Thanks to social media, mobile devices and an increase in bandwidth, more and more brands are turning to video marketing as a sure-fire way to attract attention. The amount of video content the average person consumes has been increasing exponentially for several years, making this area a gold mine for businesses that know how to target their audiences properly. With that being said, video marketing in general doesn’t automatically guarantee results – the quality, relevance, length and audience size all affect the outcome. If you want to be sure you’re deploying video marketing strategies that work, then continue reading to find out how to measure your level of success.

Simple Views

While certainly not the end-all, be-all measurement, the number of views that your videos are generating can shed light on baseline performance. If you suddenly see a spike in video views, then this means that something is being done right – whether it be your new marketing campaign or some sweet earned links. Ultimately, you’ll want to look at more than just views, but this is generally the main prerequisite for measuring whether your latest campaigns are pinging links to your videos effectively.

Watch Time

How much of your videos are being watched? This is a prime indicator in whether you’re getting your money’s worth in video marketing. If you upload a three-minute video but people are only watching the first 30 seconds on average, then this is indicative of poor performance. In most analytics, your watch time will be displayed as a percentage of the video’s length – ideally, this number should be above 50% for maximum performance. The longer the video, the less the average person watches generally. This is part of the reason why so many video marketers aim for short videos (less than 3 minutes).

Subscriptions and Shares

Another great metric to evaluate during a video marketing blitz is the number of shares and subscriptions you’re generating. When employing an aggressive video marketing strategy, is the daily or weekly number of shares and subscribers increasing? If not, then you’re probably not hitting the right audiences or delivering them content that truly resonates. A rapid uptick in one or both of these metrics post-campaign deployment is usually indicative of your campaign having a genuine effect among an audience.

Number of Plays

Especially useful when advertising on social media, the play rate of your videos can help shed further light onto your marketing success. While the number of views may tell you how many people have seen your video, the number of plays will tell you to how many people you’ve been pinging links who actually clicked play on the video. Since many social networks auto-play videos these days, the play feature can give you more context and help you discover whether your ads are having an impact.

Whether you’re inspecting the number of plays, the total number of shares or for how long people are watching, these metrics can determine whether your campaigns are having a meaningful impact. What are some other metrics you inspect to see how well your videos are performing? Leave us a comment below and share your thoughts.