Have you ever stared at a piece of library marketing content and thought, should this be a quick update or a deep dive? Let’s settle that today! Here is how to know if you should use short-form content or when it’s time to go to long-form content in this episode of the Library Marketing Show.
Plus, we’ll give kudos to the subject of a past Super Library Marketing profile who just won a huge award.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog, and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address. Then, click the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter youremail address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
A few weeks ago, I walked through my neighborhood listening to the Library Marketing for Library Marketers podcast. Katie Rothley was interviewing a woman named Sarah Tolle, who manages content for a large Canadian agency. And Sarah said something that literally stopped me in my tracks.
“People take comfort in hearing the same story repeatedly. They like knowing that they know the story and that they understand you. And they anticipate the ending. “
-Sarah Tolle, content director for Black and White Zebra.
I was standing there on the sidewalk, staring at a squirrel gathering nuts from the front yard of an indiscriminate house, and I thought, HOLY SMOKES, this woman is dropping some truth bombs.
Sarah was talking about the value of a consistent message. The timing of this episode could not have been more perfect. In my day job, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how library marketers can get the most bang for their buck.
Many of the libraries I work with are struggling to figure out how to do three big things:
Drive more visitors to their buildings
Get higher attendance at their programs
Get their cardholders to use their cards more often.
They’re working alone or with a small team, with very little money, and very little time. It’s an impossible formula.
Except, as Audrey Hepburn once said, “Nothing is impossible. Even the word itself says, ‘I’m possible.'”
And the secret to success may be found in the form of a marketing axiom that’s nearly 100 years old.
The Marketing Rule of 7
The Marketing Rule of 7 was developed by the movie industry in the 1930s. Studio bosses discovered that a certain amount of advertising and promotion was required to compel someone to see a movie.
It takes time and consistent marketing to make people aware of your library. One message, delivered on one platform, one time, is not going to be enough. We must work to make sure people are familiar with our library.
Now, I know what you are thinking. The Marketing Rule of 7 makes sense. But it’s also in complete contradiction to another marketing fact that is entirely a product of the digital age.
The Reality of Content Shock
Marketing expert Mark Shaffer, author of more than 12 books on marketing, defines Content Shock as “the phenomenon when exponentially increasing amounts of content intersect with our limited human capacity to consume it.”
In other words, there’s too much stuff to read and not enough time to read it. (Are we talking about my inbox or my TBR? Or both?)
So how do we square both marketing truths? And how do we figure out a way forward so we can reach the goals of our library marketing?
First, the number 7 in the Marketing Rule of 7 is an arbitrary number. It could take somebody more than seven times the exposure before they become a loyal library user. Or maybe it will only take five times. Or two times.
Don’t focus so much on the number. Focus on the consistent message.
Because when your audience is overloaded with content, sharing one, consistent message, repeatedly, will break through.
Political candidates know this is true. When they’re trying to get elected or whip up support for a bill, they come up with a main message. They repeat it everywhere: on fliers, social media, in interviews with the press, in speeches, etc. They do this because they know they must repeat the message to make sure their constituents hear and understand it.
How to Create a Consistent Message
Let’s say you work for a high school library and your goal is to get more kids to check out books to read for pleasure (because, let’s be honest, most kids do not find reading Catcher in the Rye all that pleasurable).
First, write a few lines that succinctly encapsulate the message you want to get across.
Read something for once just for fun! The library is filled with books that won’t give you class credit but will take you on an adventure you’ll never forget.
Now, use those two lines across your promotions: on bookmarks, posters, displays, and in morning announcements. Repeat it to kids who wander into the library looking for something to read. Do it all year long. By the end of the year (and probably sooner), the message will have sunk into the kids. That’s consistent messaging.
Next week: I’ll give you a four-step plan for repurposing any piece of content you create across multiple channels without losing your consistent, core message. (Yes, it can be done!)
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. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Not long ago, I read the results of a new survey. It kind of blew my mind.
Orbitz Media asked content creators about the amount of time they spend blogging. They found the average blog post now takes 3 hours and 57 minutes to write. That’s up 65 percent from 2014! The same survey shows 52 percent of bloggers report that it’s getting harder to get readers to engage with their content. WOW.
We live in a world dominated by a relentless and never-ceasing stream of content. But libraries can’t just turn off our content communications streams. Our very existence depends on our ability to educate the public about what we offer. We use our content to convince people to use the library.
So, what’s the solution, when your library staff is overworked, and your audience is oversaturated? Be more efficient.
There is a way to make your work stretch further and get your communication into the world. You can do this by republishing your content.
What is republishing content?
When you republish, you take an old press release, blog post, infographic, or video, and update it to include new and relevant information.
If your library has been publishing content for a while, you probably have quite a catalog. Most of it is still useful and relevant! Good content will never go out of style. These “evergreen” pieces of content are opportunities for you to republish.
Republishing content has many advantages for libraries.
It saves you time.
It improves your library’s chances of being found in search. When you improve content in the republishing process, you optimize it to bring it up to today’s best practices for headlines, tags, keywords, and length. That leads to improved search results.
It helps you to fill your editorial calendar when ideas and staff are sparce.
Your audience has changed since your original publish date. You’ve gained new cardholders and fans.
Your audience needs a reminder that you offer certain services.
How do you decide what pieces of content to republish?
Here are some ground rules.
First, take inventory of what you have already. This is called a content audit. Use a spreadsheet or organizational software to write down the blog posts, videos, and other pieces of content you previously published (and start keeping track of the new additions).
In your audit, make note of the following:
The type of content (blog post, press release, video, brochure, etc.)
The original publish date
The original headline
The keywords or tags used in the original piece
The word count or length of the content
The number of views, likes, comments, and shares the content originally received
Now you’re ready to make some decisions. What are your marketing goals? Are you (or your supervisors) looking to drive more people to your library webpage? Are you trying to increase social media engagement? Once you establish your goals, look at your old posts and determine which ones will help you reach those goals.
For example, if you want to drive more people to your webpage, and you have a video about your genealogy databases that drove a lot of traffic to your website at the time it was published, mark the video to be updated. It will likely have the same effect today, particularly if it’s refreshed.
Here’s another example. Let’s say your library director really wants to see likes, shares, and comments increase on your library’s new Instagram account. In your list of old content, you notice a blog post from two years ago about a uniquely themed story time that drove a lot of engagement when you posted it on Facebook. Mark that post to be updated. Chances are, with some careful recrafting, it will create the same kind of audience reaction when the updated version is promoted on Instagram.
Now what?
Once you identify the pieces of content you wish to republish, it’s time to update those pieces. Here’s a checklist of options for updating your content.
Are the statistics still relevant?
Are the links and resources still available?
Are quotes still relevant?
Are there new keywords or tags to add?
Can you freshen up the headline?
Do you need to adjust the original length of the piece to make it longer or shorter, based on current best practices?
Can you add a poll, a survey, or a comment section to enhance the content experience?
If your original piece of content requires no changes, you can republish it in its original form. Make a note at the beginning to let your readers or viewers know that you’ve republished it without changing it. You might say, “Here’s a popular blog post you may have missed” or “Here’s something from our archives.” Include the original post date for full transparency.
Have you republished content? What were the results? Share your experience in the comments.
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.
Angela answers a viewer question from a viewer who asked, “Is it okay to post non-library content on your library’s social media accounts?”
Also Kudos to Starkville Public Library in Starkville, Mississippi. See why Angela loves their storytime videos.
What did you think of this episode? Are you struggling with marketing and promotion right now? Do you have a nominee for the Kudos segment? Drop a comment below!
And subscribe to this series to get a new video tip for libraries each week! Thanks for watching.
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 