#Winning ways and

Susan BrownLawrence Public LibraryNEKLS Tech Day 2011

ails

SOCIAL MEDIA AS TEAM SPORT:

Social Media at LPL

• Facebook = appx. 1,900 fans• Twitter = appx. 2,150 followers• YouTube• Blog• Flikr, Foursquare, etc

• Social media team w/contributers from all departments

Before you get started:

• Administrative buy-in• Staff buy-in• Time commitment• Choose carefully

: NOT LOOKING BEFORE LEAPING

: GETTING IN BEFORE GETTING IT

"We'll work it all out as we go along. Let our practice form our doctrine - thus assuring precise theoretical coherence.“

- Edward Abbey, The Monkey Wrench Gang

: NOT HAVING GOALS

OUR PURPOSE: Why do we do social media? What is our goal?

- To inform and engage our community- To listen to and respond to our customers- To market our services, programs, and collections- To position ourselves as a knowledge leader and essential destination

OUR STRATEGY: How will we work toward our goals?

- Promote our events, collections, and services- Start conversations with our users by asking questions and gathering opinions- Participate in conversations happening in the community- Actively listen to what customers are saying and respond appropriately- Build relationships by passing along content of others - community partners, local bloggers, etc.

LPL SOCIAL MEDIA PRINCIPLES:

OUR CONTENT – What will we say? - News & events (LPL, Lawrence, book-related)- Information about collections, services, new features, etc.- Original content (i.e. reviews, recommendations, etc.)- Pass along relevant content of others (link to local blogs, retweet, etc.)- Cross promote our own social media channels (i.e. Tweet about new blog post, etc)- Responses to questions and comments OUR TONE – How will we say it? - We will be honest and authentic, not snarky or sarcastic- We will be respectful to all commenters, positive and negative- We will say please and thank you- We will not post anything on social media that we would not say at a service desk

THE BASICS: •Don’t forget to spel chek•Respond in a timely matter (same day if possible)•Check back to gauge responses, contribute to conversation, answer questions•Add photos, videos when appropriate •If a comment or response is negative, please use a “Triage” approach:

-If the comment is highly technical in nature or specific to a certain department, the social media team member from that department will be asked to respond.

-If the comment is extremely negative, negative about the library in general, or policy-related, please let Bruce know and allow him to craft the response

-In general, if a comment is negative or needs a highly detailed or technical response, we will attempt to move that conversation to a private channel (email, face to face meeting)

LPL SOCIAL MEDIA PROCEDURES:

ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS

•Shared goals•Overall strategy•Identity & Character•Participate & Respond

: NOT HAVING GOALS

IT’S REALLY ABOUT:

•Engaging•Listening•Participating•Relationship building•Marketing WITH not marketing TO

: ONLY BROADCASTING

• WORST CASING• AUTOMATING• FOLLOWING FRENZY

MINOR

HOW WE STARTED #WINNING

• BEING STRATEGIC• FOLLOWING OUR PLAN• SHORING UP ONE PROPERTY AT A TIME• EMPOWERING GROUPS, USING TOOLS• ENGAGING LOCAL BLOGGERS• PROMOTING OTHERS• STEALING IDEAS• CREATING CONTENT

TEAM HIGHLIGHT REEL:

• It’s not about the tools• Engage & Respond• Listening more important that broadcasting• As important as website• We don’t control the message or the medium

“Social Media is a lot like the strategy game Othello. It’s incredibly easy to learn but it takes a long time to master.”

- Laura Solomon, Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarians Guide

NEXT SEASON:

• More content creation• Shoring up other properties – blog,

FourSquare• Service delivery• New tools – QR codes, etc.• Better measurement• Getting more players on our team

CARE TO SHARE?

ails

Game plans?

#Wins?

?