Youtube is the most influential social platform today. In 2019, the number of channels increased by more than 25%. And according to statistics, there are 15 million channels that upload 80 million videos every month. The number of brands’ Youtube channels is also increasing rapidly, besides TVCs, always-on content videos are also a popular form of content right now. Today, to measure how your youtube videos are performing better than the competition, we need to learn what metrics matter and how to create videos that viewers love. First, let’s see what YouTube requires when ranking channels with content:

Youtube requirements?

YouTube wants more people to watch more videos for longer. And to achieve this, YouTube has designed an algorithm that incentivizes users to create content that keeps viewers interested in their channel, coming back and watching more.

YouTube’s algorithm allows you to track which types of content are the most engaging. Measure video consumption, and viewing frequency, then build user profiles and recommend videos that are relevant to them. 

When a brand implements a plan to build its own YouTube channel, here are 10 important metrics to track:

10 important metrics of YouTube marketing campaigns

Producing the most accessible content relies on the YouTube Viewer Cycle , which is divided into three phases:

  • Attraction – Attraction: Indicators related to attracting viewers
  • Consumption – Content acquisition: Metrics that track viewers and how they watch videos
  • Reaction – Response: Metrics that track how viewers respond to a video.

As can be seen, videos reach viewers starting by being featured on the homepage with a catchy title and thumbnail – this is the stage that attracts action. When viewers click on the video and watch it – is the content acquisition stage. The reaction phase includes how long they watched the video, did they like it, follow it up, or share it.

The following is a breakdown of the indicators of each stage

A. Indicators of attractiveness

Engagement metrics show how well a brand’s video engages its audience. Include demographics of the traffic source, impression click-through rate, and views per unique viewer.

1. Traffic – Source of access

The traffic source is the aggregate of all the places the video is likely to show up. In particular, statistics from the following channels gather the most traffic:

  • Search – Search engines: Viewers search by keywords related to video content. The more people find your video, the more views you are likely to get
  • Suggested view – Suggested views: Traffic from videos that appear alongside the video a viewer is watching and often next in an autoplay playlist. “Recommended Views” videos are also a major source of video views.
  • Browse – Recommended Videos: These are videos that appear on the user’s home page. YouTube shows videos to audiences who have been interested in similar content within the last seven to 28 days

Traffic metrics are not only about the sources of access to the video, more importantly, it shows whether the video content is good or not, and effectively reached on what media.

How to improve Youtube videos through traffic metrics

In order for your video to appear on all search channels, the Youtube homepage, besides the need to optimize the content, it is important to note the following three points:

  • Create a title that attracts, stimulates curiosity, and clearly states the video’s benefits
  • Use keywords in the title
  • Use keywords in the video description

With the above ways, the video appearance rate when users search for related and suggested keywords on other channels is also higher. Youtube’s algorithm will evaluate the relationship between keywords and content with the needs of viewers to make recommendations.

2. Impressions Click-through rate (CTR)

CTR measures how often a person watches a video after an impression on YouTube. If the video is getting a lot of traffic and impressions, but there are no clicks to watch the video, the thumbnail (video cover image) and video title are not engaging the target audience.

To increase the click-through rate of the video, you need to understand what the metrics mean. Take the above case. A high click-through rate and low average view time mean that viewers are only attracted by the title or thumbnail but the content is not enough to retain them. In contrast, the video click-through rate is low but the viewing time is longer (over 50% of the video length), the content maker needs to improve the title, and cover image to attract viewers’ attention.

CTR measures how often a person watches a video after an impression on YouTube. If the video is getting a lot of traffic and impressions, but there are no clicks to watch the video, the thumbnail (video cover image) and video title are not engaging the target audience.

3. Average view per viewer – Average view per viewer

This metric shows the average number of times a person watches a video, the more views it gets, the better engagement the channel is on YouTube. YouTube’s algorithm evaluates user behavior to recommend videos that show more on the homepage and search engines.

View count is influenced by the topic of the video content and what audience those videos are targeted at. Usually, the content of instructions, and sharing tips on using the product has more views because of its high applicability.

To increase average views:

  • Compare historical view metrics, focusing on building high-review topics.
  • Build topics/content based on target audience profiles. What audience are you trying to attract, what needs do they have, and what topics are they usually interested in?

4. Demographics – Demographics

The demographic information tells you where the channel’s main audience comes from, their gender, and their age. From there determine if the video content is attracting the right target audience of the marketing campaign.

B. Consumption metrics

This metric measures the average percentage of video length viewed. 

This ratio is especially important because YouTube uses it to gauge how attractive your video is to users.

6. Average View Duration (AVD)

This metric represents the total watch time of a video divided by the number of times the video is played (including playback).

The lower the average watch time, the less likely YouTube is to recommend your video to other viewers. This indicator is similar to the one above but is measured in units of time.

7. Audience Retention

Viewer retention rate shows when to watch and leave a video. Audience engagement is measured as a percentage and tells you exactly when viewers are no longer interested in video content, helping you determine what needs to be changed to increase their retention value.

8. Real watch time of channel subscribers – Watch time from subscribers

Watch time from subscribers shows how long a user subscribed to the channel has watched the video. A high percentage indicates that the videos are being appreciated by the channel’s audience. Conversely, the lower a subscriber’s watch time, APV, and AVD, the more obvious the channel is not delivering the expected value.

C. Viewer Response Index

Feedback metrics are the first metrics YouTube viewers notice because they’re displayed right on the channel’s interface. 

9. Engagements – Engagements

Like other social media channels, engagement is one of the key KPIs when analyzing YouTube channel performance. Engagement metrics including likes, dislikes, comments, shares, etc. show how viewers rate video content, and whether or not they are targeting the right audience with the right videos. For example, with the number of dislikes indicating how many people disliked the posted content, the brand would need to consider why it received negative reactions. Customer response analytics tells more about your channel’s audience and its relationship with them.

10. Youtube recommendation index – Youtube video recommendations

YouTube’s recommendations depend on a combination of the performance of all of the above metrics. As mentioned earlier, the more users interact with video content, the more data YouTube collects when creating user profiles. User profiles tell YouTube what viewers like to click on, what they like to watch, and how engaged they are through actions like likes (or dislikes), comments, and shares.

A YouTube metric or KPI is a measurement tool that measures the performance of video content on YouTube media. It’s based on identifying the right elements needed to establish which content delivers success, essential for building a  video marketing strategy.

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