“Can’t we just post our video to Youtube and get the view count stuff for free?”

We hear this question quite a bit. After all, it’s hard to work in the world of video without having Youtube mentioned. It’s the channel that everybody knows. And it’s not by any means a bad platform; it’s simple, it’s familiar, it’s versatile. We have a channel there.

But Youtube isn’t the heavy hitter you want on your website.

Why? Two words.

Video Analytics.

Video analytics are all about measuring whether people were actually engaged by your video. Did they watch the whole thing? Did they keep re-playing a certain section that they’re interested in? Or are you just getting a lot of people who clicked by accident and then backpedaled after they realized your video wasn’t what they were looking for? You might have conversion rates, but what about the vast majority that aren’t converting? Who are they, and what’s stopping them?

Youtube can’t tell any of those people apart; but our platform can.

Here’s a Simplified Example:

Supposing a business that restores antique cars has just created a video about their services; they place it front and center on their website; and then they email that video link out to their entire newsletter audience. If they’re using Youtube, they can only see that the video has sixty-seven “views.” But there’s a problem.

What if twenty of those views are coming from the executive’s Nanna showing all of her Bingo Night friends in Sarasota? That’s almost a third of the view count down the drain!

A platform with analytics would show that a large chunk of views are all coming from the same person, or the same location. So maybe it’s not an over-zealous family member, but just a large group of viewers all located in Hollywood, CA. Maybe that’s a hint for this business to start connecting with movie studios that could be interested in their services for period films.

Or, maybe the analytics show that one individual located in Naples has watched the video through seven times, always repeating a certain section about restoring foreign vehicles – and lo and behold, the company realizes that one of their email subscribers is located in Italy! Now they have the opportunity to follow up with someone personally who just might be interested in bringing them more business. And maybe that’s a tip to produce a second video delving deeper into their overseas capabilities.

As we said, that’s a very simplified example. But even so, it’s evident how valuable video analytics are for bringing clarity to your content marketing and lead generation. They’re the key to unlocking a measurable ROI, identifying the people worth connecting to, and generating real results. Video analytics are key to the video marketing process.

Because only counting views… just doesn’t count.