Key Metrics for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Animated Explainer Videos in Canada
The use of animated explainer videos has been growing significantly among companies in Canada in recent years. Animated explainer videos are short videos, typically 1-3 minutes long, that use animation and graphics to clearly explain a company’s products, services, or processes in an engaging way. With the ability to convey complex information simply and hold viewer attention, many Canadian businesses are turning to animated explainer videos as part of their marketing and customer education efforts.
A survey conducted in 2021 found that over 60% of large Canadian companies said they had created at least one explainer video in the past year. Meanwhile, statistics from the three largest video platforms – YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn show that Canadian viewership of explainer video content has more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels.
With animated explainer videos in Canada requiring both a financial and time investment to produce, it is important for companies to properly measure the effectiveness of their video strategies to justify these costs. Tracking key metrics will help companies understand if their explainer videos support goals like increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or converting more leads.
Common Goals of Animated Explainer Videos
Some of the main reasons why Canadian companies create and distribute animated explainer videos include:
1. Increasing brand awareness: Animated videos help more people recognize a company’s name and what they do. A study from 2021 found that over 70% of Canadian marketers said brand awareness was a key objective.
2. Enhancing customer education: Explainer videos make it easy for customers to understand technical products or complex processes like applying for loans or insurance policies. Over 80% of Canadian explainer videos have an educational focus.
3. Driving traffic to company websites: Sharing videos on social media can engage audiences and send them to the website for more information. On average, Canadian explainer video campaigns see a 25% lift in website sessions.
4. Increasing sales or leads: Educated customers are more likely to purchase; videos can convert viewers into sales contacts. Conversion rates from video campaigns typically range from 3-7% of total views.
5. Improving customer satisfaction: Customers who understand a company’s offerings better may have a more positive experience and brand perception.
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Key Metrics to Consider:
The following metrics can help Canadian companies measure how well their explainer videos are supporting their goals:
Video Views & Completion Rate
Tracking key metrics like total views and completion rates, as well as the percentage of people who watch at least half the video, provides insight for content creators. Most animated explainer videos Canada creators achieve a 40-60% completion rate, meaning 4 of 10 viewers typically watch half, while those surpassing 60% are highly engaging as they better retain audiences.
Completion can vary based on length, topic, quality, and channel, as educational content sees higher rates than entertained social videos facing more distractions, so understanding rates helps identify edits and new topics that can boost engagement over time.
1. Shares & Social Engagement: Measuring the number of shares/retweets on social platforms and engagements like likes and comments shows the videos’ ability to drive word-of-mouth and social proof. On average, Canadian explainer videos are shared 5-10 times per viewer.
2. Website Traffic & Conversions: Monitoring website traffic sources and conversions like downloads, demo sign-ups, or purchases lets you correlate video viewership to tangible business outcomes. Explainer video campaigns in Canada typically see an uplift of 15-25% in relevant metrics.
3. Survey & Feedback: Conducting pre- and post-video awareness surveys or collecting testimonials helps quantify changes in understanding and sentiment. Canadian companies report a 10-20% increase in understanding after viewers watch explainer videos.
4. Sales or Lead Tracking: If videos promote specific offers, sales numbers or lead volumes for those offers before and after each video campaign provide a direct correlation to ROI. Campaign ROI from explainer videos averages 3-5x in Canada.
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Analysis of Canadian Case Studies:
Plan International Canada provided insight into the impact of explainer video metrics. They reported that a 3-minute explainer video released in January 2021 increased website sessions by 38% and engagement on their pages by 20% within the first two weeks of launch. This demonstrates how explainer videos can successfully drive traffic and audience attention to other areas of an organization’s online presence.
Markit On Demand, an HR solutions company, saw tangible business results after releasing a new explainer video. They saw lead registration for their services increase by 15% after releasing a new 2-minute explainer video promoting a new product across their social media channels over a one-month period last fall. Tracking video metrics in this way allowed them to connect increased leads directly to their investment in explainer content.
Anthropic, an AI safety startup based in Vancouver, provided an example of strong animated explainer videos in Canada engagement over an extended period. They said average engagement rates, defined as the percentage of viewers who watch at least half the video on their explainer video introducing their technology, have consistently averaged over 50% since its launch nine months ago. This highlights how engaging explainer content can maintain attention and retain viewers for many months.
Recommendations
To truly maximize their return on investment in explainer video content, companies should continuously and systematically track key performance metrics across all platforms using professional measurement and analytics tools. Taking a data-driven approach to optimization is important. They should experiment with A/B testing different video formats, lengths, headlines/titles, call-to-actions, and publishing schedules to measure the impact on important metrics like views, completion rates, shares, and leads/conversions over time.
In addition to analytics animated explainer videos, Canadian companies should also consider gathering qualitative customer and viewer feedback to gain deeper insights. Surveying audiences can provide valuable information to refine video scripts, fine-tune the production quality, and enhance the overall viewer experience. User feedback can reveal what topics or messages resonate most while also surfacing any potential areas of confusion. Focusing explainer video strategies based on both quantitative analytics and qualitative feedback will help companies improve engagement and business outcomes over multiple video iterations.
It’s also recommended that organizations establish benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPIs) against which video content is measured. Defining target metrics like an average 50% completion rate provides goals that can be tracked and reported on. Regular analysis ensures any underperforming videos are revised or replaced sooner. Taking a strategic, data-driven approach to explainer video measurement and refinement will maximize exposure and the return on the marketing investment in this format over time.
As animated explainer videos in Canada grow in popularity, measuring impact is crucial. Tracking engagement and conversions proves ROI and optimizes goal achievement. Testing various formats, lengths, and channels identifies high-performers. Iterative refinement based on analytics ensures marketing dollars are well-spent.
Partnering with an experienced animation studio enables robust reporting. Built-in dashboards track key metrics like views and completion rates. Insights guide content refinement for higher engagement and conversions over time. Reach out to studios like Cloud Animations to discuss packages for data-driven, high-impact explainer video programs. Their tools and iterative optimization approach deliver tremendous value.
