social media marketing for libraries

Texas Library Association Annual ConferenceThursday, April 25, 2013

Maximizing Social Media for Marketing

#TLXA13@resonancecont

I LOVE

LIBRARIES!

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?

It’s about people.

#TXLA13@resonancecont

A BRIEF TOUR OF “THE SOCIALHOOD”#TXLA13

Meet “The Big 4”

#TXLA13@resonancecont

YOUR BLOG: “THE OPEN HOUSE”

Your Blog: “The Open House”

• Blog (short for “weblog”) = online journal

• Text, images, audio, or video• Subscribers have new posts

delivered via email• Expand your reach through

guest blogging

#TXLA13@resonancecont

Your Blog: “The Open House”

Benefits• Open template• Can feature text,

images, audio, video, or a combination

• If self-hosted, you own the blog and all its content

Challenges• “Pull” tactic—need to

attract readers to it• May require some

HTML “tweaking”

#TXLA13@resonancecont

Your Blog: “The Open House”

Opportunities for Libraries• Gives you a longer format for communicating

with your audience• Open format — share images and video as

well as text• Readers can subscribe and have updates

delivered via email

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

FACEBOOK: “THE COFFEE SHOP”

Facebook: “The Coffee Shop”

• World’s largest social networking site

• 1.06 billion users worldwide• Average user spends more

than 7 hours a month on the site

• 1 billion pieces of content shared each day

#TXLA13@resonancecont

Facebook: “The Coffee Shop”

Benefits• World’s largest

networking site• Content types include

text, links, image, video• Apps allow creation of

content-rich Fan Pages

Challenges• Cultural mixed in with

personal … and the inane

• Poor search engine• You don’t actually own

your Facebook content

#TXLA13@resonancecont

Facebook: “The Coffee Shop”

Opportunities for Libraries• Share content daily to stay “front of mind”

with community members.• Interact with complementary organizations to

leverage their audiences.• Create a Group for your patrons.• Promote your blog posts.

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

TWITTER: “THE SPEED DATE”

Twitter: “The Speed Date”

• 140-character posts• Over 200 million active

users• 400 million tweets per day• 1.6 billion search queries a

day

#TXLA13@resonancecont

Twitter: “The Speed Date”

Benefits• Easy to use• Excellent listening

mechanism• Auto-schedule tools• Initiate and follow

conversations around hashtags

Challenges• 140-character limit• Content limited to text

and links (can attach photos or videos)

• Average life span of a tweet is less than an hour

#TXLA13@resonancecont

Twitter: “The Speed Date”

Opportunities for Libraries• Establish authority by sharing relevant

content.• “Live tweet” from events.• Create conversations around current topics.• Embed Twitter feed into your website and

Facebook page.

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

YOUTUBE: “THE PUBLIC ACCESS CABLE CHANNEL”

YouTube: “The Public Access Cable Channel”

• Video sharing social network

• The Web’s #2 search engine• More than 1 billion unique

users each month• More than 1 trillion views in

2011

#TXLA13@resonancecont

YouTube: “The Public Access Cable Channel”

Benefits• Most personal form of

social communication• Highly visible in search• Perfect for instructional

content (e.g., using online resources)

Challenges• Content limited to video• Video creation requires

some technical skill• Search engines don’t

recognize video content

#TXLA13@resonancecont

YouTube: “The Public Access Cable Channel”

Opportunities for Libraries• Engage with people on a highly personal level.• Create an online video library that’s highly search-

visible.• Post video tours of your facilities.• Create guided tutorials on how to use online

resources.• Record and share lectures and other live

events.#TXLA13@resonancecont

#TXLA13@resonancecont

It’s all about integration

#TXLA13@resonancecont

And there’s more …

#TXLA13@resonancecont

TIPS FOR ROCKING THE SOCIAL SCENE

70%

20%10%

#TXLA13

KNOW YOUR PATRONS … REALLY WELL#TXLA13@resonancecont

THE 70-20-10 RULE

Sharing valuable, relevant content

Sharing others’ posts

(retweets, shares, etc.)

Promoting your services

70%

20%10%

#TXLA13@resonancecont

RESPOND TO QUESTIONS PROMPTLY (EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE ANSWER)

70%

20%10%

#TXLA13 @resonancecont

70%

20%10%

POST IMAGES … LIKE, A LOT#TXLA13@resonancecont

70%

20%10%

SHOW YOUR COMMUNITY SPIRIT#TXLA13@resonancecont

70%

20%10%

ENGAGE WITH POLLS AND QUIZZES#TXLA13@resonancecont

70%

20%10%

HAVE FUN!#TXLA13@resonancecont

THANK YOU!#TXLA13@resonancecont