Video Metrics: Which Matter and How to Track Them

Video Metrics: Which Matter and How to Track Them

By Kyle Odefey
Video Producer at Synthesia
Create AI videos with 240+ avatars in 160+ languages.

In this blog post I'm going to dive into which video metrics I think you should track, their limitations, and how to use them to get actionable insights that can help you to improve your videos.

What are video metrics?

When I say video metrics, I mean numbers that I track in order to get insights into how well my videos are performing.

There are 3 main types of video metrics:

Tracking and analyzing these metrics will help you to understand the engagement that your video is getting and make better data-driven decisions with your videos, including how best to iterate on your videos, which video you should make next, and how to best maximize the ROI of your video strategy.

12 essential video metrics to track

Here's my list of the 12 most essential video metrics that you should be paying attention to.

Quick-start metrics if you're short on time

Tracking these three metrics gives you an instant snapshot of video performance.

Metric 1: Video plays

Video plays count how many times a video was played, meaning a viewer hit the play button.

Track this video metric to measure:

However, video plays does not give you any insights into the level of engagement of your viewers, like how long they watched for.

Metric 2: View count

View count is a very similar metric to video plays in that it also counts the total number of times a video was played.

However, the distinction is in how "played" is defined, with different social and video platforms setting different minimum view time thresholds.

For example, a view on Facebook is only counted if the viewer watches for a minimum of 3 seconds, while on YouTube a view is only counted if the viewer watches for at least 30 seconds.

Some of these platforms also distinguish between total views and unique views (which excludes the same people rewatching a video).

I find both video plays and view count to be vanity metrics. They are foundational metrics that you need to monitor, but in isolation they really don't tell you about how well your video content is performing.

Metric 3: Impressions

Impressions measures the number of times your video was displayed to potential viewers, regardless of whether they clicked play or not.

It's a metric that tells you about the potential reach of your video and how effective your distribution is, or in other words how well your video is being surfaced across the different platforms or pages it exists on.

Metric 4: View rate

A video's view rate is the percentage of impressions that resulted in a view.

To calculate it you need to divide your views by your impressions and then multiply by 100.

High impressions but low views will result in a low view rate, which typically means that your thumbnail, title, or video placement might need optimization. It's a metric that tells you whether your video packaging is compelling enough to convert browsers into viewers.

Metric 5: Play rate

Play rate measures the percentage of visitors who play a video on a web page out of those who have viewed the page. It's calculated by dividing the video's number of plays by the web page's number of impressions (or views).

For example, if your web page has 30,000 unique visits, and your video view count is 3,000, then you'll have (3,000 / 30,000) * 100 = 10% play rate for that web page.

This metric can give you an idea of how well placed your video is on your web page, with videos at the top of a web page typically having a higher play rate than those buried at the bottom.

Metric 6: Watch time

Watch time calculates the amount of time viewers have spent watching a video.

This metric typically comes in two flavors:

For example, if your video is 90 seconds long and is watched about half of the way through (40 seconds) by 3,000 people, then that would give you a total watch time of 33 hours and 20 minutes, and an average watch time of 40 seconds.

Watch time is a metric that gives you insights into how much viewers are engaging with your video.

Metric 7: Completion rate

The completion rate shows the percentage of viewers who watched a video from start to finish.

You can calculate it by dividing the number of complete views (which is the number of times a viewer watches the entire video) by the total number of plays and then multiplying that number by 100.

For example, if your video is played 500 times and of those 500 plays, 100 viewers watched all of your video, that would give you a completion rate of (100/500) * 100 = 20%.

The completion rate is another example of an engagement metric, and it can give you insights into how continuously interesting your video is to your audience.

Metric 8: Engagement curve (drop-off analysis)

The engagement curve is a visual graph showing viewer retention at each point in your video.

You can see that my engagement rate is 42.2%, which is the average percentage of my video that was watched by my viewers.

This is one of my favorite video metrics, as it can reveal exactly where viewers lose interest and help you pinpoint confusing sections (sudden drops) or highly engaging moments.

Metric 9: Clicks and click-through rates

Clicks are the number of times viewers have clicked on a link or call-to-action (CTA) within or associated with a video. The click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of clicks to landing pages from the number of times the video (or the CTA within the video) was shown.

What does your CTR tell you? Well, a lot of different things.

Metric 10: Social shares

Social shares count the number of times viewers across social media platforms have shared a video.

Social sharing is context-sensitive. No matter how appreciated internally, a video designed to train employees on handling sensitive customer data won't make it on external platforms because of the content's nature and the company's policies on sensitive content and confidentiality.

Metric 11: Video ROI (Return on Investment)

The video ROI is the percentage of cost vs. income generated from the video. It's calculated by subtracting the cost of the video production and promotion from the revenue generated by the video, dividing this by the cost, and multiplying by 100.

At its most basic level, if it costs you $5,000 to produce and promote a specific video, like a product demo, and, as a result of that video marketing campaign, your sales amount to $15,000, the direct ROI for this particular video is 200%.

Pro tip: Track video ROI over time

Track video ROI over 90+ days, not just immediately. Videos often continue generating value long after publication. Review periodically to understand true long-term impact and develop an average estimate of how long a video might generate revenue.

5 ways to improve your video metrics

1. Optimize thumbnails and titles

Use compelling visuals and enticing copy that promises value and explains the benefits to your viewer.

2. Hook viewers in the first 10 seconds

Start your video with your most compelling content and tease what's coming in the rest of your video.

3. Add captions and interactive elements

Adding interactive features can boost your video engagement too.

4. Right-size video length for platform and purpose

Combine your knowledge of your audience with hard data like average watch times and completion rates to zero in on your optimal video length.

5. Test placement and distribution

Experiment with different video placements and track which contexts drive the best performance as measured by your key metrics.

Frequently asked questions

What are video metrics?

Video metrics are numbers that you can track in order to get insights into how well your videos are performing.

How can I improve my video metrics?

Optimize your video thumbnails and titles, improve your video's hook, add captions, right-size your video's length, and test video placement.