Metrics reference
This page explains the main metrics in CultureAI and how to use them in practice. The goal is not to define every term technically, but to help you know what to look for, what it means for your brand, and how to use it in a planning or reporting conversation.Performance metrics
Views
Total times a video was viewed. A primary indicator of reach — useful for understanding scale but not efficiency.Likes
Positive reactions to a video. A signal of approval, but not the most reliable standalone indicator of strategic value.Comments
The number of comments on a video. Higher comment counts typically indicate deeper audience engagement — content that prompted a response, not just a scroll-past.Shares
How often a video was shared. Shares indicate content people found valuable enough to pass on. Strong share rates are worth paying attention to because they signal organic amplification.Engagement rate
A composite of likes, comments, and shares relative to views. This gives you a more honest read of how content is landing than raw view counts alone. Use it to compare performance across formats, narratives, or time periods — not just to track total numbers.Comparative metrics
Lift
Lift shows how a specific pattern — a format, narrative, or creative approach — performs relative to your own baseline. A lift of 1.5x means that type of content performs 50% better than your average. It is one of the most useful signals in the platform because it removes the noise of audience size differences and tells you what is actually working relative to your own brand’s norm. Lift is calculated for:- Format lift — how a content format performs versus your brand baseline
- Narrative lift — how a narrative pattern performs versus baseline
- Platform lift — how performance differs between TikTok and Instagram
Usage share
The percentage of your content using a specific format, narrative, or approach. Comparing usage share to lift reveals whether a pattern is overused, underused, or a hidden opportunity. High lift plus low usage share is the combination most worth acting on — it means something is working but you are not doing it enough.Aggregated metrics
Baseline metrics
Your baseline is the average performance across all your content — the reference point for lift calculations. It shows you the general level your brand performs at, and everything else is measured against it. Key components include average views, overall engagement rate, and per-view ratios for likes, comments, and shares.Format performance
Format performance groups your content by type — tutorial, demonstration, reaction, showcase, and so on — and shows how each performs relative to baseline. It also shows how much of your content uses each format. This helps you see quickly whether you are investing in the formats that are actually driving results.Narrative performance
Narrative performance groups content by recurring storytelling structure and measures how each performs. It helps you understand not just what topic you are covering but how you are framing it — and whether that frame is working.Time-based metrics
Time series
Time series show how performance is trending week by week. Look for: sustained improvement, seasonal patterns, and moments where a strategy change clearly shifted results. A declining trend that nobody has noticed is often one of the most valuable things the platform surfaces.Signal metrics
Signal metrics categorize your formats into four groups to help you prioritize:- Positive signals — high usage share and strong lift. These are working well and worth protecting.
- Negative signals — high usage share but weak lift. You are doing a lot of this, but it is not paying off. A common place to find investment to redeploy.
- Rising signals — low usage share but strong lift. Underused but effective. These are often the most actionable opportunities.
Cultural metrics
Cultural references
Performance data for content featuring specific cultural references. Useful for understanding which cultural elements are resonating with your audience and which are not worth repeating.Competitive metrics
Opportunity score
A composite score that combines lift, usage gap, and performance potential to rank strategic opportunities. Higher scores indicate areas where the evidence most strongly supports acting.Usage gap
The difference in format or narrative usage between your brand and competitors. A large usage gap in an area where you have strong lift is a signal worth investigating further.Report metrics
Executive summary metrics
The headline-level view in reports: overall performance versus baseline, key strengths, key opportunities, and any areas of risk or decline. Designed for quick orientation before a planning conversation.Strategic recommendations
Recommendations include expected impact range, difficulty level, and evidence — the specific content examples supporting each suggestion. Use difficulty alongside impact to prioritize what to act on first.How to think about metrics
Relative versus absolute
Absolute metrics (views, likes) show raw scale. Relative metrics (lift, engagement rate) show efficiency and strategic direction. Both matter: absolute metrics tell you how big, relative metrics tell you how smart. For strategy conversations, relative metrics are usually more useful.Aggregation levels
Metrics can be read at the video level (individual content), format level (content type), brand level (overall), or industry level (category-wide). Drill down from high-level patterns to specific examples when you want to understand why something is happening.A practical rule of thumb
Look at lift first. Then check usage share to understand whether a strong pattern is being used enough. Then look at trend data to understand the direction. Combining all three gives you a much clearer picture than any single number alone.For more on how findings are presented in reports, see How reports work. For key term definitions, see the Glossary.