I’m not sure this is healthy for me. Still, I’ve been thinking about Facebook organic reach a lot lately. I’ve been wondering: Does it make any sense for libraries to post organically to Facebook anymore?
I think there are some hard truths about Facebook that we need to work through. We’re going to do it in this episode of the Library Marketing Show.
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:
This holiday week, I wanted to ensure you are set up for success in promoting your library in 2025. These are the most popular Super Library Marketing posts from the past year that you may have missed. (We’re all so busy!)
Most Popular Super Library Marketing Articles of 2024
I hope you are looking forward to 2025 as much as I am. We’ll be tackling new library marketing and promotion subjects. Plus I have lots of library profiles on the calendar. You’ll be hearing advice from libraries just like yours. As always, I welcome your suggestions about topics you want to cover. Happy New Year!!
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:
Does your library need to delete old events from your Facebook account? It’s a great question that came in from a viewer. I’ve got three questions to ask yourself before you hit the “delete” button in this episode.
Plus we’ll give kudos to a library with a fantastic YouTube short that puts a library spin on an iconic sporting event.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And 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 on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
About 10 miles north of the northernmost coast of Scotland lay an archipelago or chain of islands called Orkney. The islands surround Neolithic sites dating back 5,000 years with tall sandstone cliffs and colonies of seals. Archeological evidence shows that humans have lived on the island for nearly 9,000 years.
That’s where John Peterson lives and works. He has managed social media for Orkney Library & Archive since 2017.
The library is one of the oldest public libraries in Scotland, dating back to 1683. These days, the Orkney library has two physical locations, a mobile library, and serves a population of about 22,000 people.
“Orkney is a very rural community with a lot of farming and agriculture,” explains John. “And of course, we’re an island so we’re surrounded by the sea and have a lot of maritime history, particularly from the 20th Century and the World Wars.”
The Orkney library may be remote, but it has fans worldwide. In fact, one of my readers nominated this library for a profile, saying “I love their use of social media and how they got such a small library on the world map.”
“We’re a very small organization and so we don’t have a marketing team or anything like that,” says John. “We just try to share what we’re doing with our followers on social media and have a bit of fun as we go along.”
“We use social media as a way of sharing what’s happening in the library and the archive and what we do every day. It’s a good way of showing off Orkney and what it is to be a library and archive service in the 21st century.”
“It has its challenges sometimes but it’s probably still our favourite as a way of telling stories and making fun posts or threads,” explains John. “For us, it has been a great way of communicating an idea with a few words and pictures. Our Twitter following is approximately 4 times the entire population we serve.”
“Instagram is our newest platform, but it has a growing audience, and we get a lot of nice feedback.”
“The platforms work differently, so we often have to tweak the posts slightly to suit each. Often, we post on Twitter first and then on to the other two platforms.”
When John sees a particularly effective post, he builds on that success by sharing the same kind of content his audience is responding to. But he admits that, like most of you, he’s sometimes baffled by what does and doesn’t work!
“We post different kinds of content,” explains John. “But they usually involve books, archives, or old photographs.”
Today is #TolkienReadingDay so we're in the hobbit of letting folk boromir #Tolkien Books than usual. We're not being smaug but we're a library and it's good to shire. So come along and baggins yourself some books. 📚
“Sometimes a post takes off far better than you expected and other times a post that you thought was interesting or funny doesn’t get much engagement. There is a whole load of reasons for that and it’s important not to get too disheartened if something doesn’t work.”
“Of course when a post doesn’t work it could be that the idea wasn’t good or wasn’t communicated well enough. But often it is just a case of timing – wrong time, wrong day, it didn’t get the retweets to send it further across the platform, etc. You could post the same post at two different times and get totally different responses.”
Try to post good content and try to post regularly – but not too much. Not every post can be funny or interesting. But try to make sure that some of them are so people have a reason to follow you.
Try to make it interesting. Don’t just do what everyone else is doing, and don’t rely on sharing content from other accounts.
Try to write your own stuff and find your own voice.
Pay attention to what works for you and then do more of it. Listen to feedback, good and bad – it’ll help you to do more of what people like and less of what they don’t.
Don’t be controversial and try to avoid politics.
Concentrate on what makes your library or organization different from everyone else and try to use those things to build your own presence and identity.
Look around you. Spot opportunities for good content. The more you do it the easier it gets.
Find some libraries on social media and follow them, no matter where they are in the world. They don’t have to be the famous places you’re always hearing about to be worth following. Anybody can be worth following if they post good, interesting content – even small local libraries on remote islands. Find some libraries and archives, museums and galleries, and give them a follow. You’ll be glad you did.
In one of our archive strong rooms there is a shelf. The shelf does not contain the most exciting or interesting item in the archive but it does contain something amazing.
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:
There’s some exciting new advice on how to create engagement on your library’s Facebook page. The 8 new tips are in this episode of the Library Marketing Show.
Plus kudos goes to an academic librarian who recently received a huge award!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And 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. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Not long ago, I got back in the social media game posting for the company I work for, NoveList. Very quickly, I remembered how difficult it is to get organic reach on regular Facebook feed posts!
But then I learned two little tricks that take me about 30 seconds a day. They work! So I’m going to share them with you in this episode
Plus, kudos go to a library that got national press coverage for an initiative to get people back into their physical branches.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And 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. 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 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:
TikTok or Reels. Which one is better for library marketing?
I came across some new research that will help you determine where to spend your precious energy and time on library marketing. The answer is revealed in this episode.
Plus, kudos go to a library that showed authenticity when it made a mistake on New Year’s Day!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And 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. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
How many spam Facebook messages have your library’s Facebook page gotten? Lately, they’ve been downright scary.
They tell you that your account is at risk of being suspended because you’re violating regulations. They make it seem like your library has done something wrong and they try to pressure you to respond. And they are a security risk.
I’ve learned a technique to stop these messages. I’ve used it on NoveList’s Facebook account and it works.
I’ll show you exactly how to do it in this episode.
Plus, kudos go to a library from a library marketer who admires their work.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And 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. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 