YouTube Analytics stops before the sale.
YouTube Studio shows views, watch time and subscribers for every video. It can't see your checkout, so it can't tell you which video a buyer watched before they paid.
Google Analytics has the opposite gap. It can see the sale, but it files most YouTube visits under youtube.com or direct, never under a video. Why YouTube sales show up as direct traffic explains why.
To connect a sale to a video, the link in that video has to carry something that names the video. Each method below does that a different way.
1. Tag each video's link with UTM parameters.
UTM parameters are labels added to the end of a link. Give every video its own campaign name, and Google Analytics groups that video's visits under it, along with its sales if Google Analytics records them:
https://yoursite.com/course?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=pricing-mistakes
It's free, and it works on any site that runs Google Analytics. How to add UTM tags to your YouTube links has a naming scheme that holds up across a whole channel.
It works, but keeping it working is a standing job:
- You build a tagged link for every video, and every name has to follow the same scheme.
- You paste each one into YouTube Studio by hand. One typo breaks that video's link, and nothing warns you.
- You keep the list of which campaign name is which video, because Google Analytics only shows the names.
- Revenue only shows once your checkout sends purchases, with prices, to Google Analytics.
2. Give each video its own discount code.
Mention a code that only that video uses. When a buyer enters it, the code names the video.
Where it stops:
- You only see the buyers who use the code.
- Codes get shared beyond the video, so a sale with the code doesn't prove the buyer watched it.
- Every tracked sale is a discounted one.
3. Ask buyers where they found you.
Add a "How did you find us?" question to your checkout or your welcome email. An answer like "your video on pricing" points at a video.
Where it stops:
- Optional questions get skipped, and plenty of answers just say "YouTube".
- People who watched several of your videos rarely remember which one made them buy.
Put the answer to work.
Once you can see which videos sell:
- Make more videos on the topics and offers that sell.
- Put the link in the pinned comment as well as the description.
- Check older videos that still get views. If they still sell, keep their links pointing at your current offer.