Nearly half of marketers put a third of their budget toward video content. At the same time, more than a third plan to increase their video spend in the coming years. Why? Because when done right, video marketing delivers a solid return on investment.
Unfortunately, many teams default to surface-level stats. As such, video marketing ROI seems like a mere concept. If you are going to invest time, money, and creative energy into your content, it deserves better than vanity metrics.
At Connection Model, we talk about what “impact” really means and how to measure it properly.
The impact of a video depends entirely on why you made it in the first place. Was the goal to get your brand in front of new people, to educate prospects, or to push viewers toward a purchase? Impact shows up in a few different ways at once:
Video measurement points toward awareness, engagement, conversion, and retention. Once you know which of those matters most for a specific video, measuring impact gets a whole lot clearer.
A lot of businesses stop at views and likes because they are easy to find and even easier to understand. Those numbers do not tell you how video influences your pipeline, though. Let us break down the metrics worth paying attention to.
View-through rate (VTR) answers a simple but important question: Did people actually watch your video? It measures the percentage of impressions that turn into completed views.
A low VTR can be an early warning that the opening did not hook viewers or that the pacing dragged. In contrast, a strong VTR usually means your content resonates.
Instead of just counting how many people started your video, watch time looks at how long they stayed. If 50 people watch your one-minute video all the way through, that is 50 minutes of watch time. If they only watch half of it, that drops to 25 minutes.
Longer watch time signals platforms that your content is worth showing to more people. So, videos are recommended more often, appear in more feeds, and reach larger audiences. For marketers, this metric reveals which parts of your video are working and where attention drops.
Click-through rate (CTR) exhibits how many people clicked your video compared to how many saw it. It tells you whether your content sparked enough curiosity or interest for someone to take the next step.
The math is straightforward: number of clicks divided by number of impressions, multiplied by 100. Remember, regardless of how many videos you upload, they do not matter if people do not press “Play” at all.
The conversion rate is the number of viewers who actually followed through by signing up for a newsletter, filling out a form, booking a demo, or buying a product. By connecting views to downstream behavior in video analytics tools, you can see exactly how the content influences the path to conversion.
People do not experience your video in a straight line. For example, a user may come across it on their feed today and simply continue scrolling. Then, they will remember it tomorrow, search for it, and convert. Multi-channel tracking helps you connect those dots.
That context is critical for a realistic view of video marketing ROI. Where should you look?
For tracking that turns educated guessing into something much more concrete, invest in marketing automation. Have a platform that does not miss a single channel or meaningful metric, so you can personalize at scale, replicate what is working, and confidently justify your spend.
How do you figure out which videos (or versions of videos) deserve credit? One way is A/B testing, which lets you compare two variations and see which performs better.
A/B testing static images is different from A/B testing videos. Instead of changing image sizes, texts, colors, or fonts, you change lengths, transitions, backgrounds, music, captions, voiceovers, pacing, and even seasonal creative. Test one or two variables at a time, run experiments regularly, and use data to guide your decisions.
Tools like Google Brand Lift also help you understand how video affects brand perception. Look at ad recall, awareness, consideration, and other metrics to see how people feel about your brand after seeing your video.
Lastly, use cohort analysis. Group users based on shared experiences, such as watching a specific video, to learn how different audiences respond over time, not just in a single moment.
Are you unsure which numbers really carry weight? Connection Model sets up measurement plans and dashboards that connect video content performance directly to revenue, pipeline, and outcomes. We are the video analytics pros you can trust to realize video marketing ROI!
Make every video earn its place in your budget. Talk to Connection Model about a video measurement blueprint.