What do the big retail giants know about consumer behavior that libraries should also know? I’ll share some brand-new insights with you in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus, I’ll give kudos to a library with a YouTube playlist that’s causing my TBR to balloon!
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
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You may have noticed, but QR codes are everywhere these days. A new report has just been released, packed with information on how to use QR codes to enhance your library’s marketing effectiveness.💡 So…
I’m going to share that new data with you in this episode of the Library Marketing Show! Plus, we’ll give kudos to a library with a brilliant strategy for sharing stories of connection and library impact.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? 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:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Where I live, the air is thick and humid right now, the fault of something called “corn sweat.” That’s the process of corn plants releasing moisture into the atmosphere through transpiration, similar to how humans sweat. My friend from my TV days, meteorologist John Gumm, says the corn crop in my area is releasing billions of gallons of water daily. Fun, right?
To cool off, I swim laps at the local YMCA. And underwater, I have a lot of time to think. Lately, I’ve been using that time to figure out how to help my library friends prepare for what will come when the weather turns cooler.
In the United States, the full ramifications of the loss of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and its funding will hit in September. For libraries in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, funding cuts and intellectual freedom challenges are making work more difficult and threatening the core mission of libraries.
Longtime readers may already know that I’m not the kind of person who says, “There’s nothing I can do about it” very often. Action is how I deal with my anxiety. So, here’s the plan of library marketing action for the coming months.
The Big Problems We Face
Library marketers face a lot of obstacles. But in the coming months, the big threats are:
Decline or elimination of funding for libraries, which leads to…
No money for marketing or promotions, which impacts the effectiveness of our marketing, making it seem like marketing is no longer valuable. That often leads to…
Hiring freezes or the elimination of dedicated library marketing staff, which leads to…
Less use of the library, which leads to…
More funding cuts and library closures.
We do not want to get caught in that vicious circle.
What Library Marketers Need to Do
1. Lead with your value.
As we face the prospect of shrinking budgets and rising scrutiny, your library’s value must be front and center. And you must create a plan that communicates that value clearly and consistently, not just during certain times of the year like Library Works Week or National Book Month, but all year long.
Use every channel you have to reinforce how your library improves lives. Share patron success stories, promote your most-used services, and highlight how your library supports literacy, learning, and community connection.
2. Focus on the most cost-effective promotions.
We still have a good many low-cost, high-impact channels for promotions. But focus is the key.
This fall, I want my library marketing friends to spend their time and precious money on the following:
Email marketing: This is still one of the most effective tools for engagement. Targeted, opt-in messages are the most effective means of communication, with no algorithm to circumvent. So, get a plan together to grow your subscriber list now. And, as you put your emails together, think of them as a conversation between you and your audience. Try to keep your messages short and enticing. And offer your email recipients a way to email you back with feedback and questions. It will make them feel valued, and that feedback will make your messages stronger and more effective.
Collection marketing: Books are the heart of what you do. And we know most people come to the library for the collection. Don’t shy away from books! They’re your brand. Promote your books, databases, and digital resources through curated lists, displays, and themed promotions.
Strategic partnerships: Work with local organizations to amplify your reach without spending more money. Partnerships can take time to cultivate, but the investment is worth it. Your partners can strengthen your library’s offerings and give you access to audiences you’ve never reached before.
Organic social media: I put this last because of my mixed feelings about it. Social media effectiveness overall is declining. But posts that tell stories, highlight staff, or have some kind of interactive element like a poll or question, do boost visibility. So don’t use your social media accounts to highlight programs. I know that’s going to be upsetting to some readers, but the data shows it doesn’t work. Instead, think of your social media as an effective way to build relationships and reinforce your library’s personality.
3. Make it easy for new users to engage.
The moment someone signs up for a library card is critical for library marketing. It’s your first chance to make a good impression and use that person’s “new cardholder” status to convert them to a lifelong fan! You should:
Create a “New Here?” section on your website with the same information as the email series.
In those emails and on that website section, highlight services that are easy to access and immediately useful, like eBooks, streaming movies or music, or personalized reading recommendations.
4. Empower your front-line staff.
Your staff are your best ambassadors. Train them to talk about services, recommend materials, and encourage sign-ups for newsletters or events. Give them talking points so they can highlight personalized services like readers’ advisory, chat reference, and book bundles. These human touches build loyalty and word-of-mouth buzz and reinforce the message that your library is filled with helpful people.
5. Track what matters — and act on it.
No more excuses… stop doing what doesn’t work, even if it’s something you’ve always done. That means:
If your supervisor pushes back, ask them to message me. Seriously.
6. Experiment.
All marketing is an experiment. And some people shy away from experimentation during tough times. But now is the perfect time to try innovative approaches!
Try sending your videos in an email to see if you get more views.
Launch a blog or podcast.
Pilot a new format for your newsletter.
Test a new tone or voice in your messaging.
7. Streamline your approval process.
If internal red tape is slowing you down, advocate for a more efficient workflow. There are a lot of things you can do to make the approval process less painful,
Use templates to speed up content creation.
Set clear deadlines and expectations.
Build trust with leadership by showing how faster approvals lead to better results.
What are you doing to prepare your library and yourself for the challenges ahead? Let me know in the comments.
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Six years ago, I began recording short videos offering library marketing tips as a way to share what I’ve learned and improve my public speaking skills.
With 300 episodes under my belt (!!), I still enjoy doing this every week, all thanks to you. To mark the occasion, I’m going to share five secrets about The Library Marketing Show that I’ve never revealed before!
I want to sincerely thank you, my friends. You’re my people. I think you’re pretty darn wonderful. Thanks for welcoming me into your work life.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? 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:
Photo courtesy of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
It’s not surprising that Tina Walker Davis and her communications team at Deschutes Public Library in Bend, Oregon, have a robust and interesting video strategy for YouTube. Tina, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and graduated from Washington State University, has a previous career as a television anchor and reporter.
“I left journalism to go into marketing and communications and owned my own marketing business for 10 years until I made the financially disastrous decision to open an independent bookstore,” explains Tina. “While the bookstore didn’t pan out, it did enmesh me in the literary community here, including the library system.”
Tina took a job at the library in 2012 in event planning and coordination. Now she’s Communications Manager for the library. She manages four people, including a Graphic Design Coordinator and Dana O’Connell, Keifer McCool, and Michael Rivera, who are all Digital Communications Coordinators.
“Michael almost exclusively does video work, and Dana and Kiefer both manage social media,” says Tina. “Dana also does all of our Spanish-language communications. I’ve told the team many times that I’ve never worked with such a collaborative group.”
“We have bi-weekly brainstorming sessions that are so fun. There’s no agenda. It’s just a time for us to come together and talk about what we’re seeing, what we’re excited about, and generally throw some spaghetti at the wall. A lot of our best content was conceptualized in those brainstorming meetings.”
Deschutes Public Library’s YouTube channel was already up and running when Tina began her job. At first, Tina’s team used it to share story time videos and videos of their marquee events, as well as a Why We Love the Library series in 2016 and 2017. At the end of 2019, they had 265 subscribers.
Then COVID hit. Like most libraries, Deschutes Public Library pivoted to online programs and saw its subscriber count grow to 14,500 at the time of this writing.
When Tina hired Michael in 2022, he “brought a wealth of professional video production experience—just phenomenal skills in shooting and editing, but also a fantastic eye and ear for storytelling,” exclaims Tina.
“I don’t know if it’s my background in journalism, but I’ve always believed in the power of stories to do the work that we can sometimes struggle to do in marketing.”
“We can run ads telling people how great the library is, but it’s so much more impactful when it comes from real people who truly believe in the power of libraries to change lives.”
-Tina Walker Davis
Dana says the library’s strategy, when it comes to producing videos for YouTube, is to strike a balance between the information the community needs to know about the library and fun or trending content.
“Everyone who comes into the library has a story,” explains Dana. “Some of our human-interest pieces come from referrals by our public services staff, in the form of kudos from our online web form, or a chance meeting while in one of our branches.”
“Staff, volunteers, and customers offer the chance to talk about the library in a unique voice where we aren’t necessarily promoting a product or service. For me, it’s about having a touch point with a customer and listening to what excites them about the library; no two answers are the same.”
“One thing we do every time someone is interviewed for a video, regardless of the topic, is to ask, ‘Why are libraries important?’” adds Tina. “The answer to that question is evergreen. We can pull the answer and use it along for a series of shorts, turn it into a graphic quote for social, or string together several answers for a stand-alone piece.”
Dana and Kiefer shoot and edit the short-form, vertical format for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube shorts. Michael uses videography equipment to do the longer-form and documentary-style videos.
“But rarely do they work alone,” explains Tina. “They’re writing together, and often Dana or Kiefer will act as Michael’s grip during shoots and take care of the interview portions. Michael is definitely a dedicated videographer, but it’s truly a team effort between the three of them—and it’s magical.”
All videos from Deschutes Public Library have captions for accessibility and clarity. They also have video thumbnails featuring a branded, consistent look. That helps to capture the attention of scrollers while making sure viewers know this content comes from the library.
“When I choose the image(s), I’m looking for a visually pleasing frame that tells the viewer just enough to pique their interest without giving away too much of the story,” reveals Michael. “The best images will also have some clean space in the frame that the title will naturally fall into.”
“The title in the thumbnail usually doesn’t match the video title, and that’s on purpose. The main title is always clear and matter-of-fact, while the thumbnail title often uses one of the most impactful quotes in the story. The key here is to be concise to maximize the size of the text in the frame, so the titles are usually no more than six words.”
Deschutes Public Library doesn’t rely on pure chance to get views on its videos. They promote them!
“Our flagship eNewsletter has 55,000 subscribers, and we’ll sometimes link to videos from the newsletter,” says Tina. “We embed some videos on our website. In particular, we’ve used our videos on our website to help inform the public about our bond projects.”
“I also do some paid promotion of videos on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram if I can see that a monetary ad boost is needed and will help us really target our Deschutes County residents.”
“So, with all that said, our investment in YouTube as a platform was very organic. It started slowly, but we saw real growth. But nothing happens on YouTube alone in terms of storytelling. Anything that is shared there is also pushed out on Instagram and Facebook, and some also make their way to TikTok if they’re humorous or have that viral potential.”
Tina and her team say the videos help boost awareness of the library and its services, and they’ve received a wealth of positive community feedback.
“Our recent viral video — where our director, Todd Dunkelberg, is giving a Gen Z-inspired tour of the new Redmond Library — was a great community experience. Between Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, we are now close to 5 million views on that video. But what I loved seeing was locals commenting amongst folks from across the country and the world — the locals took so much pride in claiming the library as their own (‘That’s MY library!’).”
“And Todd became a little local celebrity after it, with folks coming up to him in the community and telling him how much they loved the video. We immediately jumped on the ‘Slay’ and ‘So Julia’ lines and created stickers with the characters Todd points to in the video, and those were really popular with our customers.”
For inspiration, Tina and her team often look inside and outside the library world.
“I’m guilty of being an Instagram reels scroller,” confesses Tina. “My brain often goes to, ‘Could we put a spin on that?’ Often in our brainstorming sessions, we’ll bring forward videos that we’ve seen over the past two weeks, share them with the team, and see if there’s something we can do along those lines.”
“Library systems are really growing into their own niche on social. They’re funny, sometimes irreverent. People really enjoy watching library folks, who are perhaps historically thought of as buttoned up, be funny.”
– Tina Walker Davis
Tina says the key factors in the success of the library’s video marketing strategy are her talented team and library leadership that believes in the power of communication.
“I know that for a lot of libraries across the county, being able to spend this kind of time on video work is an absolute luxury,” says. Tina. “I feel very fortunate to not only have the trust from our leadership to do that work, but also lucky to work with a team of communications professionals who are passionate about the work and the message.”
“The goal is to remind our customers, the taxpayers who make the library’s work possible, that the library is here for them, in whatever way they may need, from checking out a book to finding a job. We’re here to meet people where they are and make their lives better.”
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Did you know that there are seven places inside your library building where you could be promoting your library and have a perfectly captive audience? You’ll look like a genius! I’m going to reveal the list in this episode of the Library Marketing Show.
Plus, we’ll give kudos to a library that used a book display to help the community understand the threat of anti-library legislation.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? 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:
Have you ever wondered how your community discovers books? Here’s a spoiler alert…
It’s not just on your shelves! A new study explores the discovery habits for books in Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. I’ll give you the highlights and three smart marketing tips for each area that you can do to promote your collection in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus, we’ll give kudos to a library for a program that promotes Freedom to Read without being partisan or political.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? 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:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
We are now firmly in the second half of the calendar year. I don’t know about you, but when I worked in a library, this was the time I usually started to “drag” a little. I was tired and uninspired. (Hey, that rhymes!) I needed a little boost… someone to remind me to focus on what was important.
I’m here for you. These are the eight things I want you to focus on as you move into the next six months. This is also a great post to share with new hires who work on library promotions. The eight principles listed below are the most valuable tips I can offer to help you center your work and find direction.
And I’m curious… do you think I missed anything in this list? Add your guiding principles to the comments!
8 Tips to Focus Your Library Promotions
1. Plan ahead — don’t just react.
This is my number one tenet because so many of the library staff members I work with say they feel like order takers! They are asked by different departments and branches to promote the things that are important to those people, which allows no time to create a strategic library marketing calendar or campaign that supports the library’s overall goals.
Effective marketing is proactive, not reactive. You want your promotions to be holistic, covering all the channels where your target audience is located (see item #4). List the goals you want to achieve over the next six months, and create holistic campaigns. Before you know it, you’ll have a full editorial calendar.
And I know this might sound scary, but be transparent. Share your calendar with the rest of your coworkers. Inform them of the overall goals and provide them with regular updates on the content you share and the results you are achieving. At the end of the year, let everyone know how you did.
This will help educate your coworkers about marketing! Many of them probably think marketing is reactive. They don’t know how much planning and coordination go into an effective campaign.
2. Promote the benefits, not the features.
Listen, I know this one is hard. But your community is looking for a solution to their problems.
So instead of saying, “Use our personalized reader recommendation service”, highlight how your service solves real problems, like helping readers to find the right books for them (because, let’s be honest, there are SO many good books out there!), or helping readers who feel like they’re stuck in a rut, reading the same things over and over again.
You want your readers to think of the library, not Google or Goodreads, as the best place to find a book.
3. Tell more stories of how the library impacts lives.
User-centered storytelling, like Loyola Marymount’s Library Fans video series, connects emotionally with users and shows the library’s impact on real lives. These stories are more memorable than stats or service lists.
Storytelling helps your community to see how others are using the library and imagine how they might use the library too!
4. Meet your audience where they are.
Use the channels your patrons prefer. And remember, you don’t have to be on every channel. You just need to be on the right ones.
The channels you choose should match the preferences of your primary audience segments.
Teens and college students? Think TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
Parents and caregivers? Facebook groups and email are the best way to reach this audience.
Adults over age 65? In-person outreach and local newspapers or printed newsletters can be most effective.
Most importantly, don’t try to build an audience on the channels your patrons don’t use. How do you know which channels your audience prefers? Use metrics (see #8) and surveys to pinpoint where your energy will be best spent.
5. Consistency builds brand recognition and affinity.
At the Fourth of July parade two weeks ago, I instantly recognized the library’s entry coming down the street, even without my glasses. How? The color scheme of their banner and vehicle! (As an aside, I was sitting right in front of one of the branches, and the cheering that rose from the crowd when the library drove by warmed my heart.)
You can have the same impact. Use your brand logos, color palettes, and tone across channels. Patrons should instantly recognize your library’s content, whether it’s on a digital sign, flyer, or Instagram Story.
I know this seems like a constraint to some of my more creative readers, but the discipline pays off with instant brand recognition.
Beyond your brand colors and logo, remember to name your services clearly and tie all services to your library (e.g., “Consumer Reports from Maple Tree Library”).
6. Empower your advocates.
Your best marketing tool might be your most loyal library users. Feature them in campaigns and encourage user-generated content. When your superfans talk about how much they love the library and how it impacts their lives, people will listen!
Encourage staff to promote programs on their own social media (with branded templates or messaging prompts).
And provide your Friends group or foundation with a marketing kit: shareable graphics, key talking points, and event blurbs.
7. Always be repurposing.
Library marketers are asked to create a lot of content! Just like you may do in your home, you can reuse and recycle some of that content to help ease your workload and ensure your best content is seen on multiple channels. You can do that by:
Repurposing blog posts, newsletters, and program guides into social media snippets, videos, or infographics. Share this content with local media and community partners.
Turning book displays into short videos for social media by adding trending audio and creative elements like stickers.
Clipping moments from author talks or storytimes for Instagram Stories, YouTube Shorts, or TikTok videos.
Breaking down long blog posts into carousel posts or pull quotes for your homepage, digital signs, or social media posts.
8. Measure what matters.
Your metrics are key to guiding your marketing strategy. And listen, I’m the first person to admit I can easily go down the rabbit hole of data and measure everything.
But my boss coaches me to only spend time measuring the things I need to help make the decisions that will guide my future library marketing actions. That means I don’t obsess over likes and followers.
Instead, I track engagement metrics like watch time on videos, shares of social media posts, and read time on blog articles. I also urge you to use UTM codes like Bit.ly and Google Analytics to track campaign sources, so you know which channels are driving traffic to your library and which pieces of content resonate most with your community.
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Meta is, once again, making it more difficult to promote your library on Facebook and Instagram. I’m going to give you the latest social media update on this and show you one tiny little workaround that may or may not help you, depending on how you manage your social media. That’s all ahead in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus, kudos go to a library that was the site of a serendipitous experience for a local reporter!
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? 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:
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 