There are plenty of benchmark metrics that you can consider to evaluate the performance of your video. The confusing thing is that the video’s success may look different on various types of platforms. But, it’s hard to go wrong if you track the view rate the right way.
On the surface, most people think the view rate is simply the number of people who watched your videos out of those who saw it. But, think about it, is assessing how well your video is doing that simple? Sadly, no.
Depending on the platform, the view rate can mean something else, and so will the performance of your videos. This article will teach you how to measure your view rate the right way and learn how to interpret the different video metrics across some of the most common platforms that marketers rely on.
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Understanding the Video Metric Terms for Different Platforms
Before we reveal to you which metrics matter most in each platform, let’s take a look at the different video metric terms that you’ll come across when evaluating your video’s view rate and performance. Here they are:
Website Videos
- Total plays: The number of times the video was played (including auto-playing).
- View rate: The total number of unique plays divided by the number of individual page loads.
- Average engagement: The video’s length multiplied by the ratio of the total hours watched to the number of times it has been played. The higher the view rate, the greater the engagement shown by the audience.
Facebook Videos
- Video views: The number of times your video has been viewed for at least three seconds.
- Unique viewers: The number of individuals that have watched the video.
- Minutes viewed: The total number of minutes that the video has been watched.
- Video average watch time: Total watch time of the video over the total number of times the video has been played (including replay).
- 10-second views: The number of times the video has been watched for 10 seconds or more.
- Audience and engagement: Aside from providing you an insight into your top audience and their top location, this metric will also provide you data on the amount of engagement your post has received—including comments, tags, and post shares.
For Facebook Live, you also have the same metrics plus a new one—peak live viewers. This refers to the highest number of viewers who concurrently watched the video for at least three seconds
Instagram Videos
Instagram considers almost the same metrics as Facebook. Though, it has a few metrics that are unique to it.
- Views: The number of times viewers have watched your video for more than 3 seconds.
- Likes: The number of likes your video post has received.
- Impressions: The total number of times that your video has been watched.
- Video reach: The total number of unique accounts that watched your video.
Instagram Stories
- Forward Taps: The number of times the viewer tapped the right of the screen to watch the next story.
- Backward Taps: The number of times the viewer tapped the left screen to watch the previous story again.
- Exit: The number of times the viewer stopped watching the story and went back to the main Instagram feed.
- Replies: The number of times the viewer responded to your story through a direct message.
- Instagram Live.
- Live viewers: The number of accounts watching your live video at any given time.
- Viewers: Number of accounts that have watched your video.
Twitter Videos
- Minutes viewed: The total amount of minutes your video has been watched.
- Video views: The number of times your video (across all your tweets) visitors watched your video for at least three seconds.
- Call to action clicks: The number of times the viewer has clicked the call to action button incorporated in your video.
- Video completion rate benchmarks: The total number of completed views divided by the total number of video starts.
YouTube Videos
YouTube has the most extensive metrics for tracking the performance of your videos, so it’s important to know which matters to your business and which does not.
- Watch Time: Total average amount of time viewers watched your video.
- Views: The number of times your audience viewed your content for at least 30 seconds. Remember, shorter ads tend to have higher view rates.
- Average view duration: The estimated average minutes your video has been watched per view.
- Subscribers: The total number of subscribers at a given amount of time.
- Audience retention: The average percentage of the video that your audience watched per viewing.
- Demographics: This data shows your audience’s age, geography, and gender.
- Playback locations: The location (site or page) that your video has been viewed on.
- Traffic sources: The different means or platforms that directed the viewers to your video.
- Engagement: The likes, shares, dislikes, and comments that your video has garnered.
- Videos in playlists: The number of times that your audience has included your videos in their playlists.
Which View Rate Metrics Matter the Most?
Now that you are familiar with the different video metrics, let’s try to identify the parameters that you should prioritize or focus on to properly evaluate and measure your view rate in the various platforms you are marketing on.
Website Videos
If you wish to determine how well the videos on various web pages in your site are performing, the critical metrics to keep in mind are as follows:
- Average engagement: Engagement is vital since it can help you determine whether or not viewers have found your content to be useful, informative, or relevant.
- Dwell time: The longer people stay to watch your videos, the better engagement you’ll get. You want to be sure people stick long enough to get the core message of your video.
- Timeline actions: There is no better way to determine how successful your video marketing campaign is than to see if your videos are compelling enough to push people to take action. The more timeline actions your video receives, the more successful the campaign is.
Facebook Videos
Almost all businesses are marketing on Facebook, and if you want to reach out to your target market, you need to stand out.
To determine which of your videos are working or not, you should take a look at the following metrics:
- 10-second views: They say that the attention span of people is only 8 seconds. If your 10-second view metrics are high, it means that the content of your video has captured and hooked the attention of your audience.
- Audience and Engagement: When it comes to content, engagement is always crucial. The comments, shares, and reactions that your posts have received indicate how provoking or compelling your content is.
Instagram Videos
To make sure of your videos’ performance on Instagram, you need to look at your videos’ reach.
One thing that makes Instagram unique is that marketers can increase their discoverability factor by using the right hashtags, allowing them to reach far more people and not just their followers.
By checking out your reach metrics, you can see how many people have seen your video. By checking out your follower growth, you can see which videos are converting your viewers into your followers.
Twitter Videos
Tweets that contain videos receive 10 times more engagement than a plain tweet. That’s why you should not forget this marketing platform for your campaigns.
For Twitter, you need to pay close attention to the following metrics:
- Completion rate: If you have a high completion rate, it means that the audience loves and finds your videos intriguing. But if your completion rate is low, you should evaluate your video and look for ways to improve and optimize it.
- Call-to-action clicks: Twitter is the best platform where you can promote links to your website, Facebook page, and other platforms. Plus, it is the only platform where you can put your call-to-action point-blank.
YouTube Videos
This is the go-to video sharing channel, so you shouldn’t miss out on what this platform has to offer. To determine if your video marketing campaign is working well, you should look at your videos’ watch time.
YouTube places great importance on watch time. When your videos have high watch time, you can gain a better ranking in the YouTube search engine results, and your video is more likely to be organically suggested to users.
Understanding your View Rate is the Way to Success!
Understanding your view rate metrics properly is the only way you can know if your marketing campaign is working or not.
By taking a look at the right metrics, you will be able to identify which type of video and marketing campaign is most effective for your target market, as these are the ones that can bring the best return on your investment.
