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I Spent 3 Hours in a Room Full of Curious and Committed Library Staff: Here Are the 4 Things I Learned From Them!

Teenagers and young people in the 1950s in a library. Some are sitting at a table looking at magazines, while others search through the card catalog.
Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

This past week, I spent three-plus hours in a room with 38 library marketers.

We worked together on all those pieces of library marketing that we don’t normally have time for.

We identified our libraries’ strengths and weaknesses. (My weakness: spelling).

We named our libraries opportunities and threats. We set SMART goals.

We identified our target audiences (hint: your audience is not everyone!). And we talked about measuring promotions to replicate success.

These are the fundamentals of library marketing. These are the building blocks that ensure your marketing will be successful.

This was the first-ever pre-conference workshop for the Library Marketing and Communications Conference, which returned in all its in-person glory. Shoutout to the dozens of readers who took the time to say hello to me!

I told the group that I knew, without a doubt, that I would learn something from them. And I did.

A room full of library marketers, sitting at tables and waving at the camera.
My 38 new best friends

Here are the four things I learned from this fantastic, dedicated, intelligent, creative, and curious set of library marketers.

Library marketers need time to think.

We are all doing too much.

We must make print collateral, send emails, schedule social media posts, attend meetings, make press releases, do outreach events, and then attend more meetings.

I asked almost everyone I met at LMCC how things are going at their library. And I lost track of the number of times the response was, “It’s been a little nuts.”

The idea of setting aside time to consider what is to be done, how it will be done, who will do it, and how it can be more effective, is an entirely foreign concept to most libraries. 

We don’t give our employees the time to work through strategic planning. There is no rest. At many libraries, the marketing is done by librarians who also have other duties. There’s never any time to breathe.

And then we wonder why it’s so difficult to create successful library marketing and communications.

That happens because we never take the time to do all the fundamental work that is necessary to ensure our marketing is effective. We’re building houses without foundations.

So, the workshop gave these library marketers permission to ignore email, text messages, chats, and outside distractions. They got three hours to focus solely on building the foundations for strong library marketing.

It’s important to create that space for yourself as a library marketer. I know it’s difficult. If you can’t attend a workshop, you can set aside time on your calendar, like you would for a meeting, to do this important background work.

Put your phone in a locked drawer. Turn off your chat program. You can even leave your physical workspace if you need to. When I worked at the Cincinnati Library, I would hide in the stacks when I needed to do this work.😉

Library marketers face the same struggles.

We did a SWOT analysis exercise, where each library marketer identified their library’s strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And then we shared as a group.

How many of these do you recognize as your library’s weaknesses and threats?

  • A marketing team made up of one person, trying to do ALL the promotions
  • Difficulty getting people to take an action, like place a hold or register for a program after they engage with marketing
  • Having too much to do
  • Having no identifiable library branding
  • The approvals process
  • Threats to funding

The list goes on.

During this exercise, the library marketers in the room began to realize that they are not working alone on an island. There are thousands of library staffers out there who understand their struggles because they face those same difficulties. They felt truly seen.

Library marketers have a lot to celebrate.

As much as we struggle to do effective library marketing, we also have many, many, many wins to celebrate. We should be proud of:

  • Our social media engagement
  • Our impactful partnerships
  • The fact that people open and read our emails more than they do for any other industry!
  • We have so much great content to promote.

We don’t do enough celebrations in library marketing. That’s one of the reasons I started giving out Kudos in The Library Marketing Show and began recognizing libraries via #LibraryoftheDay.

You can help. When you see a library doing great marketing work, give them a shoutout on social media. Better yet, email them to let them know you noticed their amazing promotion. You can also nominate a library for Kudos on The Library Marketing Show.

A little bit of celebration goes a long way to boosting morale for library marketing. We can be each other’s cheerleaders!

Library marketers thrive when they have a friend.

Most of the attendees of the pre-conference session told me they are introverts. But when I asked this room full of strangers to pair up, the room got super noisy!

There were smiles. There was laughter. There were conspiratorial looks and nods of understanding. It was magical.

And it occurred to me… sometimes we just need someone who understands our work.

You may be wondering how you can find a library marketer to be friends with. One way is to join the LMCC Discussion Group. You can also join the Library Marketing Book Club.

Or you can message me on LinkedIn. Tell me a little about yourself and I’ll introduce you to a library marketing buddy.

Let’s support and encourage each other. When we work together, we strengthen the library industry and, most importantly, do a better job of providing service to our communities.

More Advice

Stop What You Are Doing! Before You Launch Another Library Event or Service, Take These 5 Steps to Define Your Promotional Strategy

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

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Six Tips to Make the Most of Your Online Experience During Virtual Conference Season

Man walking through the stacks. Photo courtesy The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

In November 2019, a conference changed my life.

I attended the Library Marketing and Communications Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, where I met my future boss, Kathy Lussier of NoveList.

On the first day of the conference, we had breakfast together and started talking. And by the end of the conference, she was texting me a job opening that eventually led to my current position with NoveList.

Conferences can re-frame your professional life. You may find your next new job. You might make a new best friend. You may learn a skill that revolutionizes the way you do your job. At the very least, you’ll hear speakers who inspire, energize, and motivate you.

We’re heading into conference season and this year it’s all virtual. (The Library Advocacy and Funding Conference starts today–if you’re attending, send me a friend request!)

As I learned from attending the American Library Association conference in June, an in-person conference and a virtual conference are not the same.

But you can have a fantastic virtual conference experience with the right preparation. Here are the six things I recommend you do this year before you log on.

Get your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts ready

It’s imperative that you have a LinkedIn and Twitter profile, and that you use them to engage during a virtual conference. Networking is a big part of the conference experience. And since we can’t network in person, these two social media platforms are the easiest and safest way to interact with new friends.

There are several steps you should take to prep your profiles. Once the conference ends, you can always change your profile back!

On LinkedIn, check to make sure that your profile is set to “public.”  To do that, click on your settings and look under “privacy.” This step will make your profile easy to find, especially if you are in the market for a new job opportunity.

Customize your LinkedIn profile URL to include your first and last name. This will make your profile easier to find in search. You can also make this adjustment in settings.

On LinkedIn, ask co-workers, partners, and former colleagues for recommendations. This is especially important if you are job-hunting. You’ll want to give them some time to write their recommendation, so ask as soon as you register for a conference.

Make sure your photo on LinkedIn and Twitter looks as professional as possible and use the same photo for both platforms. LinkedIn says a professional photo will make visitors seven times more likely to visit your profile than picture-free profiles. You can take a great photo yourself! My LinkedIn profile photo is a selfie I took in the backyard at sunset on my iPhone in portrait mode.

Check your header image on both accounts. A meaningful image related to your professional experience can drive home who you are and what you do.

Edit your headlines and your personal details. Include a little about your work and what differentiates you from other people at the conference.

To boost search rankings on Google, include keywords that will appeal to your fellow attendees or the conference hashtag. I’ve also seen people temporarily change their Twitter Profile name to include the conference hashtag for the duration of a conference.

Clear your calendar

My coworkers and I agreed that we made a big mistake when we attended #ALAVirtual20. Most of us accepted meetings during the conference week, even though attending a meeting would interrupt our conference experience.

If you were attending a conference in another city, you would be unavailable for meetings. Adapt that mindset and be intentional about giving yourself the space to focus on your conference experience in a digital setting.

Now, during virtual conferences, I mark myself “out of office” on my Outlook calendar.  And I’m clearing my schedule of other busy work.

Take advantage of pre-recorded sessions

Most virtual conferences offer at least some, if not all, of their sessions on-demand. That can impact which sessions you consume.

For instance, this week’s #LAFCON is completely pre-recorded. In preparation, I went through the sessions and highlighted the ones I want to watch. Then I scheduled them, by name, into my work calendar in one-hour increments. That will help me keep track of my choices, watch sessions in an order that makes sense (I can do all the marketing track sessions back-to-back!) and help me stay focused.

Plan breaks

Of course, you know it’s exhausting to stare at the screen all day. At a real conference, you’d take a break to eat, use the restrooms, get coffee, tour the vendor booths, or maybe just chill for a bit. Try to mimic that self-care routine in a virtual world. Schedule those breaks into your calendar if you must.

Be patient with technology

If there’s one constant with the pandemic, it’s that every online event will experience technical difficulties. Many organizations are using streaming platforms for the first time. There may be bandwidth issues.

Be patient and polite. Before the conference begins, check to see where you can report technical issues or get assistance.

Follow the conference hashtag

This is a great way to get involved and tune in to conversations from your session and from sessions you couldn’t attend. It’s also a networking opportunity. Don’t hesitate to reach out to folks if you liked what they had to say by replying, liking their Tweets, or retweeting them.

Join me at a conference

The event page has returned to the blog. If you’re attending a conference with me, please let me know so we can connect.

You might also find these posts helpful

Experts Reveal the Truth About What Your Library Needs to Do Now to Build Support for the Future

Five Relevant Library Marketing Lessons Learned at the American Library Association Annual Conference (#ALAVirtual20)

Latest Book Reviews

How to Be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking and Listening by Julian Treasure

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

Find more 60-second Book Reviews here.

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Six Truths Learned at #LMCC19 and What They Mean For the Future of Library Marketing

The Future of Library Marketing

Well, that was fun!

I am back from a three-day trip to St. Louis, Missouri, where I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the fifth annual Library Marketing and Communications Conference.

It. Was. Amazing.

I learned stuff, made friends, and I felt supported as I was surrounded by 450 fellow library marketers. Here are the top six things I learned while at this spectacular event.

Library marketers everywhere are struggling with the same problems. We’re all fighting to keep our branding clear and consistent. We’re all stumped about the best way to market programs. We are searching for ways to find success in internal staff communications. And we all feel like we could use more support from senior leadership.

It doesn’t matter if you’re working at a public library or an academic library. It doesn’t matter where your funding comes from. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter how big your staff is! We’re all in the same boat.

Many of the people I talked with at the conference found these problems frustrating. But we also found some comfort in knowing that everyone is facing the same issues.

Library marketers are on the forefront of a major push to make our libraries more diverse, accessible, and inclusive. It seemed like every time I made a new friend, the conversation turned to diversity and inclusion. Library marketers are pushing staff and senior leaders to make service accessible to everyone. They are pushing to make sure people of all backgrounds have a seat at the table when it comes to important decisions. They want to make sure their marketing messages and their library’s service are open to as many members of the community as possible. It’s inspiring! And library marketers are tenacious. So, get ready, because we’re going to be changing things!

Library marketers are obsessed with data. I’m so heartened to see how many of my colleagues are in a constant search for data. They want to make sure their messages are getting to the right audience at the right time, and they’re using data to make sure that happens.

They use data to make the case for libraries to add services and to demonstrate the value and impact of programs and services. They’re using data to make work easier for front-line staff, to understand their current users, to find non-cardholders, and to send targeted messaging in various forms to diverse audiences.  It was fun to be surrounded by fellow data nerds!

Library marketers have conflicting emotions about social media. But they’re no longer afraid! Library marketers of all ages are willing and eager to learn how best to use each platform. but they’re also frustrated because most platforms make it so dang difficult to get any organic reach and don’t seem to have any plans to make life easier for nonprofits and social service agencies.

But we’re not giving up! The session on creating memes was one of the most popular at the conference! The insta-stories session also got a lot of buzz. And at my own session on social media success, I got a lot of in-depth questions from the audience. I also talked to some Gen X library marketers who were eager to learn about “younger” social media platforms like Instagram. I’m a Gen Xer! If I can do it, I have no doubt you can too!

And speaking of social media, one of the weird and frustrating things I’ve noticed about most library conferences is the lack of live-tweets, Facebook, and Instagram posts during the conferences. This was not the case at LMCC! If you were stuck in room sick, as a good friend of mine was, you would have still been able to learn from the attendees who used the hashtag.

The proliferation of social media posts were also helpful for attendees who are torn between attending two sessions. I was able to get a lot of tips from sessions I couldn’t attend by checking the hashtag feed.

And when one of the conference board members asked members to turn on a special LinkedIn feature to connect with other attendees, they did it! I made a lot of new connections.

Library marketers who don’t have a library science degree often feel judged and misunderstood by the librarians in their systems. This was really disheartening. I am lucky in that I don’t think the librarians at my library think less of me because I don’t have a masters in library science (or if they do, they don’t make me feel like they do!).

I spoke with a great many library marketers who came to this profession from journalism or from marketing jobs at big companies and brands. They have a sincere desire to do work that is meaningful and to give back to the community. I hope that librarians will begin to view the marketing staff at their libraries as advocates and partners. We are here to help make sure your work reaches a large audience and to help sustain the library industry by communicating its value to the public and to stakeholders. Let’s work together!

Librarians are too humble and don’t brag enough about the work they do. The clear consensus among library marketing professionals is that humility is holding back the industry.

We’re all working hard to make sure the great work of front-line staff gets noticed, applauded,  and rewarded. This important task is made harder when librarians aren’t willing to talk about what they do. We all agreed that librarians are amazing and their work doesn’t get enough recognition. Let us help with you that!

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 “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  

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