It’s no secret that business owners can gain an incredible amount of insight into their customers and their products by understanding viewer behavior. Tapping into viewer data can give content creators a glimpse into what’s working and what’s not, so that they can test, tweak and improve their digital content accordingly to increase viewer engagement, add more value, and retain more customers.

Viewer Behavior & Why it’s Important

How are customers consuming your video content and what do these viewing patterns mean? View length, drop off points and rewatching content can all provide clues to the success of your video content as well as areas for improvement. Analytics tools have improved so much over the years, that digital content creators have a treasure trove of data at their fingertips. When this data is used correctly in can increase revenues in ways content owners may have never thought possible. If you use analytics to drill down to a user level, you can even recommend other products to existing customers based on their viewer behavior.

Expert content creators know that having as much information as possible on their customers viewing behaviors is one of the greatest assets for an online business. If you’ve gathered demographic data on your customers, either through your targeted marketing efforts or through customer surveys, you can start to see trends in how certain demographic types consume your videos, and market new products accordingly.

For example, perhaps your female customers are more interested in one product type, while men gravitate toward another. Or perhaps you have videos that are more attractive to a certain age group. Of course you’ll need a solid base of existing customers to draw general conclusions, however, it can certainly help advise new product development efforts.

Below are some important video metrics that will give you insight into how your videos are performing:

Watch Time

How long do your customers watch your videos? Are they viewing all the way to the end, or are they stopping early? Do they restart videos once they’ve been paused?

Knowing how long your customers watch your videos, if they’re stopping short or are watching all the way to the end, is a great way to identify when your video may be too long, or in some cases too short. Understanding the devices that are being used to view the videos is important too, since many mobile users tend to watch videos for less time.

Drop Off Points

Is there a point in your videos in which people frequently stop watching? If so, take a look at this part of the video and try to understand why. Are the users bored? Are they not engaged? How can you modify your videos to keep them excited and interested so that they continue watching?

Rewatchers

Which customers are watching your videos over and over again? Knowing this can help you identify your loyal customer base. Talk to these customers and build relationships with them. Ask for reviews of your products and testimonials that you can use as social proof for others looking to buy. These customers can serve as brand ambassadors for you by spreading the benefits of your product simply because they love the value you provide. Plus, you can expect loyal customers who love your products to buy from you again and again!

Refunds

Can you use your data to help you identify why your refund rates may be high, or why particular products are being refunded? Do refunds correlate with how the video is being watched and where people are dropping off? By combining refund data with video viewership analytics you can determine what products may need improving in order to add the value people expect, so that they’re getting what they paid for. Taking a close look at your sales flow to make sure that what you’re selling is actually what you’re delivering. This should result in lower refund rates.

Identifying Opportunities for Improvement

One of the most exciting things about the digital video business is instant access to an abundance of analytics data as it relates to the performance of your products. And with digital products, you can quickly tweak and test products in an effort to improve results. Bottom line, analytics can help you understand what’s working and what’s not.

Most importantly, once you find a formula that works, follow the same script. Customers love consistency and once you know what they like, give them great content in a similar way, over and over again. Keep customers interested, entertained, informed and most importantly engaged.