This week’s post is inspired by a question on the Libraries and Social Media Facebook page. A library staff member asked this: “We’re being asked to track the virtual ‘butts in seats’ numbers for each of our programs and also how many views each get in the first hour. I can’t for the life of me find that in insights.”
Analytics on views for videos, both live and pre-recorded, are measured differently by each platform. So, tracking actual attendance can be confusing and time intensive. But it is valuable data.
I have done some research this week to find updated information about how to track video views on the platforms where most libraries are posting video and doing live stream programming: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Special note: Libraries are also using Instagram for live streaming and video views. However, analytics for videos on Instagram are nearly impossible to track. My advice is limited by that fact.
What counts as attendance?
Before you begin analyzing video views on any platform, you’ll want to establish what will count as attendance to a virtual programming. It may be easiest to align your library’s definition of what counts as video attendance with the way each platform measures a video view.
Most platforms based their metrics on someone viewing a very short portion of your video, not the whole thing. That sounds like good news. But, like an email open rate or a social media follower count, the simple video view is vanity metrics. We want our videos to impact our community. We need to push our definition of video program attendance into deeper territory.
You’ll also want to consider whether your library will use a different metric to measure the number of people who attend a live stream virtual program versus a pre-recorded video. My recommendation is to track both numbers separately. This will give you a sense of whether your followers prefer live streaming over pre-recorded video.
When you live stream, you can see right away how many people are “attending” your event. When you finish your live stream on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll have the option of saving your video to your device. Always do that.
Then, you’ll be asked if you want to upload your live stream recording to the platform for on-demand views. You should do that too!
As soon as you end your live stream, Facebook and Instagram both tell you right away the number of people who viewed your live stream. Then you’ll need to decide how often you check the on-demand views of your live stream. You’ll also need to decide how long will you track the on-demand views on each live stream recording.
Make these decisions now so you can consistently report the attendance and compare metrics on videos to see which ones perform best. If you have one type of video program that does well, you should offer more of that!
Once you decide what will count as attendance by one person on each platform, you’re ready to start recording your views. If you are using a social media scheduling platform, this will be easy. Most scheduling platforms have a video performance section that will help you analyze your views. If you can’t find it, go to the “Help” section of your platform. You should also check your scheduling platforms help section to get more information about how they gather those metrics.
If you don’t have a social media scheduling platform, you’ll check the video views on each platform. Here’s how to do that.
Facebook: Go to your library’s page. At the top, under the general Facebook search bar, you’ll see “Insights.” Click on that. Then scroll down the menu on the left side of the page until you see “Videos.” Click on that.
Instagram: You can see how many people viewed your live stream after it’s finished. If you post your live stream to your stories, you can see how many people viewed it. Be sure to check it before the end of your 24 hour period, because it will disappear! If you upload a video to IGTV, you can see how many people viewed the video, but there are no further analytics. You cannot track video views for videos posted to your normal Instagram feed.
Twitter: Go to Google and type “Twitter Analytics.” If you are logged into your library’s Twitter account, the URL will automatically populate with your library’s analytics. At the top of the page, to the right of the Twitter logo, you’ll see the word “More” and a drop-down menu. Click on the arrow to find “Videos.”
YouTube: Go to your channel. Click on YouTube Studio, then Video Analytics.
Side note: You can see my latest book review did not do very well on YouTube. I am comforted by the fact that it was gangbusters on Facebook. And that’s a lesson too. Different videos will work better on different platforms. You’ll learn how to pair a video to a platform by tracking video analytics.
The top three video metrics to track
#1-Video Views
Facebook and Instagram: a view is counted anytime someone watches your video for at least three seconds.
Twitter: a view counts if someone watches at least two seconds. Additionally, at least 50 percent of the tweeted video must be visible on screen to be registered as viewed. This rule is to account for the auto-play function.
YouTube: a view is counted anytime someone watches your video for at least 30 seconds.
#2-Watch Time
Facebook reports this metric in insights and calls it “minutes viewed.”
Instagram, as far as I can tell at this writing, does not report watch time. (BOO!)
Twitter reports minutes watched under the “video details” of every video you publish on the site. In addition, they have a cool graph that tells you how long the average viewer watches your video. This is reported in quarter percentages. You’ll also get the completion rate, or the percentage of viewers who watched your video from start to finish.
YouTube will tell you the average total watch time for every video you create.
Let’s say you post a 10-minute video on YouTube. You might have 500 views, which means 500 people watched at least the first 30 seconds. Then you’ll have an average watch time of say, 5:33, which means most people watched at least five minutes and 33 seconds of your video.
YouTube prioritizes videos with high watch times in its viewing suggestion algorithm.
I can tell you from my own experience posting The Library Marketing Show to YouTube each week that it’s rare for someone to watch an entire video from start to finish. I challenge myself every week to improve my watch time.
#3-Engagement
As always, you want to record likes, comments, and shares of your videos, as you would with other social media posts. These metrics can tell you how many people were compelled to act based on your video. You can help boost these numbers by actively asking your viewers to like, comment, and share.
Shares are the most important engagement metric, because that means someone liked your online program so much, they wanted their friends and family to enjoy it too.
You might also want to read these⬇️
Videos Can Reach Library Users at Home Now and in the Future. Here’s Your Starter Kit.
The New Guide to Library Marketing Social Media for 2020! Part Four: Maximizing YouTube for Video Plus What About Tumblr, Snapchat, and TikTok?
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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 
It’s Not Personal: How to Deal with Negative Comments and Bad Online Reviews of Your Library
The lowest moment in my library career came about four years ago, when my library endured a year of bad press.
First, a local TV news station ran a story about drug overdoses at the library. Then, our administration briefly entertained the idea of selling a portion of our main library building to a developer, to raise funds for the renovation of other library branches in our system. You can imagine how the community surrounding the main library reacted.
Our marketing department handled the press coverage well. But, in the fallout, we noticed that the negative press coverage led to negative reviews of our library.
Our services hadn’t changed. Our commitment to the community hadn’t changed. But the negative news stories changed the public’s perception of us.
It played out several times a week when we would post announcements on social media. We were met with comments from people who used those posts to try and steer the conversation to the negative library coverage. I admit, it was exhausting and frustrating.
If you are lucky enough never to be the target of negative press coverage, your library will still have to deal with negative comments, one-star reviews, and NextDoor drama. Even when you are trying to make a difference in the community, you’ll be targeted by complainers.
Negativity is bad for you and bad for your library
Ignoring negative reviews and comments is not an option. They have the power to damage your library’s reputation. A study by Moz.com shows one negative review can drive as many as 30 people away from your library. The more negative reviews and comments you have, the more people you lose, according to the data.
Negative reviews can also hurt your library’s ranking in search. Search engines generally list the highest ranked organizations and businesses first.
What can you do?
It doesn’t matter if your library is giving away $10 bills with every checkout… someone is going to find something to complain about. They’ll probably do it online.
It’s hard to know how to handle the situation when an irate, antagonistic library user posts a negative review on a social media site or website. Your immediate reaction is to jump into firefighter mode, drag out the fully charged hose, and put out the flames… pronto.
But it’s important to take step back and see the opportunity in that negative review. It’s your chance to turn that angry user into an evangelist for your library.
If that sounds like an extreme possibility, I want you to read this post by Jay Baer. I’ve heard Jay speak at several conferences. He has taught me everything I know about turning negative reviews into positive customer experiences.
Create a process for responding
A plan for responding to negative reviews and comments is a form of a crisis communication plan. If you have a plan in place before you’re confronted with negativity, you can put your emotional reaction aside and respond calmly, rationally, and with empathy.
A thoughtful and measured response to a negative comment makes your library look human. When you respond to critics, you show that you value all your customers and their opinions. Your plan will have four components.
Respond as quickly as possible. It’s important to address the issue as soon as you can. Talk with staff and senior leaders about monitoring your social media channels and email as closely as you can. There should always be someone who can check the accounts, even at night or on the weekends. If you don’t, you’ll run the risk of other haters hijacking the thread and turning one bad review into a free-for-all.
Don’t censor. Unless the comment violates your social media or website standards of behavior, don’t hide the comment.
If the problem cannot be solved easily online, take it offline. Apologize and address the complainer with empathy, then ask them to contact you by email. You can say, “I’m sorry to hear you are having this problem. We want to make it right. Could you email me at **** and give me some more details about your experience? Then I can make sure your issue gets in front of the right person and is addressed.”
But try to remember that you cannot please everyone. Occasionally, someone will complain about something and you will not be able to fix the problem. Apologize, explain your library’s side of the situation as best you can, and move on.
Encourage library fans to give positive reviews to outweigh negative reviews and increase your overall search engine rankings. Find ways to solicit reviews from the people who love your library. Amplify those good reviews by sharing them on social media, in emails, and in your print promotional material.
You Might Find These Articles Helpful
Four Daring Ways to Fight Library Haters
Worries in the Library World: Here are Answers to Your Four Biggest Library Marketing Concerns Right Now!
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