2022 VCR (Video Completion Rate): Formula, Video Metrics, & Benchmarks

A lot has changed since the days when TV advertising was the primary way for businesses to reach their target audiences. In today’s digital age, video is one of the most powerful tools that businesses have at their disposal.

Video ads allow businesses to tell their story in a way that is both engaging and visually appealing. But with so many videos competing for viewers’ attention, how can you make sure that your video stands out from the rest?

One important metric to keep track of is your video completion rate (VCR). Your VCR is a measure of how well your video holds viewers’ attention from start to finish.

A high VCR is an indicator that your video ad is engaging and relevant to your audience.

Conversely, a low VCR can be an indication that your video ad is losing viewers’ interest.

There are a number of factors that can influence your VCR metric, but here are three of the most important.

*Vidyard 2022

1) The length of your video

The first factor that can influence your VCR is the length of your video. Videos that are too long or too short can lose viewers’ attention before they even have a chance to get started.

The sweet spot for most videos is between one and two minutes. This gives you enough time to tell your story without boring or overwhelming your audience.

Of course, there will always be exceptions to this rule, but in general, it’s a good rule of thumb to follow.

*Vidyard 2022

2) The quality of your content

The second factor that can influence your VCR metric is the quality of your content. If your content is engaging and relevant, viewers will be more likely to stick around until the end.

On the other hand, if your content is dull or irrelevant, viewers will tune out long before the end of your video. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that you’re creating quality content that will resonate with your target audience.

*Vidyard 2022

3) The production value of your video

The third factor that can influence your VCR is the production value of your video. A well-produced video with high-quality visuals and sound will keep viewers engaged from start to finish.

On the other hand, a poorly produced video with low-quality visuals and sound will turn viewers off quickly. That’s why it’s important to invest in quality production values if you want to produce videos that people will actually watch all the way through.

2022 VCR Benchmarks

Without much recent data to source here, Extreme Reach, a CTV platform, reported an average 84% VCR in Q2 of 2020.

However, Vidyard reported an average of 54% for 2021, forecasting 62% for 2022.

Other reports mention View Rate, CPV, and VCR for CTV and media vendors, specifically.

If you are using Youtube, through Google Ads, check out this guide.

Google (Youtube) seems to be moving away from VCR metrics in favor of interaction and engagement metrics.

More Video Metrics to Track

1) View Through Rate (VTR) (or View Rate)

2) Click Through Rate (CTR)

3) Cost per Thousand Views (CPM)

4) Cost per View (CPV)

5) Cost per Lead (CPL)*

*Note that video is usually more of an upper-funnel tactic, so use CPL, conversions as a secondary metric

FAQ

What is Video Completion Rate?

The video completion rate (VCR) is the rate of viewers watching videos from beginning to end, or 100% completion. The VCR metric is important to consider because it measures how engaging a video is and whether viewers are actually watching it all the way through.

A high VCR indicates that viewers are engaged with the video and find it relevant. A low VCR, on the other hand, can be an indication that viewers are losing interest or that the video is not relevant to them.

A number of factors can influence VCR, including the video’s length, the content’s quality, and the production value.

How do you calculate completion rate? What’s the Video Completion Rate formula?

Google has a helpful guide.

Completion rate =

Video completes / Video starts

Example

“One user watches 20 seconds of a 20-second video creative. Another user only watches 10 seconds. The completion rate is calculated as 50% (1 complete / 2 starts).”

What is a Good VCR?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the ideal VCR will vary depending on the goals of your video and your target audience.

In general, however, a good VCR is anything above 50%.

Of course, there will always be exceptions to this rule, but a VCR of 50% or higher is generally considered to be good.

What is a Bad VCR?

Again, there is no definitive answer to this question. A bad VCR will vary depending on the goals of your video and your target audience.

However, a “bad” VCR is anything below 50%.

Of course, there will always be exceptions to this rule, but a VCR of 50% or lower is generally considered to be bad.

Is VCR the same as VTR?

No, VCR and VTR are not the same thing.

VCR (video completion rate) is the percentage of viewers who watch a video from beginning to end.

VTR (view-through rate) is the percentage of times the ad was viewed.

Google has updated their metric to read just View Rate.

Example:

“One user watches 20 seconds of a 20-second video. Another watches only 10 seconds. The view-through rate is calculated as 50% (1 engaged view / 2 skips shown).”

Both metrics are important to consider, but they measure different things.

Final Thoughts

Keeping track of your VCR is essential if you want to produce videos that people will watch all the way through.

Several factors can influence your VCR, but three of the most important are the length of your video, the quality of your content, and the production value of your video.

By considering these factors, you can produce videos that people will want to watch all the way through.