Tips for Checking Social Video Engagement

If you regularly read this blog for social media marketing tips, you know that creating engaging videos is integral for connecting with followers in today’s non-stop scrolling era. We acknowledge the fact that creating a video that will stop the scroll and capture a patron’s attention is hard work! That’s why it’s important to learn how to quickly check engagement on videos to ensure your hard work is paying off. There’s no way to know if a video tactic is working unless you dive deeper into the metrics. Knowing how time-consuming this process can be, we’ve identified which data to focus on when checking social video engagement, so you have more time to keep creating awesome original videos!

Likes & Views

The most common way to check engagement is to see who is “liking” your content. Although this is the most obvious way to know if patrons are enjoying a particular post, it holds more weight on some platforms versus others. On TikTok and YouTube, a thumbs up weighs heavily into the algorithm and how widely your video will be shared with an audience beyond direct followers. If your views are high, but likes are low, this could mean you’re not getting the most out of your content.

Views can be counted in various ways, depending on the platform. On Instagram and Facebook, if a video is watched for 3 seconds, that counts as a view. However, on TikTok, viewers watching a video to the end holds a lot of weight in their algorithm. Luckily, TikTok being geared toward short-form video increases the chances of a full view. If you notice a lot of partial views on your videos this could be a sign to create more bite-sized videos with text and music to keep viewers interested until the end. On Facebook metrics, you can see how long viewers watched your video before they dropped off. By looking at these statistics you can see what the average length is for your patrons’ attention span and adjust accordingly.

Comments

Algorithms on social media seem to favor comments and back-and-forth conversation. If your video gets a lot of comments, it will reach more viewers. Since original comments is a key metric for engagement, if you notice a lack of commenting on your videos, try igniting conversations moving forward. One tactic to create more comments could be trying a live video instead as statistics show that people engage more with live videos. You could also try posing a question, asking for an opinion, comment to win, tag a friend, or a caption contest for videos. However, make sure any caption that’s encouraging comments is original and well-written because the algorithm tends to ignore posts that look like spam trying to get comments.

Shares & Saves

People sharing your content is one of the best ways to organically reach new eyes, which is even more effective than commenting. If you’re seeing shares from patrons or other organizations within your community, you’re on the right track. If not, try adding more relevant hashtags or tags to widen your reach beyond followers. On platforms like Instagram where sharing a video is a little more difficult, patrons can save a video. This means that they liked the video so much they want to easily rewatch it. Instagram also uses saves as an indicator of what to show in the Explore feed, casting a wider net for potential viewers.

If you’d like a more in-depth view at what engagement to look at on each platform and the best ways to report these statistics, check out the Marketer’s Guide to Social Video Engagement Metrics for more specifics and useful tips.