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Virtual Library Programmers–Heads Up! Here’s a Super Easy, Step-by-Step Plan to Establish a Style Guide for Your Library Videos

Photo Courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

There’s a trend in library marketing now. It’s born out of necessity and determination.

More libraries are producing videos. They’re using the format to deliver programs to their community. They’re using video to explain the value of their library, as they brace for the economic impact of the pandemic.

I’ve long been a fan of video library marketing. And, even before COVID-19, there was mounting evidence that video is an effective and engaging way to communicate.

Video is easy to produce, really. Anyone with a smartphone and some editing software can make cool videos that look professional. My 19-year-old taught herself to edit this week in about two days’ time. I imagine many of you are doing the same thing.

But there’s one step in the process you may have missed. And for this, I must thank Mary from Evergreen Park Library. She asked me to talk about creating a video style guide. 

Why you need a video style guide

Any content coming out of your library will need to look like it’s coming from your library!

It’s the same philosophy you may have for any print material you create. You likely have rules and specifications about the look of the text, the placement of the logo, the use of colors, and more. Even if your guidelines are just a few sentences, someone along the line has likely laid out the rules.

Your videos need a similar set of guidelines. We want people to be able to recognize your work on all platforms.

And once you create a video style guide, it’s important to make sure everyone who creates content adheres to it. It’s incredibly important that we reinforce your library’s brand to your community. We want them to immediately know the video was produced by your library. Later, when we need support for funding, they’ll remember your work and the value you provide.

Creating your video style guide

In your style guide, answer these questions.  

  1. Logo: How often will your logo be used in the video? Where does it need to appear on the screen? How big should it be? What color should it be? If you have several versions of your logo, which one will be used in videos?
  2. Fonts: What font should be used for onscreen text? What color does it need to be? How large should it be? When should it appear?
  3. Graphics: If your video creators are adding additional graphics, what colors are allowed? What style of graphic should they use? What program should they use to create them? 
  4. Video: How should shots be framed? What resolution do you want recorded? What aspect ratio will be allowed? Do shots need to be focused? Does video need to be stable or will you allow shaky shots?    
  5. Audio: How loud should audio be in your videos? Should on camera talent use a microphone, headsets, or camera audio? If they edit music into the final product, how loud should the music be versus spoken words?  
  6. Talent: Which library staff members are permitted to record, edit, and upload videos? Should on-camera library staff wear something specific, like your library’s uniform shirt or a library branded t-shirt?
  7. Process: Is there a senior staff member who must give final approval for your video? How will the video be transferred between staff members at various stages of editing, approval, and posting?  
  8. Patron privacy: How do you go about getting permission from everyone who appears on camera, even in the background? This is especially important when library buildings reopen, and we start capturing video of patrons. It’s likely part of your library’s overall privacy policy. So, check to see what kind of permission you need to get from participants and set guidelines to make sure your video creators know that’s part of their responsibility.
  9. Liability and copyright issues: What music can your video creators legally use? What still photos can they legally use?  What extra footage can they legally use? Be explicit about fair use standards. 

Examples of video style guides

Pepperdine University

Oxford Brooks University

Washington University School of Medicine

You might also want to read these

Butts in Seats: Which Video Metrics Count as Attendance in the New World of Virtual Library Programming?

Videos Can Reach Library Users at Home Now and in the Future. Here’s Your Starter Kit.

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on the “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  

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The Seven-Step Process to Empower Your Branch Staff and Turn Them into Incredible Library Marketing Ambassadors

I realized something significant in the past few months. It has changed the way I think about library marketing.

I have built a pretty great team and I’ve been vigilant about using data to help me market my library with tactics like email, social, and video.

But there was one marketing tactic that I haven’t used. I haven’t thought about using it. And I need to correct this oversight to take my library marketing to a whole new level.

I need to empower my library’s front-line staff to be library marketing ambassadors.

In the Library Marketing Show, Episode 26, we discussed handing over some of the library marketing work to branch staff. There is work that can only be done by trained marketing and communications professionals. But there are things branch staff can do to offer personalized promotions of events, services, and collection items. They can also offer personalized customer service. And that’s the most important marketing tactic of all.

Back in 2017,  commerce platform Cloud IQ team research found that 69 percent of people want personalized customer service.

In 2018, Accenture Research found that 91 percent of consumers are more likely to shop brands that provide a personalized experience.

Providing personalized customer experience is important for library marketing success. This is difficult for libraries, given our strong commitment to the privacy of our cardholders and their data. But there is a way to do personalized customer service without data. And it could differentiate libraries from our competition.

Library staff must be empowered to think of themselves as marketing ambassadors for the library. If we give our branch staff the tools, training, and confidence, they can create a great customer experience for our visitors. And that can be a competitive advantage for libraries.

We don’t have the money for artificial intelligence or fancy automated marketing tools. But we do have people. Great people. People who are passionately committed to their communities and their customers.

This is really a change in mindset for libraries. This is not something that you’ll talk about once at a staff meeting and forget it. This is something we need to do every day, without fail.

Here is the seven-step process to get front line staff to think of their work as part of marketing.

Change your own thought process around marketing. Just as the front-line staff doesn’t often think that their interactions with customers have anything to do with marketing, the marketing staff often doesn’t consider putting front-line staff to use. Make it a habit to think about how to incorporate front-line staff in your marketing. Handing them some posters doesn’t count. You will want to plot out the specific ways staff can help you with each campaign. Then give them the tools to help them succeed.

Communicate with branch staff regularly about your marketing. If you have a library staff blog or another communication channel, use it to share what you’re doing in your marketing department. And share often.

Each time you start a new marketing campaign or initiative, share your plans with staff. Tell them exactly what the goals are, what tactics you’re using to achieve them, and how you’ll measure success. Always remind the staff about your library’s strategic goals. State how your marketing efforts are making those goals become a reality.

Set aside time in your regular schedule to have conversations with the librarians. This shouldn’t be a scripted interaction. Ask the staff about their work. Find out what they get asked by customers. You will learn something new and get plenty of ideas for what library offerings need more marketing support. Speaking of ideas…

Ask the branch staff for ideas.  An informal suggestion process will help staff feel like they’re part of the marketing department’s success or failure. It makes them more likely to help market the initiative. And you’re likely to find something amazing in their suggestions.

Never reject an idea outright, even if it seems crazy. You risk hampering the creativity of your library staff if they are worried that their suggestions will be silly or stupid. Tell the staff that all ideas are welcome and that library marketing staff will consider each idea carefully. Incorporate the ones that best suit the campaign, the library’s strategic goals, the budget, and the library’s resources.

Try to work at least one staff idea for your marketing into each campaign. If staff make suggestions but see that their ideas are never taken seriously, they’ll stop giving you feedback

Encourage your staff to think of themselves as ambassadors for the library system. They represent everything your library stands for. Your library staff knows their community. They know the needs of their customer base. And they can offer the best, personalized customer service to the people coming into their location.

Let the staff know that you appreciate their unique perspective on your customer base. Reinforce the idea that every part of their job, from shelving holds, to signing people up for cards, to running programs, is a form of marketing. Every interaction they have with a cardholder is a chance for promotion.

Encourage staff to interact with your library on social media if they feel comfortable doing so. Talk to senior leaders and see if it’s possible to grant library staff 15 minutes a week, on work time, to share library social media posts on their personal profiles.

Give staff specific ideas for how they can help spread the library’s message on social by sharing library posts, sharing their own stories or inspiring thoughts about the library, and tagging the library’s social media accounts, commenting or liking posts, inviting friends and family to follow the library on social media, and listing your library as their employer on their personal profiles.

If staff is regularly engaging and sharing content from your library’s social media profiles, you’ll see engagement increase. Algorithms reward libraries with engaged staff!

Lead by example and encourage other senior leaders in your organization to do the same. When staff sees senior leaders and marketing staff talking about the library and sharing their enthusiasm for their work on social, they’ll likely follow suit.

Check the Upcoming Events page for a list of webinars and conferences where I’ll be next. Let’s connect! Plus, subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on the “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.   

 

 

 

 

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Show-and-Tell of the Best Kinds of Library Marketing Swag! Library Marketing Show: Episode 19

 

Watch now

This episode goes with this post about swag! I’ll show you some fun ideas for good swag for all your library marketing events. Be sure to COMMENT and tell everyone what your favorite swag purchase is!

Plus KUDOS to the St. Charles City-County Public Library in Missouri and Tiffani Stewart, who is their content writer and social media specialist. They created an infographic that helps explain the problems with the Macmillan eBook embargo and it’s been super successful, get lots of organic engagement on that library’s social media channels. Good job!

Stay in Touch

Check the Upcoming Events page to see where I’ll be soon. Let’s connect! I’m doing a webinar soon, so be sure to sign up… it’s free!

Have an idea for the next Library Marketing Live Show? Submit it now.

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  

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How to Pick Amazing Library Marketing Swag That People Will Love AND Build Brand Awareness and Loyalty For Your Library!

One of my staff members has a request for every event, conference, and convention I attend. “Hey boss, bring me swag!”

Who doesn’t love free stuff? And seeing what other organizations give out to promote their institutions and brands is fun.

Most libraries and vendors stick to items like pens, notebooks, candy, cups, and stickers. We spend a lot of money on this free stuff, in the hopes that event attendees will love it and use it. We also use swag to increase awareness of our library and build loyalty with current cardholders and new folks!

When your budget is limited, picking the perfect swag is a big deal. Your swag has to be interesting, but it should also align with your strategy and helps your library achieve its overall marketing goals. That’s a tall order.

When a guest walks away with your swag and can’t stop raving about it, you will have done your job. And if it’s something a library cardholder or community member can use over and over again, and that makes them think of your library, your money will be well spent. A study done by Schreiber & Associates found 39 percent of all people who have received a promotional product can accurately remember the name of the company that it’s associated with as long as six months after the event!

There is another important reason for swag: it’s a conversation starter. Great swag can be a talking point for volunteers working your table to share information about services, collection items, and other related events at the library. Marketing studies show us that you have to get your message in front of your cardholder an average of SEVEN TIMES before they’ll be compelled to act on it. A direct conversation with a community member about your library counts as one of those “touches.”

A conversation between a library worker or volunteer and an event attendee is a highly effective means of marketing. According to Nielsen, 75 percent of people don’t believe the advertisements they read but 92 percent believe brand recommendations they receive from trusted sources.

Finally, giving good swag gives people a positive memory of your library. Memorable and useful items given freely and generously leaves people smiling and prompts sentiments like, “I love my library” and “I’ll always support my library.” You can’t beat that!

How to Pick Swag

Pick something functional and useful. I like to make sure the items I choose are necessary and can be used over and over again. That means that my library’s logo or name is an integral part of the life of my cardholder. I want them to constantly be seeing my library’s name or website. Some great ideas that fit this category are water bottles, kitchen utensils, ice scrapers, and pop-stoppers.

One word of caution: be aware that some attendees will take issue with certain types of swag. Many people don’t want to take a plastic bag at events because of environmental concerns. I’ve also had people turn away plastic bottles because of the possibility of harmful chemicals leaching into their water. Kids toys can be tricky because of small, removable parts.

Make sure your swag is unique and something that other organizations aren’t giving out regularly. Head to any library event or conference and you’ll find no shortage of pens, notebooks, stickers, tags, and buttons. And while all of these items are useful and cheap, I don’t want to buy any for my table because everyone is giving them out. Hand sanitizer, lip balm, license plate frames, and pet bandannas are all great examples of fun, useful swag that will set your library apart from other organizations.

Make sure your swag is relevant to the attendees of an event. Be sure to ask the organizers before you go who their attendees will be, how many people they expect, and what the event is focused around. Don’t bring all your swag to all events… pick and choose carefully. At my library, we buy different swag for different age groups. We have earbuds and multi-function charging hubs for teens, piggy banks and temporary tattoos for kids, and aluminum water bottles and drawstring totes for adults.

Make sure your swag can be branded. Check the space where logos or text can be printed on items to make sure your particular logo, tagline, or library website will fit and be legible. I’ve totally made this mistake: you spot a great piece of swag at a great price. But the area where your logo or tag line is imprinted is too small or oriented the wrong way. No one can tell it’s from your library! Pay special attention to the imprint area, especially if you have a long tagline or a logo that can’t easily be resized or re-oriented.

Watch The Library Marketing Show to see some of my favorite choices for swag and talk more about why it’s so important for marketing!

No budget for swag? Do a giveaway. I’ve often had leftover donated items like gift cards that I use as giveaways at events. A giveaway, when promoted ahead of time, will drive attendees to your table. Ask people to give their email address and add them to your newsletter or email subscription list in exchange for an entry in your contest.

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  And check my list of upcoming events so we can connect.

 

 

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The Nine Things You Need to Look for to Hire the Best Graphic Artist for Your Library Marketing

Confession: When I took this job in library marketing, I knew nothing about graphic design. And I mean LITERALLY NOTHING.

I came from the world of TV news. There is no print element to that. All the graphics are done by a mysterious department located on the second floor of our station, where artists work in a dimly lit room surrounded by monitors. And their ability to get creative is limited by the fast pace of the workplace.

My first week in the library was a lesson in paper weight (text vs. cover?? What??), labels, printing terms, and equipment that I had never seen before, like a Baum Cutter that look a small tank with a blade like a guillotine. I was scared.

And I bet a lot of library marketers can relate. We have degrees in library science and communications, not design. Most of us do not have any training or background in graphic art. I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult and intimidating to manage an employee when I have no idea what their job is, how they do it, or how I could help them to improve.

I’m lucky to have two graphic artists at my library, serving a system of 41 locations and 600,000 cardholders. I can count on my artists to be a touchstone for all projects. They keep my library branches on brand. They help me turn ideas that seem stuck in my head into something clear and understandable to our cardholders.

Visuals are a key part of marketing. Your graphic designer is an invaluable member of your library marketing team. So it’s an important hire to make.

A great artist can create a consistent look and feel to everything surrounding your library’s brand. You want your customers to be able to recognize your visuals as being part of your brand, even before they spot your name or logo on the material.

A good artist can convey the message of your library without actually using your library’s name. They can listen to you explain a vague idea and create something visually stunning which helps enhance the customer experience.

When you’re in the market to add a graphic artist to your team, you may be dazzled by stunning portfolios and creative resumes (graphic artists create some of the best resumes I’ve ever seen!) But there are nine important qualities your candidates must have.

Someone with good customer service. Your artists will be working with multiple departments, branches, customers, and outside partner agencies. You need someone who can listen to whoever they are working with, understand their needs, and translate their vision.

Someone who can communicate with your customers. Ask your candidates how they will create pieces for different age groups, ethnic backgrounds, and interests. Make sure your artist can switch viewpoints and create visuals that speak to many different library audience segments.

Someone who can translate your library strategy and goals into visuals. These are complex concepts. A good artist will take big ideas and turn them into a visual the audience can understand. Ask for examples of infographics and annual reports from previous employers or internships. Can you understand what the message is? Are the statistics presented in a clear and interesting way?

Someone who can work with multiple formats. You’ll be asking your artist to create print and digital graphics, so they should be comfortable working with both. Ideally, you should also look with experience in web design, video production, and animation.

Someone with a vision. You’ll want to make sure your graphic designer will stay on top of the latest trends in design so your marketing material doesn’t look dated.

Someone with whom you can collaborate. Your work with design will be a back and forth, give and take, and you will need someone who can walk through that messy process with you. A good designer will be able to defend their design as well as adapt to ideas that aren’t expressly theirs.

Someone who seeks inspiration. My two designers have a common belief that their work gets better as they learn more. They both have a desire to attend creative sessions and try new mediums. They both work on creative endeavors outside of the library.

You don’t want a designer who simple comes into the office, does what you tell them, and then goes home for the day. Ask potential hires if they do anything artistic outside of the workplace to fuel their own creativity.

Someone who can think on their feet. Ask your candidates to critique a design piece and explain what they would have done differently. Their answer will tell you a lot about their creative process, their ability to articulate their vision, and how they think when they’re asked to do a project on the fly.

Someone who can handle criticism. This is true of every hire you make, but graphic artists are creatives and in my experience, creatives take their work seriously. They may feel precious about their designs and may be resistant to your opinions about them. Make sure you can give positive and constructive feedback to your potential hire without worrying that they’ll refuse to take your suggestions.

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  And check my list of upcoming events so we can connect.

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Call It What It Is: Toledo Public Library Explains Their New Brand Strategy

A couple of weeks ago, a Tweet from the deputy director of the Toledo Public Library caught my eye.

Our marketing manager here at the library is leading a charge to “call things what they are” to reduce confusion for customers. We should be doing more of this in libraries and resist the urge for cutesy branding.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Jason went on to explain, “When I joined the library three plus years ago, we had just launched a kind of umbrella branding for all of our making activities at the library. We called it Make U. It was clever, had a nice logo, and generally served a purpose… for us. Three years later, it’s still a confusing ‘second brand’ for our library (one of many tertiary brands, actually). Terri Carroll (our marketing manager) is working really hard to make the library’s brand the key identifier for all things library. Every time we roll out a new program or service, we have the urge to give it cute or clever branding. It’s just more education we have to do with our customers. So rather than trying to constantly educate people about our new brands, services, and programs, we focus on the library’s brand: a welcoming and accessible space where anyone has access to resources they need to make their lives, their communities, and their futures better. Now we call Make U what it is…tech tools. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from Terri in the short time she’s been with us about how we cut through a very noisy marketplace to reach people where they are when they need us.”

This is a major hurdle for my team and library marketer’s across the country! At my Library, I’ve counted no less than TEN branded services. And each one requires education for the staff and public. The names are cute but their meaning is obtuse.

Library marketers struggle with branding. We need to do a better job of defining who we are. We must create a consistent emotional connection with our cardholders if we’re going to compete with the likes of Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Netflix, and Google.

Jason’s co-worker, Toledo Public Library Marketing Manager Terri Carroll, graciously agreed to share her insights on the process.

So many libraries have a set of tertiary brands for their various programs and services. Why is that a problem? Each day, our current and potential customers are bombarded with media messages from well-funded and sophisticated retail, fast food, snack food, entertainment, sports, news, and service companies. While these organizations aren’t competing with us to provide library services, they are competing with libraries for people’s time and attention. If libraries hope to have people notice our message in a noisy marketplace, it is imperative we have one clear brand that makes it easy for people to know who we are and what value we provide. Tertiary brands dilute our message and make it more challenging to connect with customers.

Before the redesign, the Toledo Public Library struggled to bring a host of tertiary brands together to create one cohesive brand.

What prompted you to decide to focus less on giving everything a cutesy name and instead develop and nurture an umbrella brand? I started working at the Library in November and was struck by the fact that each program had its own look and message. The emphasis was on program names and unique graphics, rather than the Library as a whole. For example, a great deal of energy was spent on “logos” for programs such as Kindergarten Kickstart, Ready to Read, and Make U instead of thinking about messaging that clearly connects a valuable service (early literacy or access to technology) with the Library. This approach puts the burden of connecting the dots about the Library’s value and relevance on our customers. It also keeps the Marketing team from thinking strategically as they instead spend energy making everything look different. This is an unfortunate use of resources. Having things look similar within a brand compliance strategy makes it easier for customers to identify Library materials and messaging.

Terri laid out brand elements to create a clear and consistent message that can be understood by staff and library cardholders.

Have you seen positive results from this type of strategy yet?  We’ve been working on implementing this strategy since December, so it is tough to extrapolate data yet. For now, positive anecdotal comments to Library staff and leadership such as, “The Library is doing so much,” (when in fact we are doing a similar amount of work) and increased earned media attention are indicators of success. Ultimately, we should realize increases in circulation, door count, and program attendance as well as community and regional stakeholder invitations to be at the table on important issues, speaking opportunities, organizational partnership creations, and election results.

How can other library marketers make the case to their stakeholders, like their board of trustees, the senior leaders, and their staff, that developing a strong brand sense is more productive than creating brands individually as services are unveiled? Stakeholders repeatedly express interest in making sure the community knows about everything the Library does. I have invested a lot of time meeting with all of our internal stakeholders to show them how strong brand management is necessary to meet that goal.

My staff and I also work to keep a focus on making sure all materials and messages are customer-focused. We ask ourselves and our colleagues if our materials and messaging are giving customers all the information they need to engage with the Library. Focusing on how customers understand our Marketing keeps everyone externally (brand) focused and not internally (tertiary brand) focused.

A clear, consistent look helps Toledo Public Library create a connection and makes it easier for their cardholders to recognize their messages.

Do you have any other advice for library marketers looking to strengthen their own brands? It is essential to have senior leadership support for strong brand management. If people are used to the tertiary brands and have enjoyed the creative process (either working with Marketing and/or doing their own design work at the department or branch level), moving to brand compliance can be painful. If those concerns/complaints are taken to senior leadership and exceptions are granted, then the entire brand strategy is compromised.

It is also important to expect some resistance and be willing to talk with people about their questions and concerns. In these conversations, something that seems to really resonate is when I say that we don’t want to re-educate people every time they see something from the Library. We want people to immediately identify a Library program or service. And while staff sees all the materials and, may in fact get a bit tired of the same colors and fonts, this easy identification and brand recognition is essential for customers who are wading through a marketplace of messages and materials.

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. I talk about library marketing on all those platforms!

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