Short-form video trends can help libraries reach new audiences… but only when they’re used at the right time.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I explain how to recognize which trends are worth following, when to act quickly, and how to avoid content that feels cliché.
Plus, I’ll share kudos for a library marketer whose promotional tactics bring new visitors from around the world (!) to his programs.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
My high school history teacher never assigned a textbook for class. Instead, every day, Mr. David Ulmer would pace back and forth in front of a room of students, explaining the events of the world in vivid detail as a story.
He would wildly gesticulate when the action got heated or dangerous, use voices to bring historical figures to life, and punctuate points with hilarious statements written on the chalkboard.
My classmates and I sat in rapt attention. We tried to take notes. But frankly, it was hard to tear your eyes away from Mr. Ulmer. We didn’t want to miss a single detail.
No one failed tests in Mr. Ulmer’s class. That’s because his teaching method was storytelling. Rather than pushing a bunch of facts, figures, and details at us, he made historical events personal, vivid, and memorable. Everyone remembered the details.
Your library will have the same impact by including storytelling in your promotional strategy.
“People are looking for a connection.” —John Michael Morgan, Business Leadership Coach
Here are the four things you need to know to start incorporating storytelling into your library promotions.
#1: You don’t have to do all the work.
When a cardholder talks about the way your library’s collection, programs, and services have impacted their lives, people will listen. Let your community share their story about their experience at the library.
One year during my time at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library, we sent an email to a target group of library users. We asked them to tell us why they loved the library. I thought maybe 25 people would respond. I was so very wrong.
We got more than 400 responses! Some people wrote a few sentences, and some wrote paragraphs. That one “ask” was a gold mine of storytelling for more than a year.
We contacted many of the responders later to ask them to elaborate on their stories on camera. We used those interviews for fundraising, blogs, and newsletter blurbs. We pulled some of their quotes and had our librarians read them on camera, which we shared during Library Workers Week and other big events.
We used some of those stories to lay the groundwork for a levy, which eventually passed. And we used stories on social media. That drove our organic engagement rates higher and made our other organic posts more effective.
Your community is eager to share testimonials with you. All you have to do is ask.
#2: You can gather stories every day.
Make it a practice at your library for front-line staff to be on the lookout for stories as they work — not in a forced or formal way, but simply by noticing when a patron has a meaningful moment.
When those moments happen, give staff an easy way to jot down a sentence or two about what happened. And if they feel comfortable asking the patron directly, they can use simple language like, “I’m so glad we could help! Would you mind if we shared a little about this interaction? It helps other people discover what the library offers.” Most patrons appreciate being asked
If you frame this work as optional and low-pressure, staff don’t have to feel like they’re intruding. When I worked at the Cincinnati Library, I asked front-line staff to call me if they had an interaction with a patron that they thought would make a good story. One day, I got a call from a branch manager who said she just worked with a 12-year-old boy and his father, and they were willing to talk about their experience. That interaction led to this incredible video.
You can also ask volunteers, board members, and library friends groups to share their stories, as Deschutes Public Library did. These folks are often really passionate about their love for the library, and their stories will inspire others to volunteer, donate, and use the library.
#3: Stories don’t have to be long or complicated.
Your library stories can be a few sentences, a few paragraphs, or a few pages. There’s no formula for length. If you’re not a confident writer, or your patron feels uncomfortable sharing in detail, you can still find a great story within a few sentences.
Jacksonville Public Library shared the story of a father who got his high school diploma with the help of the library. It’s less than 400 words, but it’s powerful.
#4: Your library can share stories everywhere you do promotions.
Start by including one story in each of the places where you normally promote your library.
For instance, if you send a monthly library newsletter, include a story. You don’t have to delete any of the other things you normally promote in your newsletter. But slip a story into the mix.
Tease the story in your subject line to increase your open rates. A story will appeal to a wider audience. Once the subscriber opens your email and reads the story, they’ll be responsive to other promotional content in the email.
If your library has a blog, include at least one cardholder story on your blog every month, like Oak Park Library did with this extraordinarily moving piece. Your blog will grow in traffic and subscribers, which is good news for the other content you post.
One of the best places to share content marketing is in a video. And your subject doesn’t even have to be human, as you’ll see from this video by Broward County Library.
You can create a newsletter filled with stories. You can create a landing page on your website. You can share stories on your blog, on social media, in your videos, and in your print pieces.
“In a time of rapidly compounding technology generations, the most successful businesses will consistently deliver high touch to customer with one of our oldest traits—the telling of a story.” —Jim Blasingame, Small Business Advocate, Radio Show Host, Storyteller
One final note
As I was writing this blog, I came across this article by Martin O’Connor of University College Cork Library that I encourage you to read. It’s full of great tips on sharing the story of your library!
I also teach a course on library storytelling that is available as part of a Learn with NoveList Plus subscription or as a live or virtual session at library staff development days. You can contact me for more details.
Photo courtesy of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
It’s not surprising that Tina Walker Davis and her communications team at Deschutes Public Library in Bend, Oregon, have a robust and interesting video strategy for YouTube. Tina, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and graduated from Washington State University, has a previous career as a television anchor and reporter.
“I left journalism to go into marketing and communications and owned my own marketing business for 10 years until I made the financially disastrous decision to open an independent bookstore,” explains Tina. “While the bookstore didn’t pan out, it did enmesh me in the literary community here, including the library system.”
Tina took a job at the library in 2012 in event planning and coordination. Now she’s Communications Manager for the library. She manages four people, including a Graphic Design Coordinator and Dana O’Connell, Keifer McCool, and Michael Rivera, who are all Digital Communications Coordinators.
“Michael almost exclusively does video work, and Dana and Kiefer both manage social media,” says Tina. “Dana also does all of our Spanish-language communications. I’ve told the team many times that I’ve never worked with such a collaborative group.”
“We have bi-weekly brainstorming sessions that are so fun. There’s no agenda. It’s just a time for us to come together and talk about what we’re seeing, what we’re excited about, and generally throw some spaghetti at the wall. A lot of our best content was conceptualized in those brainstorming meetings.”
Deschutes Public Library’s YouTube channel was already up and running when Tina began her job. At first, Tina’s team used it to share story time videos and videos of their marquee events, as well as a Why We Love the Library series in 2016 and 2017. At the end of 2019, they had 265 subscribers.
Then COVID hit. Like most libraries, Deschutes Public Library pivoted to online programs and saw its subscriber count grow to 14,500 at the time of this writing.
When Tina hired Michael in 2022, he “brought a wealth of professional video production experience—just phenomenal skills in shooting and editing, but also a fantastic eye and ear for storytelling,” exclaims Tina.
“I don’t know if it’s my background in journalism, but I’ve always believed in the power of stories to do the work that we can sometimes struggle to do in marketing.”
“We can run ads telling people how great the library is, but it’s so much more impactful when it comes from real people who truly believe in the power of libraries to change lives.”
-Tina Walker Davis
Dana says the library’s strategy, when it comes to producing videos for YouTube, is to strike a balance between the information the community needs to know about the library and fun or trending content.
“Everyone who comes into the library has a story,” explains Dana. “Some of our human-interest pieces come from referrals by our public services staff, in the form of kudos from our online web form, or a chance meeting while in one of our branches.”
“Staff, volunteers, and customers offer the chance to talk about the library in a unique voice where we aren’t necessarily promoting a product or service. For me, it’s about having a touch point with a customer and listening to what excites them about the library; no two answers are the same.”
“One thing we do every time someone is interviewed for a video, regardless of the topic, is to ask, ‘Why are libraries important?’” adds Tina. “The answer to that question is evergreen. We can pull the answer and use it along for a series of shorts, turn it into a graphic quote for social, or string together several answers for a stand-alone piece.”
Dana and Kiefer shoot and edit the short-form, vertical format for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube shorts. Michael uses videography equipment to do the longer-form and documentary-style videos.
“But rarely do they work alone,” explains Tina. “They’re writing together, and often Dana or Kiefer will act as Michael’s grip during shoots and take care of the interview portions. Michael is definitely a dedicated videographer, but it’s truly a team effort between the three of them—and it’s magical.”
All videos from Deschutes Public Library have captions for accessibility and clarity. They also have video thumbnails featuring a branded, consistent look. That helps to capture the attention of scrollers while making sure viewers know this content comes from the library.
“When I choose the image(s), I’m looking for a visually pleasing frame that tells the viewer just enough to pique their interest without giving away too much of the story,” reveals Michael. “The best images will also have some clean space in the frame that the title will naturally fall into.”
“The title in the thumbnail usually doesn’t match the video title, and that’s on purpose. The main title is always clear and matter-of-fact, while the thumbnail title often uses one of the most impactful quotes in the story. The key here is to be concise to maximize the size of the text in the frame, so the titles are usually no more than six words.”
Deschutes Public Library doesn’t rely on pure chance to get views on its videos. They promote them!
“Our flagship eNewsletter has 55,000 subscribers, and we’ll sometimes link to videos from the newsletter,” says Tina. “We embed some videos on our website. In particular, we’ve used our videos on our website to help inform the public about our bond projects.”
“I also do some paid promotion of videos on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram if I can see that a monetary ad boost is needed and will help us really target our Deschutes County residents.”
“So, with all that said, our investment in YouTube as a platform was very organic. It started slowly, but we saw real growth. But nothing happens on YouTube alone in terms of storytelling. Anything that is shared there is also pushed out on Instagram and Facebook, and some also make their way to TikTok if they’re humorous or have that viral potential.”
Tina and her team say the videos help boost awareness of the library and its services, and they’ve received a wealth of positive community feedback.
“Our recent viral video — where our director, Todd Dunkelberg, is giving a Gen Z-inspired tour of the new Redmond Library — was a great community experience. Between Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, we are now close to 5 million views on that video. But what I loved seeing was locals commenting amongst folks from across the country and the world — the locals took so much pride in claiming the library as their own (‘That’s MY library!’).”
“And Todd became a little local celebrity after it, with folks coming up to him in the community and telling him how much they loved the video. We immediately jumped on the ‘Slay’ and ‘So Julia’ lines and created stickers with the characters Todd points to in the video, and those were really popular with our customers.”
For inspiration, Tina and her team often look inside and outside the library world.
“I’m guilty of being an Instagram reels scroller,” confesses Tina. “My brain often goes to, ‘Could we put a spin on that?’ Often in our brainstorming sessions, we’ll bring forward videos that we’ve seen over the past two weeks, share them with the team, and see if there’s something we can do along those lines.”
“Library systems are really growing into their own niche on social. They’re funny, sometimes irreverent. People really enjoy watching library folks, who are perhaps historically thought of as buttoned up, be funny.”
– Tina Walker Davis
Tina says the key factors in the success of the library’s video marketing strategy are her talented team and library leadership that believes in the power of communication.
“I know that for a lot of libraries across the county, being able to spend this kind of time on video work is an absolute luxury,” says. Tina. “I feel very fortunate to not only have the trust from our leadership to do that work, but also lucky to work with a team of communications professionals who are passionate about the work and the message.”
“The goal is to remind our customers, the taxpayers who make the library’s work possible, that the library is here for them, in whatever way they may need, from checking out a book to finding a job. We’re here to meet people where they are and make their lives better.”
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There’s a very simple trick that you can use to get more views on your YouTube channel. It takes about 10 seconds of your time. I will show you exactly what to do in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus we’ll give kudos to a library that drew a lot of attention to a very delicious-sounding event.(Here’s a hint: 🥒)
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address. Then click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
There is nothing like putting a face on a story.
In my television news days, we worked hard to get on-camera interviews for every story. We knew that there was no better way to express emotion and build empathy for the subjects of our stories than to show their faces and hear their voices.
Your library can and should be producing videos for library marketing to build empathy and connection with your organization.
To be clear, I am not talking about TikTok or Instagram Reels videos. TikTok or Reels are fun and give you a chance to engage new audiences. And those videos do build brand awareness for your library.
But that should not be the only video your library is creating. Your library should produce some longer-form videos, lasting a minute or more, that tell a specific story or have a specific library marketing goal. These are videos you will embed on your website, and post natively to Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Vimeo (or all the above if you’re smart!)
Why?
Videos help you rank higher in searches.
According to Oberlo, more than 82 percent of global internet traffic comes from videos. That means video can be a powerful tool for driving community members to your website to check out your services.
Demand for video is increasing.
According to a survey conducted among consumers worldwide by Statista, people watched an average of 19 hours of online video content per week in 2022. That hourly total has been steadily rising since the survey was first conducted in 2018.
Every major social media platform will reward you for producing longer-form videos.
They boost video posts organically. And the more video your library posts to those platforms, the more organic reach your other posts will get.
Video makes your marketing memorable.
Video is the closest you can get to experiencing something without being physically present. It’s relatable. As I mentioned earlier, seeing faces and hearing voices builds empathy and allows people to really feel the emotions your videos convey.
And if you use staff in videos, community members will end up recognizing those staff members as they come into the library. They’ll feel more comfortable because they will “know” the person behind the desk.
Your library’s long-form video strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. And you don’t have to break the bank to buy equipment. So, let’s lay out a plan in three parts.
Set goals and brainstorm video ideas to meet those goals.
The easiest way to decide which videos to create is to refer to your library’s strategic goals. What does your library wish to accomplish? Your videos should serve to make those strategic goals a reality. For this section, let’s pretend your library has a strategic goal to increase visits to the Makerspace by 10 percent in the next year.
Once you decide which of your library’s overall goals to focus on, the next step is to set your own marketing goal for your videos. For example:
Your video marketing goals:
1000 views on YouTube
200 views on the library website
50 Makerspace sessions booked by people who watched the videos.
Setting your video marketing goals before you decide what videos you want to create might feel backward. But you’ll have more success if you set your marketing goals first. That’s because you’ll be asking yourself: What kind of videos will help me achieve these goals?
If you have trouble coming up with video ideas, try searching your website analytics to see what your cardholders are looking for when they visit your site. Do they have specific questions or use specific keywords or terms to search for information related to the strategic goal you’re focusing on?
You can also check keywords used in Google searches in connection with your library’s strategic goal. This keyword research will uncover the questions your community has related to the goal you’re trying to accomplish. You can use video to answer those questions!
For our MakerSpace example, let’s say you look at Google Analytics for your library website and you do Google keyword research. And you discover that people in your community are searching, for “3D printers near me.” If your Makerspace includes a 3D printer, you’ll want to make sure some of your videos are about that piece of equipment.
Let’s say you also discover many searches of the phrase “cost of 3D printing”. Now you know that cost may be a barrier to use for some community members. You can address that with a video.
Plan and produce.
With your goals and keyword research in hand, it’s time to make more concrete plans. Start brainstorming and make a list of ideas. Depending on your goal, you may want to produce more than one video.
Let’s go back to our previous example of increasing visits to your Makerspace. Your library may decide to make a series of videos to reach your goal of 50 Makerspace sessions booked.
Interview a patron who made something unusual on the 3D printer.
Interview a patron who used your 3D printer for their small business.
Showcase Makerspace staff using the 3D printer to make common items, like repair parts, for a fraction of the cost of buying those parts.
Show how to book the Makerspace.
Show how a typical Makerspace session runs, from greeting to finished product.
It took me about five minutes to come up with that list! If you are having trouble coming up with ideas on your own, ask your co-workers. For our Makerspace example, it would make total sense to ask the staff working in the Makerspace to help you come up with ideas.
Plan your production.
It’s time to create a production schedule. You’ll want to add your videos to your regular editorial calendar, giving yourself plenty of time to produce them. In general, it will take you about a month to produce a video lasting one minute or longer. Here’s a sample schedule:
A week to write an outline or a script if necessary.
A week to get your outline or script approved.
A day to shoot the video.
A week to edit a draft.
A week for approvals and edits.
With this schedule, you could release one longer form video each month.
Refer to your video style guide as you begin the work of bringing each video to reality.
Now you’re ready to shoot and edit your videos. Then, it’s time to make some important decisions.
Choose the thumbnail picture for your video carefully.
The thumbnail picture is the billboard advertisement for your video. Research shows that faces are more likely to draw viewers. If you can, choose a face showing an emotion.
If you are creating a series of videos, be consistent with the look of your thumbnails. You’ll want your audience to recognize the video as being from your library and part of a series.
Use keyword research to come up with video titles.
Video titles should be 100 characters or less, so you’ll need to use that limited space to your best advantage. Do a few test searches to see what keywords lead viewers to popular videos. Then try to work those keywords into your video title.
Include a Call to Action and track results with special codes.
When you create and promote your videos, include a Bitly link to drive viewers to your website, catalog, or other owned property.
Promote your videos.
It’s not enough to post your video and forget it. You’ll make sure people see your video once it’s released.
Within the first 24 hours of uploading and releasing a video, send an email to promote your video. You’ll want to match the content of your video to the segmented email list that will be most likely to want to view it.
The exception to this rule would be system-wide video announcements, like the opening of a new branch or a change in service for your entire library system. You can send an email to your entire list, letting them know there’s a video available with exciting information!
Email notifications about your video will alert your audience that the video exists. More people will watch the video. And the more views you get in the first 24 hours after you’ve uploaded a video, the higher your video will appear in search rankings.
Bonus: Affordable equipment list for library marketing videos
Camera: Canon EOS 2000D is great for beginners. It also has a Wi-Fi connection, so you can easily share your videos. And it gets great ratings. This package from Walmart is fairly priced and includes extras like memory cards, a backpack, and a tripod.
Ring light: The Sensyne Ring Light is an affordable option for libraries and it comes with its own tripod.
Wireless Lavalier microphones: You’ll want to buy at least two. This model from ZMOTG can be used with phones and a DSLR camera and gets great reviews.
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The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 178: A viewer issues a plea for help!
Grace wrote in with this request:
“I am interested in working on our YouTube channel but I am really struggling with content ideas. In the past, no one held the only marketing position at my library so everyone made content (especially during the pandemic). This was good because subscribers were hearing book reviews, storytime programs, etc. directly from librarians and programmers.
Now that I am in the sole marketing position, I would like to do videos, but I don’t think folks want to get their book reviews, book recommendations, etc. from a marketer. And now, post-pandemic(ish), our librarians are back in-person doing traditional library roles and don’t have time to support much with content creation.
Any recommendations for the best approach to take to YouTube if a library marketer has limited access to our very busy librarians?“
I’ll share five tips for coming up with great ideas for YouTube videos.
Kudos in this episode go to a school librarian named Lucas Maxwell.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments.
And please subscribe to this series on YouTube to get a new weekly video tip for libraries.
Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments.
And subscribe to this series to get a new weekly video tip for libraries.
Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.
In this episode, I’ll share the MOST IMPORTANT thing you need to do in library marketing and why you must make time for this step!
Kudos in this episode go to the Madison Library District for their commitment to marketing on Pinterest.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments. And subscribe to this series to get a new video tip for libraries each week.
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.
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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 