How to Use Voomly Heat Maps to Boost Engagement and Viewer Retention

voomly-team-avatar png

Tuesday, June 03, 2025

Understanding your audience’s behavior is key to creating videos that hit the mark every time.

If you’ve ever wondered why some Doodly videos keep viewers watching while others get skipped, it all comes down to knowing how people actually interact with your content.

When you put a video out there, it’s easy to focus on the final product—how it looks, how it sounds, and what message it delivers.

But have you ever stopped to think about what happens once it’s live? Do people stick around for the whole thing, or are they leaving halfway through? Are they coming back to rewatch certain parts, or skipping to the end?

It’s these small details that tell you the real story about your video’s impact. And that’s where the right tools come into play.

Knowing these details can help you create videos that don’t just look good, but actually hold attention from start to finish. It’s not just about flashy visuals or catchy music—it’s about understanding what makes your audience tick.

By digging into these insights, you can spot what’s working, what’s not, and where you might need to make changes.

This is where heat maps and analytics come in handy. They give you a window into how people are watching, where they’re engaged, and where they drop off.

With the right data, you can turn any Doodly video into something your audience won’t want to skip.

Why Heat Maps Matter for Video Creators

Creating videos that truly connect with your audience requires more than just compelling visuals and a good script.

It's about understanding how viewers interact with your content—where they engage, where they lose interest, and what keeps them coming back.

Heat maps provide this insight, offering a visual representation of viewer behavior throughout your video.

Understanding Viewer Engagement

Heat maps use color-coded timelines to indicate levels of viewer engagement.

Warm colors like red and orange highlight sections with high interaction, while cooler colors like blue and green indicate lower engagement.

This visual feedback allows you to see at a glance which parts of your video are resonating with viewers and which parts might need improvement.

For example, a spike in replays at a particular segment could indicate that the content is either highly engaging or potentially confusing, prompting viewers to watch it again.

Conversely, a sudden drop-off might suggest that a section is losing viewer interest, signaling a need for content refinement.

Optimizing Content Based on Insights

By analyzing heat maps, you can make informed decisions to enhance your video's effectiveness.

If viewers consistently skip the introduction, it might be too long or not engaging enough. If they rewatch certain parts, consider emphasizing those elements or clarifying complex information.

These adjustments can lead to increased viewer retention and a more impactful message.

Enhancing Viewer Experience

Understanding how your audience interacts with your video allows you to tailor the content to their preferences.

This could involve shortening segments that lead to drop-offs, adding interactive elements to maintain engagement, or repositioning key messages to earlier in the video.

The goal is to create a seamless viewing experience that keeps your audience engaged from start to finish.

Making Data-Driven Decisions

Heat maps provide concrete data on viewer behavior, moving beyond assumptions to actionable insights.

This data-driven approach enables you to refine your content strategy, improve viewer satisfaction, and achieve better results with your videos.

Incorporating heat map analysis into your video creation process empowers you to produce content that not only looks good but also performs effectively, ensuring that your message reaches and resonates with your intended audience.

Getting Started with Voomly Heat Maps

Once you’ve finished creating your Doodly video, it’s time to see how it performs with real viewers.

​Start by exporting your video from Doodly. In the export menu, select Upload to Voomly and hit Export. This automatically uploads your video to your Voomly account, making it easy to manage and analyze all in one place.

Inside Voomly, head to the Analytics tab, where you’ll find five key sections: Traffic, Heatmaps, Geo, Devices, and Browsers.

Each of these tabs gives you valuable insights into how your viewers are interacting with your video. Let’s walk through each one.

Here, you’ll find different sections like traffic, heat maps, geography, devices, and browsers. Each tab offers insights into how your viewers are engaging with your content.

Traffic Tab

This tab shows you an overview of how many times your video was played and how engaged your audience was. You’ll see:

  • Average Engagement: The percentage of the video that viewers watched, on average. A high percentage means people are sticking with your content; a low percentage signals drop-offs.
  • Total Plays: The total number of times your video was played.
  • Play Rate: This shows how many people who landed on the page actually hit play. For example, a 100% play rate means every viewer who loaded the page also watched the video.

Understanding these stats helps you gauge the initial interest and overall retention of your video. If you see a low play rate, consider adjusting your video’s thumbnail or title to make it more inviting.

Heatmaps Tab

Right beside the Traffic tab, the Heatmaps section takes you deeper into viewer behavior. Here you’ll find:

  • Number of Watchers: Each line represents an individual viewer’s journey through your video. This helps you see if viewers are skipping parts, rewatching segments, or dropping off at certain points.
  • Unique Views: This line shows how many unique viewers are engaging with your video. It’s useful for seeing how many people came back for another look.

For example, in the demo video, there were six total watches but only four unique viewers—meaning some viewers watched the video more than once.

This tells you that the content was interesting enough to rewatch, or maybe something was confusing and needed a second look.

The colored lines on the timeline let you pinpoint where people are dropping off.

If viewers stop watching in the first few seconds, you might need a stronger hook to keep them engaged. If they drop near the end, consider tightening up your conclusion or adding a more compelling call-to-action.

Geo Tab

The Geo tab summarizes the countries where your viewers are located.

The first column shows the country, and the second column uses color dots to link each viewer’s line graph in the heatmaps on the right.

The following columns include:

  • Plays: How many times the video was played in that country.
  • Unique Plays: How many unique viewers watched the video.
  • Play Rate: The percentage of page loads that resulted in a play.
  • Engagement: The average percentage watched.

This tab helps you see where your audience is located and how they engage with your content.

For example, if you notice that engagement is high in certain countries, you might want to create more content tailored to those regions or add subtitles to reach even more viewers.

Devices Tab

The Devices tab uses the same columns as the Geo tab, but instead of countries, it shows you which devices viewers are using to watch your video.

This can include desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.

Knowing which devices your audience prefers helps you optimize your video’s layout, captions, and call-to-actions.

For example, if most viewers are on mobile, you’ll want to make sure text is readable and that important information isn’t too small to see on a small screen.

Browsers Tab

Similar to the Devices tab, the Browsers tab shows which browsers viewers are using to watch your video—such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge.

This is helpful because certain browsers might have issues with video playback or compatibility.

If you notice that engagement is low or drop-offs are high for a specific browser, it could indicate a technical problem worth investigating.

Reading the Heat Maps—What They Reveal

Once you’ve explored the Traffic tab, it’s time to dig into the heat maps themselves.

Voomly’s heat maps use color-coded lines that stretch across the video timeline. Each line represents an individual viewer’s journey, showing exactly how they interacted with your video from start to finish.

For example, you might see that most viewers watch the first few seconds and then drop off. This early drop-off could signal that your video’s intro needs a stronger hook to hold their attention.

Sometimes you’ll spot a section where viewers are rewatching the same part—maybe it’s a product demonstration or a key point they found valuable. This is a sign that segment resonated, or possibly that it needs more clarity.

Other times, you’ll notice that viewers skip ahead, missing entire sections of your video. This might mean that those parts feel too slow or aren’t relevant enough to keep them engaged.

Seeing these patterns lets you pinpoint exactly what’s working and what’s not. Instead of guessing, you can make informed decisions to refine your Doodly videos and keep your viewers engaged from start to finish.

Turning Insights into Action

Now that you’ve explored how your viewers watch and interact with your video, it’s time to put that knowledge to work.

Start by looking at sections where viewers drop off early. This is a clear signal that something in that part of your video isn’t holding their interest.

Maybe your intro is too long, or you’re taking too long to get to the main point. Try tightening up the opening or adding a hook to keep them watching.

If you notice that viewers rewatch certain segments, that’s a good sign. They’re either interested or need to better understand what’s happening.

Use this as an opportunity to emphasize that part or consider adding a quick recap or clearer explanation.

Skipping ahead can also be telling. It might mean that the segment they’re skipping doesn’t feel relevant, or maybe they’re in a hurry to get to the main content. Think about shortening those sections or making them more engaging.

Use the information from Voomly’s heat maps to experiment with different video lengths, structures, and pacing.

Small changes, like trimming a section or tweaking your call-to-action, can make a big difference in viewer retention and engagement.

Every insight is a step toward making your Doodly videos not just watchable, but memorable.

Custom Time Frames for Better Insights

Understanding your video’s performance over time can be just as important as knowing what’s happening in a single view.

Voomly lets you filter your heat map data by time frame—today, yesterday, last week, this month, and even all time.

Checking performance over different periods can reveal trends you might miss otherwise.

For example, if engagement drops off during the week but picks up on weekends, that might suggest your audience is more active at certain times.

It’s also a great way to see if recent changes you’ve made—like shortening the intro or updating the visuals—are making a difference.

Use the custom range feature to zero in on specific days or weeks that matter most to you, such as after a product launch or following a marketing campaign.

Analyzing heat maps over different time frames helps you spot patterns, test improvements, and make adjustments that keep your Doodly videos performing their best.

Doodly + Voomly—A Winning Combo

When you combine the creative power of Doodly with the analytical muscle of Voomly, you get more than just great videos—you get videos that work.

Doodly helps you bring your ideas to life with engaging whiteboard animations. But once your video is live, you need to know if it’s hitting the mark.

Voomly steps in here, offering insights that show exactly how your audience interacts with every second of your video.

With Voomly’s heat maps and analytics, you’re not just guessing about your video’s impact—you’re making data-driven decisions that boost viewer engagement and retention.

Using both tools together means you can fine-tune your content, adjust pacing, and make sure your videos are as engaging as possible from start to finish.

It’s a smart way to create videos that look great and keep your viewers coming back for more.

Pro Tips for Video Creators

Ready to take your Doodly videos to the next level? Here are some practical tips that every video creator should keep in mind:

  • Keep Intros Snappy: Heat maps often reveal that long intros cause viewers to drop off. Hook your audience quickly and dive right into the main content.
  • Highlight Key Points: If a section is rewatched frequently, it’s either engaging or confusing. Use captions, zoom-ins, or voiceovers to emphasize important details and keep your message clear.
  • Check for Browser Compatibility: Use Voomly’s browser insights to make sure your videos play smoothly for all viewers. A quick test across popular browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Edge can save you headaches down the road.
  • Use Clear Calls-to-Action: Place your calls-to-action where heat maps show high engagement. This ensures viewers see them while they’re still tuned in.
  • Test and Tweak: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Change your video’s length, visuals, or pacing, and compare the results using Voomly’s time filters. Over time, you’ll learn what keeps your audience coming back.

These tips, combined with Voomly’s heat map insights, can help you create videos that not only look great but also connect with your viewers.

Conclusion

Understanding how your audience interacts with your Doodly videos is the secret to making them unforgettable.

Heat maps let you see what works and what doesn’t, helping you fine-tune every second of your video for maximum impact.

When you combine Doodly’s creativity with Voomly’s data insights, you’re not just creating videos—you’re building content that connects.

So next time you hit “export,” remember to check your heat maps, review the data, and make adjustments that keep your viewers engaged from start to finish.

That’s how you turn good videos into great ones.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cover-2-1024x623.gif

8 Min Read

Video marketing is a preferred method to promote business these days. It is a great marketing tool that can help you stay relevant and help guide potential clients towards you. […]

cover-jpg-1024x576.jpg

8 Min Read

Did you know that a customer review is the most important factor in your SEO strategy? It can be hard to get and keep customers, but once they move to […]

cover-2-1024x576.png

8 Min Read

Have you ever seen a product that made your head turn? It caught your attention, right? Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean you were interested in the product, but for some […]

Skyrocket Sales & Conversions Like Never Before Using Voomly’s Incredibly Intuitive Interface!

Voomly is the perfect platform to host videos advertising your brand.

And with its ultra-customizable, no-coding-required video tools, you’ll get the absolute best results from your sales videos.

Select video player colors, border skins, player skins, and customized thumbnails … potentially increasing your sales video views by as much as 4X, according to some research.

Drive website traffic by adding a clickable brand logo to your video player … so anyone watching your videos can easily find out more about your products and services.

Promote a professional image by using video players that “travel” with your video … so when your videos are shared via social media, everyone sees them in a video player that displays your logo and brand colors.

Hide or display controls, like the play bar, time, volume, speed, autoplay, full-screen option and more, customizing your player to your marketing goals.

image_2022_05_30T06_20_22_141Z.png

Give Voomly A Try For FREE Today

30-Day Money Back Guarantee

If you are not completely satisfied with Voomly within 30 days, we will refund 100% of your payment. Just email us at support@voomly.com and every penny will be gladly refunded to you within the first 30 days. Nothing could be more fair than that.

This site is not a part of the Facebook website or Facebook INC. Additionally, this site is NOT endorsed by Facebook in ANY WAY. Facebook is a trademark of Facebook INC. You understand this to be an expression of opinions and not professional advice. You are solely responsible for the use of any content and hold Voomly LLC and all members and affiliates harmless in any event or claim. You can also safely assume that I get paid anytime you click on a link on this site. We recommend that you do your own Independent research before purchasing anything.