How to Use Video Analytics to Refine Your Content Strategy

Video marketing is pretty much a requirement today. 91% of businesses made it a part of their content mix in 2024 and 90% reported a positive ROI.

But you must be artful and strategic about how you use it. Like the purpose of other forms of content, video supports a larger objective for your brand and it can be used to refine your content strategy too.

This guide digs into just that: how to use video analytics to improve your content strategy. It also unpacks how to use different types of videos, what metrics to pay attention to, and shares examples of brands winning with video.

How Video Analytics Enable a Refined Content Strategy

Ask any marketer what they spend most of their time thinking about and you’ll hear something along the lines of “conversions” or “sales.”

That’s because both are as close to perfect proof that their marketing campaigns and creatives work. But to get to a point where content works by grabbing attention, engaging your audience, and turning them into leads and buyers, there’s a world of research to be explored. 

On the other side of already produced content, there’s an equally important slew of data to unpack. The analytical data your videos produce tells a story. It’s information that’s quintessential for video content success and here’s why: 

1. Analytics indicate interest

With a large enough dataset, you can see what people enjoy most. Data can point to content your audience is most interested in, helping shape what you produce, and ensure you create the most relevant content for your audience.

For example, if you’re producing content about online course platforms, video analytics can reveal whether your audience is more interested in reviews of Kajabi and Kajabi alternatives or broader discussions on course monetization.

2. Spot and capitalize on trends

While some content and ideas are evergreen, audience interests shift. Seasons, news events, technology developments, and more can pull the interests of your audience in different directions. Where data shows your audience’s interests, it can also highlight when their interests took a turn. 

For a women’s swimwear eCommerce retailer, winter would spell fewer views of its video than spring or summer. This makes sense because seasonal changes are natural phenomena. 

The release of a new AI graphics design tool is sudden and potentially more disruptive for SaaS graphics design businesses. 

As your audience’s interests shift, you’ll need to stay on top of trends. Tracking trends can be laborious, but you’ll be in a far more advantageous position to create content aligned with where your audience’s minds are.

3. Strengthen your funnel

As more of your audience consumes and engages with your content, you can build a stronger funnel to support your business. Data collected at each stage of your funnel will show which messaging and offers work (more on this below).

And when you’re able to dial in your messaging and offers, customers feel more connected to your brand. Everything you produce feels like it’s made exactly for them. You understand what their daily experience is, making your offer all the more effective.

How to Use Video to Support Your Marketing Goals

Video can be used to support your entire marketing funnel, including everything from testimonials to explainers and videographics, enhancing targeting and engagement.. And when you think about it, that’s a powerful way to make an impact on an audience.

Video makes it possible to show your target market exactly what they will receive. This is true if you’re a creator that live streams your fitness classes or a SaaS company selling a data enrichment tool. Video is more engaging and, when done artfully, can leave an impression that lingers longer than text.

Although there is free video editing software that can significantly help businesses on a budget, producing videos for every stage of your funnel may still not be feasible with free tools. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know what kinds of video content to produce to support and refine your content strategy.

To help, here’s a list of grouped content marketing goals with analytical metrics to focus on and real-life examples. You’ll see that each goal plays an important role, giving you the best possible chance at building an effective funnel.

1. Brand Awareness & Social Media Growth

Increase Brand Awareness

Objective: Reach a wider audience and ensure the brand becomes recognizable.
Metrics: Impressions and views.

Video Types:

• Brand Story Videos – Showcase the company’s mission, values, and journey.
• Behind-the-Scenes Videos – Give an insider’s look at the company culture and processes.
• Social Media Ads & Short-Form Content – TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Stories.
• Branded Entertainment – Fun, shareable, or viral-style videos that subtly incorporate branding.
• Influencer Collaboration Videos – Partner with influencers to introduce the brand to their audience.

Jack Cook is a filmmaker who creates short daily Instagram reels about his life that you can’t help but follow along. Part of his daily routine is a workout, making him a smart choice as an ambassador for Peloton. 

In this short day-in-the-life reel, Jack shows what his visit to Peloton’s HQ was like, and talks a little bit about his experience with their equipment. His unique laid-back, yet conscientious take on life, work, and living pulls the viewer in. And that same feeling rubs off on Peloton, making its product seem like a smart choice.

Expand Social Media Presence

Objective: Boost brand visibility and engagement on social platforms.
Metrics: Follower growth, social shares, and platform-specific insights like reports.

Video Types:

• Short-Form Viral Content – TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts.
• Trendy & Reaction Videos – Participate in popular challenges and trends.
• Memes & Entertaining Clips – Relatable, shareable content.
• Live Streams & Q&A Sessions – Engage audiences in real-time.
• Behind-the-Scenes & Employee Spotlights – Showcase company culture.

HackerRank is a technology hiring platform that’s labeled itself as the “standard for assessing developer skills.” It helps companies hire skilled developers and innovate faster because recruiters and hiring managers can objectively evaluate talent at every stage of the recruiting process.

HackerRank is also known for taking social content and putting a humorous twist on it. Like this LinkedIn video making fun of AI and junior developers, and a recurring criticism on the use of AI to optimize tasks that don’t require AI. 

This video isn’t just funny, it’s relatable to anyone in the tech field. It also shows that HackerRank isn’t just another imposter brand trying to appear trendy, it knows exactly what is happening in the industry today. 

Proof of this video’s success? It has over 2000 likes and a growing number of comments and reposts.

2. Engagement & Customer Retention

Engage with the Target Audience

Objective: Build meaningful connections through engaging and interactive content.
Metrics: Likes, shares, comments, and watch time.

Video Types:

• Q&A or AMA (Ask Me Anything) Videos – Answer audience questions in real time.
• User-Generated Content (UGC) Showcases – Feature content created by customers or fans.
• Polls, Challenges, and Contests – Encourage audience participation.
• Live Streams – Webinars, product launches, or casual behind-the-scenes content.
• Interactive Videos – Clickable elements or “choose your own adventure” content.

To maintain consistent engagement, consider how you schedule social media posts to align with audience behavior and peak activity times.

Pat Flynn started his online business journey at the height of the 2008 recession. He lost his job as an architect and had to find a way to earn an income. Today, he teaches people how to start online businesses through his collection of courses and supportive community. 

Pat understands the power of live engagements, and how they strengthen his brand. He often runs live streams on YouTube, like this one titled “5 Powerful Email Strategies to Level Up Your Business in 2025.”

Strengthen Customer Retention and Loyalty

Objective: Foster deeper relationships with existing customers through value-added content.
Metrics: Repeat engagement and subscriber growth.

Video Types:

• Exclusive Insider Content – Special offers, early access, or behind-the-scenes perks.
• Customer Spotlight Videos – Feature customers and their stories with the brand.
• Community Engagement Videos – Encourage customers to share experiences and feedback.
• Continuous Learning Series – Provide ongoing value through educational content.
• Thank You & Appreciation Videos – Personalized or brand-wide gratitude videos.

Kit (formerly known as ConvertKit) is an email marketing platform for creators. As an alternative to email platforms that look and feel more corporate, Kit has grown alongside the creator economy. To show just how integrated Kit is with the creator economy, it launched a series called “I Am A Blogger” on YouTube. 

The series is a peek into the lives of creators, showing their ups and downs as they navigate the creator journey. It’s also a nod to other creators watching. It shows that Kit knows how to help them turn their ideas into a business.

3. Website Traffic & Lead Generation

Drive Website Traffic

Objective: Encourage viewers to visit the brand’s website or landing pages.
Metric: Click-through rates (CTR) from traffic sources.

Video Types:

• Teaser Videos – Short clips that entice users to visit the site for the full experience.
• Product Demo Videos – Showcase how a product or service works with a CTA to visit the site.
• SEO-Optimized YouTube Videos – Informative content with links in the description.
• Webinar & Event Recaps – Summarize key takeaways and drive users to additional resources.
• How-to & Tutorial Videos – Solve problems while subtly directing viewers to related website content.

In this extended explainer video, HubSpot does a deep dive into what its CRM is, how it works, and what it helps businesses do.

If you’re a business owner trying to figure out which of the hundreds of CRMs to use, this detail and walk-through helps. You can see yourself using specific features and easily assimilating HubSpot’s CRM into your operation. It’s no wonder this video has almost 600k views in just over a year.

Generate Leads

Objective: Collect information or prompt specific actions that turn viewers into leads.
Metrics: Sign-ups, form submissions, or gated content interactions.

Video Types:

• Lead Magnet Videos – Offer valuable insights with a CTA to sign up for a freebie, eBook, or webinar.
• Webinar Invitations & Teasers – Promote a live or pre-recorded event that requires registration.
• Case Study Videos – Highlight real-world success stories with a CTA to learn more.
• Explainer Videos – Educate viewers on a problem and position the product/service as a solution.
• Personalized Sales Videos – Direct outreach videos from sales teams to warm leads.

If you’ve ever wondered how Digital Marketer became such a successful brand, its “The $54M Growth Flywheel (a.k.a. The Elite Marketing Manifesto)” webinar, hosted by Ryan Deiss is a must see. 

In it, Deiss breaks down the collection of systems that he uses to generate $54 million in revenue for not just Digital Marketer, but over a handful of businesses in Deiss’s group of companies.

This is a perfect example of an explainer video. The call to action is to join his mastermind to generate similar results. And if you’re still not convinced, there’s an option to download the case study shown in the webinar, turning viewers into leads.

4. Sales & Credibility

Boost Sales, Conversions and Credibility

Objective: Use videos to move potential customers along the sales funnel.
Metrics: Conversion rates and ROI.

Video Types:

• Product Walkthrough Videos – Detailed demonstrations of features and benefits.
• Testimonial Videos – Customer success stories that build trust.
• Comparison Videos – Highlight the advantages over competitors.
• Limited-Time Offer Videos – Create urgency with time-sensitive promotions.
• Abandoned Cart Recovery Videos – Retarget users with reminders and incentives.

Testimonials can be powerful levers for your business. This one from Road Runner Sports shows Jon’s story. He’s a family man with three daughters and just wanted to be able to keep up with them. 

His challenge, he started experiencing lower back pain. Road Runner Sports pinpointed the issue by running him through a series of quick and non-invasive tests that showed he only needed more support in his shoes to eliminate the pain. 

What’s more impressive is that, along with Jon’s glowing testimonial, this video generated over 6 million views in just six months.

5. Customer Education & Support

Enhance Customer Education

Objective: Use tutorials, product demos, or explainer videos to inform customers.
Metrics: Completion rates and retention rates (watch time).

Video Types:

• Tutorial & How-To Videos – Step-by-step guidance on using a product/service.
• Onboarding Videos – Help new users get started smoothly.
• FAQ Videos – Address common customer concerns in a clear, visual way.
• Explainer Videos – Break down complex topics into digestible content.
• Training & Certification Videos – Educational content for users to improve their skills.

Zoom calls became a standard for work and family engagements during the Covid pandemic. And to help users easily find and join calls, Zoom made a 3-minute “Joining a Zoom Meeting” video and posted it on YouTube. 

Since then, this simple onboarding video has seen over 1.5 million views. 

Key Video Metrics to Track

While there are different ways you can use video to meet marketing goals, there are a handful of key metrics that determine video success. This guide covers them in-depth.

View Count

View count is a measure of the number of views a video has received. These are moments when someone clicks on your video to watch it. Views are especially important because they are also an indicator of interest in a topic.

Watch Time

Watch time indicates how long, on average, viewers spend watching a video. The longer your video watch time, the more engaging your viewers find your video. Today, most platforms use watch time as a metric for promoting content to larger audiences, leading to more visibility for your brand.

Engagement Rate

Engagement tells you how people respond to your content using in-platform features, like buttons and comments. The more engagement you get, the more likely it is that platform algorithms will share your videos far and wide. 

Audience Retention Rate

Audience Retention shows how well viewers stay engaged with a video over the duration of the video. Most platforms, including video monetization platforms, show viewer drop-off points and rates, which is helpful when analyzing video performance. 

Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Conversion Metrics

Click-through rate is a count of the number of people who view a video and click on a link promoted to act on a call to action. 

Together, these metrics can show what’s working in your videos, and where to make iterative changes for better results. A Databox dashboard can centralize these insights, making it easier to monitor trends over time.

Refining Your Content Strategy with Insights from Video Analytics

Much of how you’ll handle data to produce the best possible marketing results depends on how well you understand what you’re looking at. Here are three ways to use data to refine your content strategy.

1. Interpret Video Analytics Data

Gather data and spot trends in behavior by focusing on the key metric mentioned above. The insights you’ll gain won’t be based on one data point. You must use several and get curious about what’s in front of you. 

For example, if you know that summer is a week away, and you’re launching a new swimwear range, it’s safe to start promoting it. But if your results come back with low click-through rates, you wouldn’t assume that the entire video ad is the problem. 

You’d have to look at the view count, watch time, and retention rates too. If you’re receiving a healthy amount of views (comparable to historic data), but retention is really low, and people click away in 2 seconds, your creative could be the issue. Your hook might need some work. To make this process easier, a YouTube channel manager can help by keeping an eye on the analytics for you; spotting patterns, optimizing performance, and freeing up your time to focus on improvements and content creation.

2. Zero-in on Your Audience’s Preferences

Use what you know about your audience to validate and influence behavior. “Influence” can sound like a dirty word in marketing, and it can be used in unsavory ways. But the influence we’re interested in is linked directly to value. 

Using our swimwear example, if summer is around the corner, knowing what your audience wants to feel when they are wearing your new collection matters. Does your audience want to feel confident? How about being comfortable?

Just these two emotional pegs can be used to create ads that resonate with your market — without any sleaze.

3. Lean Into Testing

Develop minimum viable content to test your hypotheses about your audience’s interests in a topic. You can start with short-form content, and if it generates the results you want, create more of it. 

Consider more than one minimal viable content concept to transform into a short-form video as part of a split-testing campaign, too. Direct marketers know how important it is to beat controls, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t consider yourself astute.

Make tiny tweaks, like changing the font size or color. Use a purple background instead of a white one. These tweaks require a budget if you’re spending on paid ads, but it’s worth testing as much as you can because you’ll never know what could tip the scales in your favor if you don’t try.

Get the Most From Your Videos

Using video analytics to refine your content marketing strategy is an iterative process. You’ve got to be dialed into your video content, its performance, and your audience. 

But when you get it right, you’ll find that the metrics mentioned here and a healthy dose of curiosity go a long way. You’ll see how each element of your creative is inextricably linked to your success and, like the examples shared, you can generate wildly impressive results.

To make this process easier, Databox brings all your video performance data into one place, helping you track key metrics, spot trends, and refine your strategy based on real insights.