Advisors, we see you. You’re putting yourself out there on LinkedIn and YouTube. You’re creating videos, posts, articles. You feel like it’s probably working (or at least you hope it is), but you can’t exactly tell how it’s going to translate into new clients.
Sound familiar?
According to the State of Advisor Video Report, 49% of advisors who create video content don’t track their results at all. And 46% say they don’t know the ROI of their video efforts. That’s nearly half of video-producing advisors flying completely blind.
This isn’t a failure of effort. It’s a failure of system. And the fix doesn’t require a data science degree. It just requires deciding (before you post anything) what exactly you’re measuring.
What’s Important to You?
Getting 100,000 subscribers on YouTube will not put money in your pocket. What it does is make you more visible to prospects actively looking for help, give you credibility when someone Googles you, and yes … let’s face it, it gives you a dopamine rush.
But that’s all vanity metrics. So how do you measure success when your goal is brand awareness?
Step 1: Establish Your Baseline
Before you can see progress, you need to know where you started. Get these written down (trust me, you’ll forget):
- What’s your subscriber count?
- How often are you posting each week or month?
- How many likes and comments are you averaging
Then look at the sentiment metrics:
- Has anyone mentioned seeing your videos?
- Have you received replies to your emails?
Start asking prospects in that first meeting how they found you. And whether they’ve seen your videos or follow you on social.
Step 2: Set Your Goal Before You Publish Anything
The State of Advisor Video Report data tells us that among advisors who do track results, most rely on surface-level engagement. They’re tracking click rates and video views. Only 9% go deeper by gathering direct feedback from prospects or clients.
The question to answer before you hit publish: What is this video supposed to do?
Goals fall into a few categories, each with a different measurement attached:
- Relationship-building with existing clients — Are clients referencing the video in conversations? Are referrals or engagement touchpoints increasing?
- Prospecting and visibility — Are new prospects mentioning they watched your content before reaching out? Is your consultation request rate changing?
- Process education — Are you spending less time re-explaining concepts in meetings? Are clients coming in more prepared?
- Authority building — Are you getting invited to speak, collaborate, or be introduced more often?
Pick one primary goal per video (or per quarter). Define it before you create, and the metric becomes much easier to track.
Step 3: Choose the KPIs You Can Actually Measure
Here’s where most advisors overcomplicate it. You don’t need a 15-column spreadsheet to know if video is working.
Marketing strategist Zoe Meggert for Perfectly Planned Content breaks KPIs into two buckets:
Hard KPIs — the numbers your dashboard hands you:
- Total views and whether they’re trending up or holding steady
- Which topics get the most views (your audience is telling you what they want more of)
- Watch time — where do people drop off? At 60 seconds? Minute two? That’s actionable.
- Website traffic driven by video
- Keywords you’re ranking for organically
Soft KPIs — harder to track, but just as important:
- When did a client mention a video in a meeting?
- Did a client forward it to a family member or friend?
- Are referrals increasing during periods of consistent posting?
Zoe recommends keeping a win folder — a running log of every time a client or prospect references your content.
One more KPI worth considering: track your clients’ wins. How many clients bought a house this year? Retired successfully? Sent a kid to college? One advisor Zoe worked with shared those wins in a client newsletter … and the response was overwhelming. It reframed his entire sense of ROI, away from AUM and toward actual impact.
That’s the point. AUM is a lagging indicator. Video’s real job is to build the trust that makes AUM growth possible.
Build Your Simple Tracking System Today
You don’t need a fancy tool to start. You need a habit and a home for your data.
Use this guide to track your own video ROI
The Bottom Line
Nearly half of advisors creating video aren’t tracking anything … which means nearly half are working without a feedback loop, investing time and money into content with no way to know if it’s moving the needle.
You don’t have to be one of them.
Define ROI before you publish. Choose one goal. Pick two or three metrics (hard and soft) that match it. Start a win folder. Build a simple system, even a five-minute monthly habit, to capture what’s happening.
The advisors who build lasting authority through video aren’t the ones obsessing over view counts. They’re the ones paying attention to what actually matters and they measure it on purpose.
You can do the same. You just have to start.
Want help building a video strategy that includes our Post+ Promote plan?
