View-through Rate

Measuring an Ad’s Holding Power

View-through rate (VTR) is a specific metric used to gauge the effectiveness of video advertisements, particularly the ‘pre-roll’ ads that play before a video on platforms like YouTube. It should not be confused with ‘completion rate,’ which measures engagement with the main content itself. VTR is purely about the ad’s performance.

It answers a simple question: Of all the people who were shown this skippable ad, what percentage chose to watch it all the way through instead of hitting the ‘Skip Ad’ button? The formula is:

(Total Completed Ad Views / Total Ad Impressions) x 100%

The Five-Second Challenge

For movie marketers, VTR is a critical measure of how compelling their trailer is as an advertisement. When a trailer is used as a pre-roll ad, it has roughly five seconds to grab the viewer’s attention and convince them not to skip. A trailer with a high VTR is one that has successfully hooked its audience in those crucial opening moments.

Studios and their marketing agencies use VTR as a key metric when A/B testing different versions of a trailer. They might test a version that opens with a huge action sequence against one that opens with a mysterious character moment. The version that achieves the higher VTR is deemed more effective at capturing audience interest and will receive a larger portion of the advertising budget. This data-driven approach helps studios optimize their marketing spend and create trailers that are not just informative, but are also highly effective at retaining a captive audience.