YouTube users familiar with YouTube Insight likely noticed the launch of a new Insight feature called “Hot Spots” last fall. The dynamic graphs track the level of viewer engagement throughout an entire video by comparing your video to others of similar length. Above average ratings equate to strong user interest whereas below average marks show where users are dropping off.

How Can This Be of Use to PR & Marketing Pros?

Just as Twitter can serve as an excellent customer feedback and focus group resource, Hot Spots provides good insight into video receptivity. Using YouTube’s private setting, one could easily test different videos amongst groups of 25 users at a time (max number of users allowed to view a private video) and adjust videos accordingly based on feedback.

You can imagine how utilizing this feature alsong with TweetGroup or a similar video/live chat sync’d effort could save a company or organization thousands of dollars on coordinating in-person focus groups.

Over time, Hot Spots in conjunction with the other tools provided by Insight (views, popularity, discover, demographics) can be extremely valuable for determining how to tailor your video content to best connect with your target audience.

Give it a try!

-Scott