The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 179: There are a series of Facebook ads that I have actually watched in their entirety… something I have NEVER done before.
So what does this have to do with you? In this video, I’ll reveal the secrets so your library marketing can have the same impact on your audience.
Kudos in this episode go to SIX libraries in Canada!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments.
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Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
A woman in a blue shirt walks dejectedly through the library, head down, shoulders hunched.
She waves at patrons coming in and out of the building, but no one notices.
She places one lonely hand on the window to the world outside as the sound of melancholy music plays in the background.
Soon the music swells, and the woman walks through the front doors of the library, skipping across the lawn as she makes her way to the parking lot. Why is she so happy?
The woman represents public Wi-Fi, and the video is her library’s creative, engaging announcement that Wi-Fi is now available outside of the library building and in the parking lots.
It is this kind of out-of-the-ordinary yet effective video that first drew my attention to Prince William Public Libraries. The library serves a population of about 437,000 residents and has 12 locations.
This video, and dozens more like it, are the work of the library’s Office of Communications and Marketing. The creators not only work at a library but also have a deep and lifelong connection to libraries.
“My grandma worked at Mountain View Public Library,” remembered Emily Bickers, Media Specialist. “I loved to bother her after story times as a toddler. We would get frozen yogurt and I would babble about the book to her. It was my first book club!”
Communications and Marketing Director Rachel Johnson grew up north of Baltimore. “Going to the library was a regular trip for me as a kid,” she recalled. “I remember what the old library looked like so vividly, and then the library was renovated with completely new construction on the same land when I was in my late teens. I have no idea why the renovation stands out in my mind more than the many visits, but that’s what I remember most!”
And Michaela Hamiary Janotova, who serves as the library’s Public and Media Relations Specialist, grew up in Slovakia, in Central Europe. “As a child, I enjoyed school and loved reading and writing,” she said. “But I think my favorite memories involving libraries are being created now.”
The marketing team at Prince William Public Libraries includes writing, graphic design, media relations, digital communications and social media, and videography professionals.
The library uses video for many library promotions. “We mainly rely on YouTube to be our video repository,” explained Rachel. “But our statistics show that utilizing other social media – like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – helps us to further amplify our messaging to reach more audiences.”
Continued Rachel, “When asked what my favorite video is, it’s so hard to choose a favorite. There’s a special place in my heart for our 2021 Summer Reading Promotional video. While it’s nothing ‘special,’ the story behind it is.”
“Emily produced this video less than one week after starting with Prince William Public Libraries. We were deep into the pandemic – I hadn’t even met her in person yet – and she came along and produced this fun, engaging video that aligned so much with our mission and values. Her skills and expertise made me really excited for the future of video production and what we could do to reach even more people in our community through digital storytelling.”
“My favorite is PWPL’s Wi-Fi Has Left the Building!,” added Emily. We created that shortly after I joined PWPL and it showed me that my boss, Rachel, was not only down to have some fun with silly ideas, but willing to star in them!”
“My favorite video is RELIC: Don’t Be Left in the Dark,” said Michaela. “It’s very different from all the other videos. It’s special, like the service it promotes. “
Many libraries are intimidated by the thought of video marketing. Videos feel difficult to produce; they’re perceived as expensive to create and time-consuming. But Emily wants librarians to know that there are a lot of tools out there that can make video creation much easier, faster, and cheaper than in years past.
“Most computers and many social media apps now come with built-in video editing tools,” she pointed out. “Also, do not be afraid to use templates or stock footage to make your vision a reality even if you are pressed for time or funding.”
Last year, the library organized a Staff Day. It was a big deal. “After three years of overcoming challenges, adapting, and finding new ways of serving the community, staff deserved recognition and an opportunity to meet in person and socialize,” explained Michaela.
“One drawback of having a large library system is that staff does not get a lot of chances to get to know each other or what each department does – a fact that was exacerbated during COVID,” said Emily. “We wanted to create a video that would highlight what each department does and how they all work together.”
And so, they did. The library’s video was so incredible that Prince William Public Library won a Gold Viddy Award in the category Non-Broadcast Short Form Videos. The Viddy Awards is an international competition recognizing excellence in creating, producing, and delivering videos. It’s put on by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP).
The marketing team at Prince William Public Libraries has won a host of other awards in the past two years for other videos, a strategic marketing campaign, and a magazine. They admit they have a lot of rich fodder for great promotions. But the team does have a secret ingredient to creating campaigns that resonate with audiences… fun!
“The Office of Communications and Marketing has the expertise and resources to create fun, engaging campaigns because there are always exciting, positive efforts happening in our libraries,” said Rachel.
The marketing team looks to their fellow library staff and the outside world for inspiration. “Our evolving community and creative librarians are a great source of inspiration,” said Michaela. “There is so much going on to draw ideas from, and we ensure that we find the most effective ways of reaching the target audience.”
For Rachel, it’s… “Social media! There are so many clever librarians and library staff throughout the country – it’s inspirational. We also closely follow other trends in social media and create our messaging based on those trends.”
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The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 179: It’s time to work on your calls to action!
How do you motivate people to interact with your library promotions? It’s time to supercharge your call to action or CTA game! You’ll find tips to do that in this episode.
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.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Francesca Castro has been visiting libraries for as long as she can remember.
“My mother took me to children’s programs at the public library when I was very young,” recalled Francesca. “Then, in elementary and middle school, I begged my parents for cash to spend at the annual book fair. In college, I was pulling all-nighters and made some of my best memories of my academic career in the library.”
Now, not even a year after graduating from Arkansas State University with a degree in communications, Francesca is working her first professional job at a library. And her success, particularly around TikTok, is inspiring library marketers twice her age, myself included.
Francesca is a Marketing Coordinator for the Saline County Library in Benton, Arkansas. The library has a service population of about 85,000 residents.
Francesca’s interest in managing the library’s TikTok began during her interview. “I remember asking if Saline County Library (SCL) had a TikTok account,” she said. “Their response was no. So I told them if they hired me, I would make a Saline County Library TikTok account and that I had gone viral a few times on my personal account and would want to do the same for SCL.”
“I understand that it is hard to grab the attention of teens and tweens these days and a lot of them are already on TikTok, so why not bring the library content to them, ” continued Francesca. “I also use the platform to show that libraries are more than what people assume that they are. I have made videos about what working in the library is like versus what people probably think it is like, and I make sure to post content that shows you can check out items other than books.”
Francesca has created more than 40 posts on TikTok since she launched the Saline County Library account, which has nearly 500 followers. One of the most popular posts is a simple, short slideshow of storytime set to music.
She’s quick to jump on trends, like this one featuring the Titanic theme. Francesca also appears in some of the posts, which adds a personal touch to the account and adds a face that library patrons may recognize when they walk into the building.
Francesca does have a secret formula for TikTok success based on her experience and research.
“I have learned to almost spam posts on TikTok,” she revealed. “The algorithm on TikTok is like an endless loop, and videos from weeks ago are still floating on the surface. Unlike other platforms, your post would not be the first to pop up on the screen after a few days. The reason I say spam post is because the more videos you post, the more content you have going through that endless loop.”
“Another tip I have figured out is to keep the content short and relatable. The key to success on TikTok is to be short, entertaining, and straight to the point.”
And even though consistency is key, Francesca admits she is not always consistent when it comes to posting TikToks. “I usually post them when I have an idea, and I get inspiration from other library TikTok accounts. I try to post 3-5 times a week.”
Many library marketers are also intimated by the process of editing videos for TikTok. But Francesca says you don’t need fancy editing software or third-party apps. Simplicity is key.
“When it comes to editing the videos, I usually just edit them on TikTok, which only takes a few minutes,” she advised. “I will say I am consistent with the hashtags I use. I like to use #Librarytok #librarymarketing, and #booktalk.”
And although she’s only six months into her new role, Francesca has advice for other libraries looking to use TikTok to reach new audiences.
“If you are unsure about starting a TikTok page, I suggest you have a person or a team of people who are outgoing and not shy to run the page,” she said. “The advice I would give any Library would be to beware of trends and KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!”
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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.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
I do my best writing in the darkness.
I wake up most workdays around 5:30 a.m. I pour coffee and add enough creamer to turn the liquid from black to beige. Then my coworker Scarlett and I stumble a few steps through the backyard to my office to begin the day.
I turn on the twinkle lights. I scratch my coworker behind the ears. She crawls into her office bed for another two hours of snoozing (lucky dog).
And then I begin.
The early morning, when my brain is empty and uncluttered by the tasks of the day, is when I do my best writing.
Library marketing often means cranking out text for a variety of promotional pieces. You’re likely writing blog posts, emails, speeches, press releases, talking points, and more.
Writing is difficult. But clear, concise text is essential as your library works to position itself in a world full of content.
Maybe you have been thinking about posting less on social media. You may consider turning to other, more content-rich and impactful tactics like blogs and print newsletters. If that’s the case, you’ll need to make sure your writing is readable, relatable, and memorable.
That’s where online writing tools come in handy. They can help your writing have more of an impact. They can help you craft sentences that are clear and concise, even when the subject matter is not. They can help you figure out a headline that will draw readers in. They can help you discover the right word to make your meaning clear.
And no matter what time of day you do your best writing, these tools will help you perfect your work. I use them every day on everything I write (including this blog post). Here are my favorites! They’re all free.
Sometimes the most difficult part of writing is coming up with an idea. This site has thousands of fill-in-the-blank prompts that can help you brainstorm your next topic. It’s a great place to visit when you’re suffering from writer’s block.
To demonstrate, I went to the site and typed in library marketing, then selected is an industry. Here are the suggestions it gave me.
You can save the suggestions and download them if you are willing to subscribe to their newsletter. And if you hit refresh, it will keep giving you ideas until you find one you like.
This is a very simple tool that shows you new keywords and performance data to use in your text.
I typed in reading recommendations and then chose Education & Instruction and the United States for my search parameters. Here are the results.
You’ll want to use this tool to see what phrasing to use when you are creating content. So if you were looking to promote your library’s reading recommendations, you may use phrases like “Best Books of All Time” in your email and in your blog posts to drive lots of traffic to your library’s website.
This fantastic tool measures searches from Google, the most popular search engine. You’ll get to see if your ideas play well in terms of topic, queries, and regions. It can help you to decide if a certain topic is something your audience in your community is searching for.
This text editor is helpful for creating copy that is clear, clever, bold, and easy to understand. You can either write inside the program or you can copy and paste your draft into the site.
The Hemingway App highlights complex phrases and errors. It grades your text and prompts you to break up sentences and replace words to clarify your meaning.
For example, originally, the eighth paragraph of this blog post went like this:
And if you’ve been thinking about the advantages of ramping down your library’s social media posts, and turning to other, more content-rich and impactful tactics like blogs, you’ll need to make sure your writing is readable, relatable, and memorable.
The Hemingway App led me to change the paragraph to this:
Maybe you have been thinking about posting less on social media. You may consider turning to other, more content-rich and impactful tactics like blogs,. If that’s the case, you’ll need to make sure your writing is readable, relatable, and memorable.
This tool is designed to help you write more conversations. It’s based on the premise that clear writing stays within the bounds of the ten-hundred most commonly used words in the English language. Use it to review the language you are using in any piece of text to make certain your writing makes sense.
Here’s how it works: You copy and paste a bit of text, or type directly into the tool, and then hit enter. The tool will point out all words you should change to be more conversational.
To demonstrate, I typed this sentence into the editor: Books help readers understand their place in the world. They can open new perspectives and new experiences for readers and enrich their lives.
Up-Goer suggested I replace these words: readers, perspectives, experiences, readers, enrich.
Obviously, you don’t have to change your text based on every suggestion. I changed several of the words in that paragraph for the final draft of this post and ignored the rest of the suggestions.
And even though I don’t always take all of its suggestions, this tool forces me to rethink the way I write. It makes me consider whether my words are truly the best way to express my thoughts and feelings to my library marketing audience.
I am not certain I would survive without this tool. It catches spelling and grammar errors, sentence structure problems, run-on sentences, and punctuation issues that are missed by the Microsoft Word editor.
Grammarly also lets you add words using the personal dictionary function, which is helpful for those quirky instances that may be part of your library style guide. For instance, I work for NoveList, and that capitalized L in the middle of the sentence always gets flagged as an error in other editors. But I’ve added it to my personal dictionary in Grammarly.
This browser extension is a mix between Grammarly and the Hemingway App. It gives you seemingly endless ways to rewrite sentences in a more creative fashion. It’s great for when you’re exhausted (hello Fridays!).
To demonstrate, I typed this sentence into the editor: Books help readers understand their place in the world. They can open new perspectives and new experiences for readers and enrich their lives.
The editor gave me more than six alternative ways to phrase that paragraph, including these:
WordTune integrates with Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, Facebook, Twitter, Web Outlook, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp.
There is a free version and a 30 percent discount for nonprofits and academia on paid plans. To take advantage of the discount, go here and scroll down to the point about discounts.
This tool highlights clichés in your text so you can avoid overused expressions. If clichés are your pet peeve (as they are mine), then this tool will be your new favorite!
This free tool trains you to write clear, catchy headlines with powerful, uncommon, and emotional words. It also shows you how your headline will look in a Google search and in an email on a desktop or mobile device.
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time 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.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Trenton Smiley’s job in a library is what you might call a full-circle moment.
At the age of 21, Trenton went to the library with his future wife to research careers. While inside the library, he decided to study communications in college.
Years later, he is working in communications for a library, specifically as Director of Marketing and Communications for Capital Area District Libraries (CADL). Located in Lansing, Michigan area, the library encompasses a service area of approximately 230,000 residents.
Every year, CADL does something extraordinary to reach new audiences. Beginning in 2020, the library launched a Christmas Eve Radio Storytime in partnership with 99.1 WFMK, one of the top radio stations in the Lansing market, especially among female listeners. During the holiday season, the station switches to an all-Christmas Music format, which provides a nice fit for storytime.
“We decided to read Clement Moore’s 1837 poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas because it was part of the public domain,” said Trenton. “Each year, we select one of our youth librarians to read the poem over a wonderfully produced music bed (done by the radio station) that also included special sound effects.”
“A holiday greeting from our executive director Scott Duimstra is always included along with a message from a special guest. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared in 2020 and 2022, while a cast member of Disney’s Broadway Show Frozen appeared in 2021 to promote the show, which was coming to our community a couple of weeks after the storytime aired.”
The radio storytime, which is about six minutes in length, aired twice on Christmas Eve. Listeners could also hear the storytime on sister station 1240 WJIM every hour until midnight. To become more inclusive, CADL launched a Spanish version of the storytime which airs on two NPR radio stations and a Spanish podcast owned by WKAR.
The cost is about $500 to air the storytime, but the station helps promote the special through free commercials and placement on the website and social media.
In addition to promotion on the radio, CADL began working with a local TV station WILX TV-10 to promote their reindeer visits and other holiday events.
“In addition to on-air ads, we also run homepage takeovers of WILX.com,” said Trenton. “A homepage takeover allows us to have 100 percent share of voice by using all available ad positions for a 24-hour period. We use this practice often to generate a great deal of web traffic over a short period of time.”
The library has taken that one step further by sponsoring the station’s broadcast of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and 5 More Sleeps Til Christmas. It’s a fantastic opportunity to reach people who never interact with the library.
“The idea to sponsor the holiday block of specials is really based on the homepage takeover concept,” explained Trenton. “We would secure all the available local ad positions during the hour block of holiday specials, which translated to two minutes. We would use this ad time to air 2, one-minute segments featuring a duo of librarians demonstrating a craft that was related to one of the holiday specials.”
It only took one day for the library to receive clearance from station management. The station also offered to help produce the library segments and promotional ads, as well as help create awareness of this special program the week leading up to the air date. It took another hour to shoot the segments and promos for the event.
Trenton said his library had specific goals for this paid partnership: to find ways to share the library experience. Specifically, Trenton had three main goals.
Increase marketing reach and frequency. “We focus on a more outward approach to our marketing. The larger pool of people we can engage with the greater chance we have to convert them to users of the library. The same is true of how they are seeing and hearing our messages and content. “
Strengthen brand awareness. “These programs provide us with an opportunity to highlight our expertise, create awareness of CADL, and position the library differently in the minds of the viewers and listeners.”
Expand promotional inventory. “Creation of programs like these provide CADL with content in which to promote other services and generate sponsorships.”
“Since the specials aired during primetime on Friday evening, December 23, we were confident that there would be a large viewing audience and worthy of the $800 price tag,” shared Trenton. “The total planning time on our part was about an hour.”
The television and radio events were marketed via email, social media, branch digital signage, press releases, a holiday guide, and promos on radio and television stations. “All the tactics helped spread the word about the specials,” said Trenton. “But I favor the digital ones because they provide real-time reporting on engagement.”
And, the partnership was indeed a success. “Based on the audience sizes of both our television and radio programs, we were able to accomplish our goal of increased marketing reach,” shared Trenton.
“Through the partnerships with both the television station and three radio stations, we received free promotional ads which helped with our goals of increased frequency, strengthened brand awareness, and more content in which to use to cross-promote services and use for sponsorships. Discussions have also begun about expanding the number of radio stations airing our special storytime.”
Trenton says his library marketing inspiration comes from the for-profit world including Disney and retail outlets.
He has advice for library marketers looking to leverage events to promote their libraries.“Negotiate from a position of strength,” he said. “Libraries have so much they can leverage including their expertise, content, goodwill, footprint (digital & physical), and customer base.”
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.
The Library Marketing Show, Episode 176: A marketing agency has done the research and is unveiling the best days and times to post on social media. But is this the advice your library has been searching for? Or will you end up being less successful on social media if you take it?
We’ll unpack the results and how to interpret them in this episode.
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.
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 