delivering your messages in today’s online environment american library association, pr forum...

Delivering Your Messages in Today’s Online Environment

American Library Association, PR Forum

Kevin T. Kirkpatrick

Executive Vice President

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Agenda

• How is the Internet (and social media, specifically) changing the way we communicate with one another?

• How are libraries using the Internet and social media?

• Where do you start?

Credit: xkcd.com

Impact of Social Media

• Changing the way we communicate with each other, and how we connect with organizations we care about

– Social networking has surpassed email as the most popular activity online.

• It’s huge, and growing fast

– Facebook >200 Million monthly active users

– Twitter >6 million users, growing at 1382%

Pros/Cons of Social Media

Benefits Challenges

• Incredibly cost effective versus traditional means of communication

• Faster, more timely• Ability to customize audiences

and content• Easy to update, revise• Can be more environmentally

sustainable (e.g., reduced printing costs)

• Creating relationships!

• Can be overwhelming• Growing fast, but still not

dominant• Some audiences not yet

engaged (degree of disproportionality)

• Requires commitment (e.g., updating, responding)

• Sacrifices certain degree of control over content

Types of Social Media

• Communicate (blogs, podcasts, video, photo)

• Connect (social networks, texting, instant messaging, microblogs)

• Collaborate (Wikis, consumer-generated media, ratings, social news)

• Collect (tagging, social bookmarking, search)

• Customize (RSS, widgets, virtual worlds)

The Basic Idea

• Groups based on affinities and expertise

• Profiles serve as identities, share info about you

• Connections build the networks – friends, family, co-workers, partners

• Sharing via opinions, information, interests, stories, photos, videos

Your Website

Putting a “Face” on Your Library

Job postings

Schedule changes

Announcing events

Connecting to other resources

Promoting Holdings

Starting discussions

“Tweeting” Your Library

Wave of the Not-so-distant Future …

First Things First: Your Website

• Update the content (frequently!)• Refresh the look and feel of the site• Tell stories/communicate impact• Add photos, photo essays• Increase opportunities for interactivity

(take action, email list, tell-a-friend, etc.)• Add contact information

Tell-a-friend

Then, When You’re Ready…

• Join the conversation– Appropriately

– Carefully

– Transparently

• Try one thing right away– Update your website

– Add “tell-a-friend”

– Create a Twitter account

– Start a Facebook page

Ask Yourself

• What’s your unique value?• Why would people want to talk

about you?• Where are your audiences? Are they

already doing something? Saying something?

• What can you offer to the world? How can you be a resource?

Keep in Mind

• Social media works best as a two-way conversation

• Great for customer service; less so for PR• Need to stay on top of it