How to Measure Whether Your Video Is Actually Working
By Kamal Abdelrahman, filmmaker and marketing strategist, Dubai
"The video got 200,000 views!"
Great. Did anyone call?
I've been on both sides of this conversation. As a filmmaker, I love big numbers. As a marketing manager, I need to know what they led to. A lot of video gets judged by the wrong number, and that's how companies keep paying for content that doesn't do anything.
Start with the goal
You can't measure a video if you never decided what it was supposed to do. Before you publish, write down the one job it has:
- → Reach new people. Measure reach and how many of them are new.
- → Build trust. Measure watch time, saves and returning viewers.
- → Bring enquiries. Measure messages, form fills and calls.
- → Help close a sale. Ask your sales team whether it's helping.
A brand film and a launch ad shouldn't have the same scorecard.
The numbers that matter most
Hook rate. What share of people stayed past the first few seconds? If this is low, your opening is the problem. The best fix is simple: change only the first line.
Average watch time. How long do people stay? Look at it as a share of the total length, not just in seconds.
The drop-off point. Where do most people leave? YouTube and Instagram can show you this. If everyone leaves at the same moment, watch that moment. Something's wrong there.
Saves and shares. A like takes no effort. A save means "this is useful," and a share means "I'd put my name on this." Both are stronger signals.
Follows after watching. Did the video make people want more of you?
Actions. Website clicks, DMs, WhatsApp messages and calls. This is where your business lives.
Numbers that can fool you
Views. A "view" can count after only a moment, depending on the platform. Read each platform's definition, and don't compare numbers across them as if they're the same.
Paid views. You can buy a lot of cheap views with an ad. That doesn't mean people care.
Likes. Nice to have. Often unrelated to who might actually buy.
Follower count. I've watched 12,000 people be reached and only 8 more follow. A number like that isn't a success. It's a conversion problem to solve, and it told me exactly where to work.
How to track real enquiries
This is the bit that most businesses skip. You don't need anything complicated.
Ask every lead. "How did you hear about us?" It's simple and old-fashioned, and it works. Write the answer down in your CRM or even in a spreadsheet.
Use tracked links. Add UTM tags to links, so that Google Analytics can show you which video sent people to your site.
Use separate WhatsApp messages. Pre-fill a different message for each campaign. "Hi, I saw your Marina video." Now you know where they came from.
Track on your website. Connect Google Analytics, and set up events for form submissions and WhatsApp clicks. Check it's all working before you launch.
Listen in meetings. "I saw your video" is real data. Have your team note it down whenever they hear it.
Be fair about timing
Some videos work today. Others take months.
In real estate, someone may watch your videos for a year before they message you. So last-click tracking won't tell the whole story. If your buyer takes six months to decide, don't judge your content after six days.
Look at trends rather than single videos. Are monthly enquiries rising? Are people mentioning your content more often? Are your leads better informed when they call you?
A simple monthly review
Thirty minutes once a month is enough. Build a spreadsheet with these columns for each video: topic, length, reach, average watch time, saves and shares, enquiries.
Then ask:
- Which three videos kept people watching the longest? What did they have in common?
- Which three brought real enquiries? Are they the same ones?
- Where are people dropping off?
- What will we make more of next month, and what will we stop doing?
You'll often find a surprise here. The videos that get the most views aren't always the ones that bring in clients. Some of the plainest videos can quietly bring you your best leads.
When to change, and when to wait
- → Low hook rate: change the opening
- → Good hook, then early drop-off: tighten the first part
- → High watch time, no action: improve your next step
- → Lots of actions, poor leads: your message may be attracting the wrong people
- → Too little data: keep going before deciding anything
Change one thing at a time, so you know what actually worked.
Ask for this from whoever makes your videos
If you hire a filmmaker or agency, agree before you start on what success looks like. Ask them to review the results with you. Anyone who only ever reports on views may be measuring the part that makes them look good.
I'm Kamal Abdelrahman. I grew a software company's TikTok to 5M views and 60K followers in 4 months, and I'll be the first to tell you the number that matters is what those views led to. A smaller video that brings you the right client is the better video.
Look at your last ten videos today. Next to each one, write how many enquiries it brought. If you can't, that's your first thing to fix.
Want video planned around those numbers? See how I approach video production in Dubai.