes to monitoring the impact of videos.

If your video is 60 seconds long and viewers only watch it for 10 seconds, it could be a sign that the content doesn’t generate interest or you’re targeting the wrong audience.

On the other hand, if viewers watch at least 45 seconds on average, you may have found the magic formula, assuming your goal is for your videos to have an average retention rate of 40% or 50%.

2. Interaction or Engagement

This metric includes comments, likes or dislikes, and the times a video is shared.

Comments can provide a deeper insight into the feelings that content generates in viewers, whether positive or negative.

Comments are perfect for getting to know your audience better and engage in conversation with them.

In addition, it allows viewers to interact with each other, creating a sense of community around the brand.

The number of times a video has been shared is a very positive indicator. If your video has been shared many times, it means that your content has generated a huge impact on viewers, and they have felt the need for others to see it as well.