Video marketing ROI: what it is and how to measure it 

Video marketing is at the heart of the digital marketing strategies for companies in all industries and sizes. And it’s for a very simple reason: it is extremely effective (and it’s what the audience wants). 

Video production, compared to other types of content, is often more complex and challenging. It requires specific technical and creative skills: skills that a company may not already have. Put it simply: it can require a significant expenditure of both time and money. Consequently, the question that we must ask is this: is it worth it?  

It’s this question that we want to answer in the remainder of this post, all focused on the topic of video ROI.

What is video ROI? Why is it so important? How is it measured? And how can it be done in a surgical, thorough, and functional way? 

 

 

Video ROI – What is it? How important is it? 

Let’s start with the basics, with something that is certainly well known: video ROI is the return on investment a company gets from its video marketing strategies and campaigns.  

So far, so simple. 

Let’s move on to the second question: how important is it? 

The answer, of course, is very clear: it’s extremely important. And perhaps, it’s the most decisive metric of all.

Video ROI measures the moment when marketers’ ideas and insights, after having been transformed into strategies and campaigns, are put to the test with the reality of facts…and data. 

The initial idea might have been brilliant, well-substantiated, based on a careful study of your business contexts and targets, but once it has been published, what feedback did it get from the audience? And how did this feedback translate, brutally, into economic returns? 

And here’s where things start to get more and more complex, for several reasons.  

Now we’re getting into the nitty-gritty of measuring video ROI.  First, let’s make certain premises clear:

• First, it’s a matter of time intervals. Some strategies are designed to pay off in the short or very short term while others act in the medium or long term. Without this upstream awareness, video ROI measurements become very meaningless.

• Even before that, every video marketing campaign has its specific goals. Let’s take the most classic ones: “Awareness,” “Consideration,” “Action.” It’s clear that using the same metrics to measure campaigns with different goals is not effective. 
• Also: digital customer journeys can be very long, and increasingly, they are. They often wind through multiple channels and multiple touch points, and in many cases, this digital journey is intertwined with physical experiences in actual stores. 

In this regard, consider this data: according to a survey, as many as 31% of users are influenced in their choice of a product by the research they conduct on their smartphone while already inside a store (source: Digital4Biz).

If you aren’t able to keep track of all these paths and how they lead to the actual sale, video ROI measurements are unreliable and therefore not very useful.  

At this point, the question is, how do you keep track of all this information, which is so numerous and can be found in such different “places” (physical and digital)? 

The answer lies in a careful and extensive analysis of Big Data. We’ll return to this throughout the post.

• Finally, one last premise: the same video campaign might record a very low ROI for one part of the target audience and a very high ROI for another. What to do in these cases? The question of measuring video ROI seems simple, at first glance. But things get much more complex when you go a little deeper.

And that’s what we will do in the next paragraphs. First, though, let’s share a very telling fact:

• Globally, 92% percent of marketers who say they are satisfied with the ROI of their video content. This is very recent data from February 2023. In 2022, this percentage was already very high: 87%. But, indeed, it has grown again (hubspot.com). 

 

Video ROI – how to measure it? What are the key metrics to consider? 

And here we come to the decisive and most concrete part of our post.  

How to measure video ROI?  

That is: what are the key metrics to consider?

Let’s proceed with a list:

1) Impressions, views, average viewing time 

These are the most basic, most general metrics, but they certainly cannot be ignored. 

Specifically: 

• Impressions: the number of times the video preview is viewed on the screen by someone, regardless of whether they click on it or not (there are differences between the different platforms, in measurement: but in the end, the substance does not change). 
• Views: measure the actual number of times a video is viewed, in total.
• Average viewing time (on YouTube this is referred to as “audience retention”): this measures how long a viewer watches a video before abandoning it. 

This is a very important metric, one that we talked about in this previous post.

 Warning: these metrics alone do not provide a complete view of video ROI. That much is clear.  

But they are early and essential indicators of overall campaign performance. 

Let’s proceed with our list, then, and push deeper.

2) Engagement

Audience engagement metrics are diverse. In general, they provide the most detailed insight into how viewers interact with a video. Some of the most well-known and important audience engagement metrics are: likes, reactions, comments, and shares on different social platforms. 

These are valuable indicators on the effectiveness and success of a video with the target audience. 

3) Lead generation and click-through rate 

A “lead” is a potential customer who has shown an interest in a brand or product. Therefore, it is someone who is moving forward decisively in their customer journey.

In contrast, in a video the click-through rate measures the number of users who clicked on a specific call to action. 

In short, you can use these metrics to track the delicate preliminary moments that lead to actual conversion. 

4) Conversion 

And here we come to the key point. The goal of most video marketing campaigns is to generate conversions, whether for sales, sign-ups, or other actions. Conversion tracking is therefore an absolutely central metric for measuring video ROI.

To track conversions, tools such as Google Analytics or tracking pixels can be used to see how many viewers are taking specific actions after watching a video. 

Here, as we mentioned above, it becomes really critical to incorporate omnichannel monitoring and also leverage, when possible, “proximity data” to track customer journeys on the “physical” side as well. 

5) Customer Lifetime Value

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) measures the total value a given customer has to a company over the overall duration of the relationship. It indicates the profits that can be expected from an acquired customer. 

CLV does not tend to be tied directly to a specific video marketing campaign, but it is a key metric for determining whether your strategies are delivering a positive ROI in the long run. 

Here we are at the end of our list (admittedly, not exhaustive). 

At this point, it’s a matter of combining and integrating all of these metrics as broadly and deeply as possible.

Of course, it is all useless if you do not have a precise idea of everything related to the production costs of your video marketing campaigns. 

In practice: the cost of creating and promoting a video, but also the time and internal company resources employed. 

5 quick tips to improve measurement

We have come to the conclusion of the post; as promised, all that remains is to provide you with 5 practical tips to improve your video ROI measurement.

We will summarize them with a further list, also picking up on points that we touched on earlier, without going into too much detail: 

1. Define very clear and specific objectives, upstream, for each individual campaign. 
2. Define time intervals for evaluating results; these intervals depend on the objectives set for the different campaigns. 
3. Collect data on customer journeys by considering all types of channels and touch points.
4. Get to know your audience in depth, dividing them into increasingly circumscribed and specific clusters based on common characteristics. Accordingly, make different assessments for each target segment, aiming toward true personalization. 
5. Continuously refine the systems of evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of results.