Video marketing metrics you need to know in 2024!

As digital marketing evolves with changing consumer habits, video continues to establish itself as a resource that is best able to intercept this change. For many years now, brands, companies, and content creators have recognized the power of video content to engage, qualify, inform, and convert their audiences. The massive use of video within marketing strategies is matched by an increased need to measure its actual effectiveness. Hence the need to introduce video marketing metrics, the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are an essential compass so that we never lose our sense of direction even in the midst of so much transformation around us.

Video marketing metrics that you can’t miss  

Measuring video performance across individual channels and platforms is a priority because it allows you to understand multichannel attribution and demonstrates to non-marketing C-Suite executives how these metrics align with revenue-based KPIs. The KPIs that companies should monitor in 2024 are often the same ones that were proven effective in 2023 and are likely to continue to be useful in assessing performance, optimizing strategies, and maximizing their impact in the year ahead.

• Conversion Rate. Measures the percentage of users or visitors who perform a desired action (such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, filling out a contact form, visiting a product page) compared to the total number of users who interacted with an item or campaign. It’s a key indicator of the ability of a piece of content to convert prospects into actual customers. In a video marketing campaign, the conversion rate can be used to measure how effective a video is in pushing viewers to take a specific action. By monitoring conversion rates, marketers can assess the impact of their videos in motivating and incentivizing desired actions and make changes to optimize them.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). A forecast of the total revenue a company can expect to earn from an individual customer over the entire relationship. This metric takes several factors into account: the customer’s purchase history, average order value, and the expected duration of the customer’s relationship with the company. Video marketing campaigns, if they offer engaging and informative content that delivers real value to viewers, can play an important role in cultivating customer relationships and increasing CLV. By analyzing how video content affects customer loyalty, for example by observing the association between viewing and repeat purchases, marketers can estimate the long-term value of their customers.
• Customer Retention Rate and Quality. Measures the percentage of customers who continue to have a relationship with a company during a given period. This metric measures the effectiveness of content in retaining customers and can be used to assess their overall loyalty and satisfaction. Videos can be used to improve customer retention by providing educational or entertainment content that keeps viewers engaged for as long as possible. Customer loyalty and quality metrics, such as how often customers return to watch new videos or their level of engagement with video content (which is evident in the case of interactive videos), can indicate the effectiveness of the overall video marketing strategy in building brand loyalty.
• Lead Quality. Assesses the likelihood that a lead (a potential customer or prospect) will convert into a paying customer. It takes into account the lead’s interest, the fit within the target audience, and the stage of the buyer’s journey. A high quality lead is more likely to convert. Video marketing campaigns can generate leads by encouraging viewers to provide their information or express interest in products or services through comments—which can be posted on the platform where the video appears—or by signing a contact form. Establishing lead quality involves expressing the likelihood that video-generated leads will convert into paying customers based on their engagement with the video and the amount and accuracy of information they provided.
• Return on Investment (ROI). This is a financial metric that calculates the profitability of a marketing investment or campaign. It is expressed as a percentage obtained by dividing the net profit earned from the campaign investment by the initial cost of the campaign investment. ROI for video marketing campaigns is calculated by comparing the revenue generated or actions taken as a result of the campaign with the costs incurred during the production and promotion of the video content. Marketers can use ROI to determine whether their video marketing efforts are cost effective and to allocate resources on the most successful campaigns.
• Sales Revenue. It is the total income generated from the sale of goods or services. It represents the monetary value of all sales made in a specific period and is a key metric for evaluating a company’s financial performance. By showing products or services in an engaging mode, videos can drive conversions and impact sales revenue (because they are particularly informative or able to create a deep emotional connection). Today, companies have tools that can more accurately assess how video content contributes to overall sales data (e.g., by tracking digital traces of interaction with video) and identify which videos are most effective in generating revenue.
• Social Media Engagement. This encompasses various metrics, such as likes, shares, comments, and follower growth, that reflect how users interact with a brand’s content on social media platforms. Likes, shares, and comments indicate the level of user interaction and degree of interest in the content, while follower growth measures the increase in a brand’s social media audience over time. Marketers can use engagement metrics of videos shared on social media platforms to understand which ones resonate with their audience and create more content with similar appeal. 
• Website traffic. Website traffic tracks the number of visitors coming to a website or a specific web page. It provides detailed information on the volume of users accessing a site and can be further segmented to analyze traffic sources, user demographics, and user behavior on the website. These metrics are essential for companies and marketers to measure the effectiveness of their strategies, understand customer behavior, and make data-driven decisions to optimize marketing efforts and overall business performance. Video content posted on a website can drive traffic even more than other content: it can attract visitors, from the less attentive to those who are more motivated, and channel their engagement down the funnel. Analysis of website traffic data can therefore reveal how video content helps increase page views and user interactions.

So far we have seen how key digital marketing metrics can be successfully utilized for video. Now let’s take it a step further to delve into specific metrics that are typically associated with video.

Decoding the impact of videos using specific metrics 

Incorporating video-specific metrics into the evaluation of a marketing campaign allows you to have a more focused and detailed view of video performance, enabling marketers to make data-driven decisions and optimize their strategies to achieve their goals.

• Number of Impressions. Impressions in video marketing represent the total number of times your video was shown to viewers. This metric indicates the coverage of your video campaign. Marketers can use impressions to figure out how many times their video has been viewed. A high number of impressions might suggest reaching a large audience.
• Total Views. The total number of views is a count of how many times your video has been watched in whole or in part. It provides an initial indication of your video’s popularity. Marketers can use this metric to assess the appeal of the video and its overall reach.
• Viewing Time. Viewing time, also known as engagement time, tracks how long viewers watched the video. It helps identify where viewers abandon or lose interest. Marketers can analyze viewing duration to improve content engagement. For example, if viewers often leave the video before a crucial message, changes can be made to keep their attention.
• Device Type. Understanding the types of devices viewers use to watch your videos (e.g., mobile devices, desktops, tablets) is critical to optimizing the viewing experience. Marketers can personalize video content and formatting to align with viewers’ preferences and behaviors on different devices.
• Operating System. Provides detailed information about the viewers’ operating systems while watching the video. Marketers can use this data to optimize video playback compatibility and solve problems related to specific operating systems.
• Viewer Localization. Knowing the geographic area where viewers are located allows content to be tailored to regional preferences, time zones, or language considerations. Marketers can use this information to tailor video content to specific regions or to target advertising efforts based on viewer locations.
• Referral Source. The referral source tracks how viewers found your video, whether through a direct link, social media, email marketing, search engines, or other sources. Marketers can determine which channels generate the most traffic and adjust their promotion strategies accordingly, thus helping to identify the most effective platforms for video distribution.

Although video-specific metrics offer valuable information about how your video marketing campaign has performed, you also have to recognize their limitations. These metrics focus primarily on user engagement and behavior in the digital world, which means they may not return the full meaning of viewer interactions. They often do not take the influence of offline actions  into account, such as recommendations arrived by word of mouth, or the emotional impact that the video content may have. Furthermore, metrics like viewing length or engagement rate may not reveal the depth of viewer understanding or the quality of leads generated. Therefore, marketers should always use video metrics along with other research methods and qualitative data to gain a holistic understanding of the impact of their campaign. In the near future, using artificial intelligence will help marketers have an even more comprehensive and meaningful understanding of the video viewing experience.

The New Generations of AI-Driven Metrics: What Marketers Can Expect   

Video marketing metrics based on artificial intelligence promise to provide deeper insights and more effective strategies for video campaigns. Here’s what marketers can expect from the growing use of video metrics based on artificial intelligence (AI).

• Enhanced Personalization: AI-based video metrics will enable hyper-personalization. Marketers will be able to deliver tailored video content that resonates with individual viewers to achieve higher engagement and conversion rates.
• Predictive Analytics for Video Content: AI will help predict which video content will perform well by analyzing historical data with a degree of accuracy that was previously unthinkable.
• Real-time Optimization: AI-based video metrics will offer real-time insights into video performance, enabling marketers to make timely changes.
• Content Generation and Recommendation: AI algorithms simplify the creation and distribution of video content based on user preferences and past interactions.
• Emotional and Audience Sentiment Analysis: AI will analyze viewers’ emotional response to video content and provide insights into their sentiment, helping marketers adjust narrative and messages accordingly.
• Heatmaps and Attention Tracking: AI will help create even more accurate heatmaps, allowing marketers to identify the strongest and weakest sequences in the video and optimize them accordingly.
• Video SEO and Discovery: AI will analyze video content with increasing granularity, making it even more relevant to the target audience and improving its optimization on video search engines.

By leveraging this latest generation of AI-based video marketing metrics, marketers will be better equipped to create more relevant, engaging, and informed video content that will not only resonate with their audiences but also drive them to desired actions. In general, we see a common thread that connects the incredible advances in data analytics with the development of increasingly effective metrics and the ability to improve the customer experience: we’re talking about personalization. Babelee’s video platform picks up this thread and allows you to create an unlimited number of personalized videos that enhance all of your data.

Elisabetta Severoni

Copywriter for television and online, she has been creating and managing editorial content for more than 15 years for multiple formats, including marketing and television.