Ten years ago it was tough to measure results from video. We were producing VHS or DVDs, with the only measurement of success being whether the client liked it or not. You could ask for feedback when showing the tape but it was all rather subjective and mainly used to massage ego.
Times have changed, with online video now more measurable than most other forms of media. Analytics is a whole new world that means you can now measure ROI from video, and it’s the obvious place to start. These measurements are easily accessible on YouTube and most online video platforms (OVPs). They provide useful statistics on your content that can actually be quite detailed. Standard analytics can include:
- Views
- Location
- Age and other demographics (using Google’s user data)
- Device used
- Viewing time
- Likes
- Comments
These can all be really useful, especially if there are enough numbers to make the sample valid and they are interpreted correctly. The numbers are really valuable for finding out whether people are watching and sharing your content, and they can be used to influence future content too.
What they don’t really tell you is how you’re affecting attitude and, more importantly, behaviour. Comments from viewers can give an indication of these, but, of course, aren’t very reliable.
Measuring whether your video content is actually changing behaviour means going beyond generic analytics. Click-throughs is an obvious option; knowing someone clicked your video in a mailer and moved through to your site, for example, means you have influenced them. Creating a site that is only accessible through your video means that any purchases from the site can be attributed to the video, even if it’s indirectly. Unique text numbers or voucher codes are also ways to track referrals through your video.
Comparing performance of your site, sales etc. with numbers before the video content came online can also be a valid measurement, although this is only accurate if you control all of the variables. Ultimately, if performance goes down after you release your video, it’s not a good sign!
We use a number of techniques to measure the success of our content, and a viral film and cinema commercial we produced for the NHS is a great example (Vampire). We used analytics to track views, hotspots, demographics and referrals, as well as a unique text number to track enquires. We also recorded column inches for PR. The biggest result following the campaign was a 52% increase in the target audience actually visiting the dentist, saving the NHS over £1Million. You can view Vampire below:
Simon Crofts
Creative Director