Choose key performance indicators that make sense for your objectives. Apply the right metrics to measure your results. Use tracking tools to measure your progress and adjust your strategy.
Identify Key Metrics
It’s important to measure campaign success across the entire consumer journey, and not rely on view counts alone. There are many tools to help you do this: Brand Lift, Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics. These tools will help you track a variety of key performance indicators (KPIs) across three buckets: awareness, consideration, and action.
Awareness KPIs
Awareness KPIs can help you track the impact your content has on those who are unfamiliar with your brand, agency or small business.
- Ad recall lift:
The aggregate increase in the ability of viewers to remember your video after engagement when compared to a randomised control group of users who did not see your ad.
- Awareness lift:
The aggregate increase in user familiarity with your brand, product, or service when compared to a randomised control group of users who did not see your ad.
- Impressions:
This is the number of times a video or thumbnail has been served to users, regardless of watch time.
- Unique users:
The number of distinct individuals who have been served your video, irrespective of number of views.
- Views:
The number of times that a video was viewed. In a playlist report, the metric indicates the number of times that a video was viewed in the context of a playlist.
Consideration KPIs
Consideration KPIs help you measure the next level of engagement of users. These indicators will help you track if viewers are seeing, hearing, and watching your video.
- Brand interest lift:
The aggregate increase in search volume on brand-related keywords amongst users who saw your ad, compared to similar users who did not see your ad.
- Consideration lift:
An increase in the likelihood a viewer might convert into a customer.
- Favourability lift:
An increase in viewer’s perception of your brand.
- View-through rate:
The percentage of completed views of a skippable video, calculated by dividing number of views by total impressions.
- Watch time:
The average duration of users viewing of video content, whether of an individual video or playlist, or a specific channel or playlist specified channel, content owner, video, or playlist. Longer watch time is correlated with positive brand results.
Action KPIs
Action KPIs can help you measure user interest. These metrics focus on actual conversions or the immediate steps leading to them.
- Clicks:
The number of times viewers select (by tapping or clicking) a given link, image, video, or other CTA.
- Conversions:
This could include calls, signups or sales.
- Purchase intent lift:
An increase in the probability a viewer would make a purchase.
Takeaways
Use Brand Lift, Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics to help you understand if you’re hitting your goals by tracking a variety of key performance indicators (KPIs) across awareness, consideration, and action.
Other Important Metrics
YouTube metrics help you measure user activity, ad performance, or earnings. Are you aiming to grow your channel’s subscribers? Trying to start a dialogue with potential customers? Or trying to get viewers to engage with a video’s end card? Select metrics that are most relevant for your brand strategy and plan accordingly.
Other Important Metrics
- Average view duration:
The average length, in seconds, of video views. This metric indicates the average length, in seconds, of video views that occurred in the context of a playlist.
- Comments:
The number of times that users commented on a video.
- Dislikes:
The number of times that users indicated that they disliked a video by giving it a negative rating.
- Likes:
The number of times that users indicated that they liked a video by giving it a positive rating.
- Shares:
The number of times that users shared a video through the Share button.
- Subscribers gained:
The number of times that users subscribed to a channel during a selected time period.
- Subscribers lost:
The number of times that users unsubscribed from a channel.
- Watch time:
The duration of time users watched videos for the specified channel, content owner, video, or playlist. Longer watch time is correlated with positive brand results.1
Takeaways
- YouTube provides a wide array of metrics to help you track the performance of your video content. Choose relevant tools that give you further insight into the execution of your brand strategy.
