Accept it or not, explainer videos aren’t cheap. They take time, resources, and, well, a good chunk of your money. Now imagine investing everything into making a great explainer video… only to find out it didn’t work. A serious bummer, right?
Well, here’s the thing. When it comes to marketing, a slick video itself isn’t enough to guarantee success. It almost always has to be paired with the right data to ensure you get the right number of views and then turn those views into value.
What is that data? And how can you use it to turn your explainers into conversion machines? Those are questions that we will answer in this article.
So without further ado, let’s jump straight in!
Why Data Analytics Matters for Explainer Videos
Video marketing without data is simply nothing but a waste of money and resources. However, video marketing with solid data? That’s a whole other story. With the help of data, you can take your campaign performance to a whole new level by making informed decisions, while also optimizing your videos for maximum performance
Data-based, high-quality, videos can help build a loyal audience that’s more likely to convert through persuasive storytelling, getting you more signups, purchases, and inquiries. Besides, by collecting data, you’ll always have a competitive edge over your competitors as you’ll be on top of the most current trends, coming up with fresh and relevant content every single time.
Key Metrics to Track for Video Performance
Now that you know how studying data analytics can impact the quality and performance of your marketing videos, let’s look at some of the key metrics and why they matter in video marketing:
View count vs. watch time: Which one is more important?
View count means how many times your videos have been watched. On the other hand, watch time means for how long your videos have been watched. Think of it that way: view count simply shows your videos’ footprint, while watch time shows strongly it resonated.
As to which is more important? That’s a hard question. However, since marketing is all about impact, we would have to give it to watch time, fair and square.
Why does watching time matter more?
A better watch time actually means people find more value in your videos. This improves your overall viewer engagement, which in turn tells the algorithm that viewers, even if very little in number, are not just there to click and leave. Instead, they’re there to watch.
As your watch time increases, the algorithm directly starts recommending your video to more people. As a result, you get more visibility in search and suggested feeds. View time also tells you whether people are enjoying your content or not, helping you make necessary creative and practical changes to your videos to ensure you get your required results.
Does that mean view count doesn’t matter?
Well, that’s not actually the case. View count does matter; it gives you a good idea of how many people you are reaching at the moment. However, if it’s not paired with a decent watch time and engagement (likes, comments, shares), it could be quite a useless metric on its own. Not to mention, if your watch time is good, you’ll be automatically gaining more views through platform recommendation. In other words, get the content quality right, and the views will follow naturally.
Engagement metrics: likes, shares, and comments
You already know what likes, comments, and shares are. But do you know what role each of these plays from a marketing perspective? On the surface, likes could just mean viewers enjoyed your content. But on the deeper level, likes actually trigger the algorithm to recommend your video to more people.
Similarly, comments don’t just mean feedback. They spark discussions that keep your content circulating—your first step to building a community. A share, on the other hand, means people massively love your video– so much so that they couldn’t resist telling you about it to their buddies. The result? Your organic reach gets a huge boost.
Retention rate: Understanding drop-off points
Retention rate simply refers to the duration of the video that people actually watch before dropping off. This is one of the key metrics that helps you evaluate whether your video is intriguing your audience or not. If your retention rate is high, your video is likely to be noticed by the algorithm, making it more likely for it to be pushed to a wider and more diverse audience.
A low retention rate, on the other hand, could give you a good idea of where your content is lacking, allowing you the opportunity to improve the weak links– whether it’s the lackluster intro, dull points, or bad tone. In other words, it’s a win-win situation in both cases.
Conversion tracking: Measuring leads and sales
Conversion tracking is one of those metrics that simply tells you whether your video marketing as a whole is going in the same direction or you need to make changes to how you approach your audience.
It connects the creative side of your videos to actual business goals and tells you whether all those views are actually bringing a return on your investment.
If your conversions aren’t great, you might actually need to rethink and overhaul your whole video marketing strategy and approach your audience with a fresh approach. Tracking your conversions ensures your content efforts are aligned with your business goals.
How to Use Analytics to Improve Your Explainer Videos
Now that we know some of the tidbits of video analytics and all the key metrics, let’s have a brief look at how you can use them to improve your explainer videos:
Identification of shortcomings
By collecting regular data of your videos, you can analyze it to identify which video is working and which one isn’t. Afterwards, you can compare them frame-to-frame to identify the difference between both videos. This will give you a good idea of where a particular video is lacking and what kind of creative approach to follow in your upcoming videos to overcome the shortcomings.
A/B Testing for future creative decisions
Detailed analytics also help you conduct effective A/B testing for your videos. By adding and removing elements from a single video, you can release its different versions to your audience and see how they perform.
With the help of key analytics like engagement and retention rate, you can see which version performs better and then follow the same approach for your future videos. You can use YouTube’s A/B testing feature for thumbnails to see which one performs better for your video.
Audience segmentation for targeted content
By looking at metrics like watch history, clicks, and buying behavior, you can segment your audience into different groups and show them highly targeted content based on their likes and interests. Studies have shown that personalized content increases chances of conversion significantly, ensuring you get maximum ROI from your video marketing strategies.
Using these insights, you can plan your next explainer videos to target your audience more successfully.
Best Tools for Tracking Explainer Video Success
We know what data analytics is and how you can use it to boost your campaign. But the question is, where do you find this data? Well, the following are some of the best tools you can use to gauge your explainer video success:
- YouTube Analytics: If YouTube is a part of your video marketing strategy, YouTube Analytics is one of the best tools to get necessary data. It shows you all you need to know about your video, including but not limited to view count, retention rate, engagement, and some basic audience demographics.
- Google Analytics: Do you have an explainer video on your landing page or website? While Google Analytics might not be able to give you exact video analytics, it can give you other key data that could be indirectly related to your video’s performance, such as session duration, conversions (in the form of form fills and signups), and bounce rate. The best thing? It’s free!
- Heatmaps: Heatmaps basically show you a user’s activity, e.g., where they click, scroll, or simply hover on your landing page. Although meant for tracking general user activity on a website, you can use it to find out whether anyone interacts with your video, and if they do, how?
- Other Tools: Other than the main and free aforementioned tools like YouTube and Google Analytics, you can also utilize tools like Vidyard and Wistia, etc., for more detailed behavioral tracking for maximum data, like what video a user has watched, what section they rewatched, and where they paused, etc.
Brand That Optimized Their Explainer Videos with Data – A Case Study
While almost every brand is using data analytics to improve their videos and boost their visibility in modern marketing, one of the best examples of it in the last 2 decades is Dropbox! The “Dropbox Intro Video,” which was the first explainer released by Dropbox 15 years ago and which now holds 4.7M views on YouTube, didn’t just go viral by chance. It was a highly strategic move.
Before even making the video, Dropbox collected significant data, and based on that, released a short but clear explainer for an A/B test to see how it impacted signups. The video, not so shockingly, performed significantly well and brought in millions of dollars in revenue, and increased their ROI by a whopping 10%. Since then, they have been using the same approach with their videos, using it as a powerful tool for their product adoption and growth.
Take Your Explainer Videos to the Next Level
Need an explainer video that looks good and works even better? Check our Explainer Video service page.! With a team that’s creative by heart, marketer by brains, and data-driven by default, we know how to create explainers that don’t just tell your story but deliver actual results.