The top 3 video marketing metrics car dealers should follow

In-market shoppers see your videos when they’re ready to visit your dealership. For example, 97% of auto shoppers acted after watching a video, and 40% searched inventory. Posting those walk-around videos of your latest models and instructional videos of a customer’s future service expectations is helpful information. But, more importantly, are they working to move the profit needle?

Your content marketing targets your customer, but it’s only beneficial if it’s performing to expectation. Let’s assume you’ve tested it to ensure it performs and have a baseline to judge success. What should you then look for to ensure that success continues and even grows? And, are you willing to make changes as you learn from your mistakes and successes to keep your audience informed and growing? Of course, you are.

Let’s check on a few metrics you can observe to see if you’re making a difference. 

3 Video Marketing Metrics to Observe 

To be clear, there are many key performance indicators to measure how well you are doing against yourself and your competitors. We’re taking three of them and giving you a brief look at how they work.

Before you publish your next video online, there are several KPIs you can use to measure your video’s performance. Here, we share several of the most critical metrics in video marketing and explain how they work: 

Views 

Overall views are your fundamental and foundational measurement. You can find this metric on your YouTube Studio dashboard analytics tab or the actual video on YouTube.

However tremendous and affirming it is to have high view rates, it doesn’t mean that people watched all of your latest walk-around. YouTube, where most of your long-form videos will be, considers your video to be watched after 30 seconds, depending on its length. If it’s a three-minute video and your CTA is at its end, you can see the problem with that 30-second view. Another thing to consider is that these views aren’t always unique.

And then there’s the issue of the call to action (CTA) since your video’s objective isn’t entirely about views. Instead, your ultimate success will depend on how many people click through to your site. 

Your Click-Through Rate 

Also displayed on your dashboard is the click-through rate. CTR measures the number of call-to-action button clicks and shows your viewer’s response to your CTA. To get your CTR percentage, take the number of clicks from your CTA button and divide it by the number of views. What should you expect for your CTR? The industry average is 1% to 3%, with 50% of YouTube channels ranging from 2% to 10%. 

Your Conversion Rate 

Conversions are the action you want the viewer to take. Unfortunately, this isn’t going to be in your YouTube dashboard but is easily calculated by dividing your conversions by the number of visitors to that conversion page. 

So, if your call-to-action sends the viewer to a vehicle landing page, your conversion could be how many people searched inventory and requested a quote. The number you divide those conversions by would be the people who clicked through to the vehicle landing page.

But, you’re not limited to that kind of conversion. Conversions can also be email sign-ups, a confirmed service appointment, or simply getting the consumer comfortable with what to expect in that appointment. In the last situation, a video view and visit to the service department page is a conversion.

With any of these KPIs, it’s essential to optimize your message and delivery continually. A/B tests are easy to do when optimizing conversion rates. So be aggressive in testing what negatively or positively affects your numbers by running tests for four to six weeks. Commonly tested items are titles, images, calls-to-action phrasing, and even placement of the CTA button. 

When you get an increase in CTR’s, it’s also important to consider what is going on in the market that could be affecting the rate.   

Success 

Your success will depend on your ability to learn what works for you, and it takes trial and error. Your brand image, model mix, and primary target market have to be incorporated, or you’ll waste your time and, ultimately, your money. As you continue to track your audience, your content and message will bring buyers to your showroom. Be consistent and patient, and over the next six months, watch your audience grow.

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