Strategies and Metrics to Improve Video Engagement

Trying to engage viewers with your video without a solid strategy is like trying to catch fish with a fork – possible, but unnecessarily difficult and messy! All successful streaming services have one thing in common: a deep understanding of their viewers. It’s not just about producing high-quality content; it’s about delivering a personalized experience that keeps viewers coming back for more.

If you’re in the business of content creation or delivery, you might already know the importance of video engagement. But did you know that in recent surveys, 74% of marketers said videos are more effective than blog posts for generating leads?

Optimizing video engagement can be tricky, but it’s far from impossible. Follow a handful of successful strategies, observe a few key metrics, and you’ll be good to go.

Want to know more? Read on to learn the best practices for boosting video engagement,

Understanding Video Engagement

Video engagement isn’t just about creating content; it’s about capturing and maintaining viewer attention. It’s the art of crafting and recommending videos that inform and inspire the right demographic, leaving a lasting impact. A higher engagement level indicates a more effective video.

A highly engaged viewer is more likely to:

• Demonstrate Brand Loyalty: A loyal fanbase can help your platform weather challenges and maintain a strong brand reputation.
• Higher Subscription Rates: Engaged viewers are more likely to renew their subscriptions and even upgrade to premium tiers.
• Spread Positive Word-of-mouth: Engaged viewers are more likely to recommend the platform to others, leading to increased user acquisition.

Prioritizing engagement can lead to more effective and impactful video suggestions. An excellent way to gauge engagement is through viewer data analytics. Let’s dive deeper into the key metrics that will help you measure engagement effectively.

Measuring Engagement

Analytics reveal viewer behavior, preferences, and patterns, turning raw data into useful insights. You can start making informed decisions that clearly improve engagement by relying on these metrics.

Tracking key factors used in measuring engagement is essential to understand how effectively your videos are performing. Here are some of the most important metrics to consider:

1.  Attempts

This metric provides a baseline understanding of how often your video is being accessed. A high number of attempts suggests strong initial interest. A sudden spike or drop in attempts might indicate technical problems with the video player or website.

2. Plays

This metric focuses on how many users have actually started watching the video. A high number of plays suggests that the video’s thumbnail, title, or description is compelling enough to draw viewers in. A low number of plays compared to attempts could indicate that the video’s content isn’t captivating enough to hold viewers’ attention.

3. Unique Viewers

It indicates the number of distinct individuals who have watched the video. A high number of unique viewers suggests a wide reach and potential for increased brand awareness. Analyzing the demographics of unique viewers can help you understand your target audience better.

4. Playtime

It reveals how long viewers are spending watching the video. A high playtime indicates strong engagement and suggests the content’s pace is optimal. By analyzing playtime data, you can determine the optimal video length to keep viewers engaged without losing their attention.

5. Average Plays/Viewer

This metric shows how often individual viewers return to watch the video. A high average suggests that viewers find the content valuable and are likely to engage with future content. Analyzing this metric can help you identify your most loyal audience segments.

6. Startup Failures

A high startup failure rate indicates potential problems with video playback, such as buffering issues, slow loading times, or incompatible devices. By addressing technical issues, you can improve viewer experience and reduce frustration.

Use these metrics to understand your audience and make data-driven decisions to improve your video strategy. If you’re in the market for a reliable data analytics provider, look no further than MediaMelon’s Smartsight QoE platform that supports the world’s top video-first companies to achieve up to 30% higher NPS, engagement rates, and streaming experience.

Moving on, we’ll now examine some vital practices to enhance video engagement.

Key Strategies to Improve Video Engagement

Now that you understand the metrics better, it’s time to discuss the specifics of boosting video engagement. Success lies in relying on actionable insights and implementing strategies that consider your audience’s needs, technical quality, and accessibility requirements.

1. Understand Your Viewer’s Motivation

The first step to improving video engagement is understanding what your viewers want to see. Are they seeking entertainment, education, or inspiration? Knowing your audience’s motivations will help you tailor your content to their needs and interests.

• Internally Motivated Viewers: These viewers are more likely to engage with relatable and stimulating content. Focus on suggesting high-quality, informative, and entertaining videos that sparks curiosity and encourages active participation.
• Externally Motivated Viewers: These viewers are watching to achieve a specific goal. Make sure the suggested content is clear, concise, and directly addresses their needs. Use strong calls to action and provide clear instructions to guide them toward the desired outcome.

2. Better Audio and Video Quality

High-quality audio and video are crucial for a positive viewing experience.

• Prioritize Audio Quality: Clear and crisp audio can significantly enhance viewer engagement. Consider investing in adaptive bitrate streaming, device-specific audio processing, and continuous automated monitoring to ensure best sound quality.
• Optimize Video Quality: Make sure to encode videos with high bitrates at high resolutions. But the consequences of large file size have to be balanced with the help of advanced video technology (such as h265 video codecs)..

3. Subtitles and Captions for Improved Accessibility

Subtitles and captions are an essential component of modern video content. Search engines can index the text in subtitles and captions, improving the discoverability of your videos. Proper captioning also meets accessibility standards where applicable, while aligning with current digital content best practices.

They are vital if you want to:

• Increase Viewership: Studies have shown that viewers are more likely to watch videos with subtitles.
• Enhance Comprehension: Subtitles can help viewers understand the content, especially in noisy environments or when language barriers exist.
• Improve Accessibility: Subtitles and captions make your videos accessible to a broader audience, including people with hearing impairments.

These key strategies can boost viewer engagement and ensure your video resonates with the intended audience. Now, let’s discuss a few ways you can adjust your content for maximum engagement.

Enhancing Engagement Through Content

Getting viewers hooked isn’t just about having the latest shows or the biggest movies. It’s about knowing what makes people click ‘play’ and stay watching. You want to give viewers relatable content that makes them want to go from free users to paid subscribers.

Let’s look at a few ways you can go about doing just that.

1. Content Diversity

The first thing that matters is having something for everyone. From teens who love coming-of-age stories to adults who can’t get enough crime documentaries, different viewers want different things. Smart platforms mix up their content library with various genres, styles, and formats.

Tip: When suggesting new genres, start with content that bridges familiar and new categories. This creates a natural pathway for viewers to explore different content types.

2. Release Strategy

While having a diverse content library is great, strategic scheduling is equally important.

Dropping all episodes at once lets viewers binge-watch their favorite series, while weekly releases build excitement and keep people talking about shows longer. Both ways work, but you’ll need to pick what’s best for your audience based on their viewing habits.

3. Content-Length Variety

Short-form content is also becoming a game changer. Quick, 10-15 minute episodes fit perfectly into busy schedules, allowing viewers to enjoy entertainment during lunch breaks or commutes.

By prioritizing these factors, you can create viewing experiences that genuinely resonate with your audience.

Now that you’re armed with considerable knowledge, you’re ready to generate better video engagement. But don’t click away just yet—in the next section, we’ll walk you through a few auxiliary ways to boost engagement.

Adapting to Platform-Specific Engagement Requirements

As an OTT platform provider, you may question the benefits of looking to other platforms for guidance. But, picking up new habits from market leaders and cross-promotion can go a long way to increase your overall engagement.

1. Cross-Platform Collaborations:

• Working with other platforms to cross-promote content is a great way to reach a wider audience.
• You can also optimize content for different platforms, such as creating short-form versions for social media.

2. Social Media Integration:

• Relying on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to promote content is a great way to engage with audiences and build a community.
• Social media analytics will also allow you to understand audience preferences and tailor content accordingly.

3. Keeping Pace with Evolving Platforms:

• Keeping up with the latest trends and features on different platforms will enable you to capitalize on engagement.
• ·You can experiment with new formats and technologies, such as short-form videos, motion graphics and animation, to enhance your content.

Tip: For example, platforms like TikTok have revolutionized short-form videos. Adapt to this trend and create engaging, bite-sized teasers of your main content to attract younger audiences and drive more video engagement.

Tailoring your approach to each platform’s unique engagement requirements is vital to expanding your reach and enhancing the viewer experience.

In the following section, we will explore complementary video engagement solutions you can put in place to elevate the viewing experience and drive higher video engagement.

Implementing Complementary Video Engagement Solutions

Complementary engagement solutions work alongside your main video content to create a more dynamic viewing environment. These features transform passive viewers into active participants, driving longer watch times and strong user loyalty. When properly integrated, they create a more compelling and engaging video experience.

Let’s look at a few simple, but effective options:

1. Interactive Video Experiences: 

These dynamic forms of digital content invite viewers to actively engage with the video. Unlike conventional video formats, interactive videos incorporate clickable elements, quizzes, and decision-making points. They allow viewers to influence the narrative and tailor the experience to their preferences.

2. Social Features: 

These are a crucial component of enhancing video engagement. Community forums let viewers discuss content, share opinions, and interact with creators, fostering a sense of belonging. Live chat during streams and videos strengthens communal bonds, enabling real-time dialogue and a more interactive viewing experience.

Tip: Consider implementing post-video discussion prompts to naturally spark conversation and raise community engagement without overwhelming moderation resources.

Ready to take these engagement solutions to the next level? Let’s wrap things up with some concluding thoughts.

Conclusion: 

If you’ve made it this far, you should now have a solid foundation for boosting video engagement on your platform. Remember, it’s all about understanding your audience, creating high-quality content, and using data to make smart decisions.

Want to identify patterns in viewer data to unlock higher NPS, ad revenue and user engagement? Rest assured, we’ve got you covered. At MediaMelon, we provide video analytics solutions that will help you make data-driven decisions. Our  video analytics solutions offer complete visibility into service delivery events throughout each video session, enabling you to analyze and optimize the end-user viewing experience.

So, what are you waiting for? Book a demo with our video experts to see how MediaMelon can be tailored to meet your OTT platform’s unique needs and deliver powerful results in action.