Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and connected TV (CTV) are all competing for marketing spend. Without clear KPIs, marketers lack an understanding of—and the ability to communicate with leadership about—how campaigns are performing and where they should invest digital video marketing money.

Here are five charts demonstrating just how important these KPIs are and how they can be used to fuel digital video campaigns.

1. Clarity of KPIs is a top marketing priority

Maintaining clarity of KPI ranked No. 3 among important strategies for marketers worldwide, after brand-building and deploying a full-funnel marketing strategy, according to data from McKinsey & Company.

With marketers under pressure to get budget-cautious consumers to convert, clear KPIs are necessary to inform all other parts of marketing strategy. Without accurate data, marketers cannot budget efficiently or report on their successes with accuracy.

2. Social reach is the top KPI marketers consider important

Social media reach is the top KPI marketers worldwide consider important for their company’s digital experience, ranked just above customer satisfaction and customer retention, according to data from Sitecore and Advanis.

These leading KPIs indicate marketers are focused both on expanding their audience across social platforms while making sure customer satisfaction remains high. Expanding social media reach can help new customers discover a brand and show existing ones new products. Marketers looking to expand social media reach may look to TikTok, which is the fastest-growing social media platform worldwide in 2024, with a growth of 9.4% YoY, per our May 2024 forecast.

3. Social media CPMs are on the rise

Marketers’ focus on social reach may be a reason social costs per thousand (CPMs) are rising. US CMPs for TikTok, Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube all rose YoY in Q1 2024, and we project even more growth in 2025, per our Q3 2024 KPI forecast. CPM growth is particularly high on TikTok, despite slowing user growth, as advertisers continue to invest in video advertising on social media.

We forecast Meta’s Q1 2025 CPM will be $12.53, just above YouTube’s projected CPM of $12.44. TikTok and Snapchat will have lower CPMs, at $7.03 and $4.19, respectively.

4. Media and publishing outperforms other industries on TikTok

Media and publishing posts have a 4.7% engagement rate, meaning those videos are engaged with more than the overall average (4.1%), per Dash Hudson.

Driving audience engagement for content related to product marketing may be more challenging on the platform, but that doesn’t mean product marketers should shy away from TikTok, which has other platforms like Pinterest (0.3%), Instagram (0.3%), and Facebook (3.9% for video posts) beat on engagement, per Dash Hudson.

5. CTV yields better attention metrics than online video

CTV saw better attention metrics worldwide than online video or display ads, at 69.5 AU compared with 38.4 AU for online video and 22.1 AU for display in Q3 2024, per Adelaide.

CTV’s high potential for capturing attention could be one contributing factor to YouTube’s high CPM, compared with TikTok and Snapchat. Nearly 7 in 10 (67.7%) US YouTube viewers watch via CTV, per our October 2024 forecast.

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.