More libraries are receiving Instagram collaboration requests. But figuring out which partnerships make sense isn’t always easy.
Some collaborations can expand your reach and strengthen community connections. Others may feel off-brand, unclear, or difficult to evaluate.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I share four questions to help you decide when your library should accept an Instagram collaboration request, how to protect your brand, and how to recognize opportunities that are genuinely worth pursuing.
Plus, a library marketer receives kudos for their work transforming their library’s connection to the community.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
In this post, you will learn:
Emotion drives action. People are more likely to act on your library marketing if it makes them feel something.
Real stories on video don’t need to be polished. Authentic patron and staff experiences are some of the most effective marketing tools libraries have, and all you need is a cell phone!
Emotional marketing is not manipulation. When done ethically, storytelling helps communities understand the real impact of library services.
A few years ago, a library patron accused my library marketing team of “manipulating emotions.”
Honestly? She wasn’t wrong. We absolutely wanted people to feel something!
At the time, my library was building support for a facilities plan. Several of our historic Carnegie branches were not accessible to people with disabilities, and we knew we needed the community to understand why modernization mattered.
So we told a real story. We interviewed a veteran who physically could not enter the branch library in his own neighborhood.
We shared his experience in a short video campaign designed to help our community see the problem through a human lens instead of through budget spreadsheets and building reports.
After we published the video, one viewer messaged us: “How dare you manipulate my emotions and try to make me feel sorry for this guy?”
My response then — and now — is this:
Libraries should never apologize for telling meaningful stories.
Why Emotional Marketing Works for Libraries
One of the biggest mistakes libraries make in marketing is assuming facts alone will persuade people. We think that if we simply explain our services clearly enough, people will understand our value.
But audiences don’t make decisions based purely on logic. They make decisions based on emotion and then use facts to justify those feelings later. That’s especially true on social media, where algorithms reward content that sparks reactions, conversations, shares, and engagement.
People engage with content when it makes them feel:
Hopeful
Inspired
Seen
Empathy for someone else
Proud of their community
Connected to something bigger than themselves
That emotional response is what moves someone from passive scrolling to active engagement. And here is more good news.
Libraries Already Have Powerful Stories
You do not need a massive budget or a professional production crew to create emotional marketing. You already have the raw material.
Every library has:
A teen who found belonging through programs
A job seeker who got help building a resume
A parent who found support during a difficult season
A senior who depends on library staff for connection
A child who discovered a love of reading
A staff member who went above and beyond for someone
These stories are your most effective marketing!
Too often, libraries default to promotional language like:
“Register now!”
“Check out our new database!”
“Join us Tuesday!”
But audiences connect more deeply with:
“This program helped me make friends after moving here.”
“The library gave me confidence during my job search.”
“I didn’t feel alone anymore.”
That’s the difference between information and impact.
Emotional Marketing Is Ethical When It’s Honest
There’s an important distinction between emotional storytelling and emotional manipulation.
Manipulation relies on exaggeration, fear tactics, or dishonesty.
Ethical emotional marketing tells true stories that help audiences better understand real community needs and real library impact.
Libraries are uniquely positioned to do this well because our work genuinely changes lives every day. If your library helped someone succeed, feel safer, feel connected, or solve a problem, sharing that story is not exploitation. It’s advocacy.
The Best Way to Capture Emotion: Video
Video remains one of the most effective formats for emotional storytelling because audiences can hear tone, see facial expressions, and connect with people “face to face.”
But here’s the good news: your videos do not need to look cinematic! Some of the most effective library videos are filmed on a phone. What counts is not the production. It’s the authentic conversations.
If you want to start gathering emotional stories, try interviewing:
Loyal patrons
Volunteers
Staff members
Program attendees
Community partners
Ask open-ended questions like:
What’s your favorite memory involving the library?
How has the library impacted your life?
What would your community lose if the library disappeared tomorrow?
Tell me about a moment when the library helped you unexpectedly.
Why does this library matter to you personally?
Then stop talking and let them tell the story.
Don’t Forget Your Staff Stories
Library staff are often an untapped source of emotional content.
Staff members witness transformation every day:
helping someone apply for benefits,
finding the perfect book for a struggling reader,
assisting someone through a difficult life transition,
or creating a welcoming space for people who need connection.
Those stories matter.
Some of the best questions to ask staff include:
Tell me about a patron interaction you’ll never forget.
What moment made you proud to work at the library?
What keeps you motivated in this work?
What’s something the public doesn’t always see about library service?
These interviews can become:
Short social videos
Newsletter features
Website testimonials
Annual report stories
Posters and digital signage
Advocacy campaign content
One good story can fuel months of marketing content.
The Hidden Benefit of Emotional Marketing
Something interesting happens when libraries start telling emotional stories consistently: More stories start showing up.
When we launched our own customer impact video series years ago, staff and patrons immediately began sharing additional experiences with us.
People wanted to participate because they felt recognized and connected.
That’s one of the most powerful outcomes of storytelling: It builds community identity. People stop seeing the library as just a building or service provider and start seeing it as something deeply personal and valuable.
Final Thoughts
Libraries are emotional spaces. They represent hope, opportunity, safety, curiosity, nostalgia, belonging, education, and community.
Trying to market libraries without emotion is like trying to market music without sound.
So no, libraries should not feel guilty for creating marketing that makes people “feel all the feels.”
That emotional connection is often exactly what inspires people to support, advocate for, fund, and engage with the library in the first place.
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There’s something that should feel completely obvious about libraries. But lately, it almost feels radical to say out loud: libraries are book experts.
Libraries build trust and relevance when they actively help patrons discover books, authors, and reading experiences, not just access materials.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I explore what it means for libraries to reclaim that role and why leaning into book expertise could be one of the most powerful library marketing strategies we have.
Plus, a library is nominated for kudos for its inventive short-form video!
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
A new study suggests that kids are reading less. And while that trend is concerning, it also creates an important opportunity for libraries!
At a time when families, educators, and communities are worried about literacy and reading habits, libraries are uniquely positioned to become part of the solution.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I break down what the research says, why it matters for libraries, and how you can use these insights to strengthen your library marketing and support literacy in your community.
Plus, kudos go to a group of libraries that received press coverage that you can emulate!
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
If you’re sharing your Instagram posts to Stories to boost reach, you’re not alone. But it may not be helping you in the way you think!
According to Instagram’s head, this common tactic doesn’t actually increase reach the way many marketers assume.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I break down what’s really happening with the Instagram algorithm, what this means for library marketing, and what you should do instead to make sure your posts are seen and engaged with.
Plus, a kudos nomination comes in for a library that’s busting myths about libraries!
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
How do you prove your library marketing is working without tracking everything your patrons do?
It’s a challenge many library marketers face. You’re expected to show results, but the usual tools and tactics don’t always fit.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I share a few meaningful metrics you can use to demonstrate impact while still respecting patron privacy.
Plus, we’ll give kudos to a library in the UK for their unusual “outreach librarian!”
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library
In this post, I walked you through what branding really means in a library: It’s the consistent experience people have every time they interact with you.
Now comes the harder question: How do you actually make that happen across an entire library system? Believe me, I know what a struggle this can be!
The Real Problem Isn’t Branding. It’s Alignment.
Most library marketers I work with tell me they struggle with branding because the library system is very siloed. Libraries are collaborative by nature but decentralized in structure.
Staff with different backgrounds and comfort levels with marketing
So people do what they think is best in the moment. And over time, that creates inconsistency.
Each department and branch creates its own promotional materials
Messaging varies depending on who writes it
Tone and style vary depending on who writes it
No one is intentionally trying to dilute the brand. But no one is working from the same playbook, either.
The Fix: Give Staff Clarity, Not Control
Here’s where many branding efforts go off track. Leadership tries to “fix” inconsistency by:
Locking down templates
Requiring approvals for everything
Centralizing all marketing decisions
That might create consistency. But it also creates bottlenecks, frustration, and disengagement. It also lowers staff morale, because it appears that leaders don’t trust branch or department staff to do their jobs.
Instead, what staff really need is clarity.
The 2 Things Every Staff Member Needs to Know
If you want your entire library to create promotion using one brand, every staff member, regardless of their role, should be able to answer these two questions:
1. Who Are We?
I’m not talking about reciting your mission statement. I’m talking about your library’s personality, tone, and voice.
Are you:
Friendly and conversational?
Educational and authoritative?
Playful and creative?
If staff don’t understand this, they’ll default to their own voice.
2. Who Are We Talking To?
Your audience is not everyone. I know that’s so hard to understand when you’re working in an organization that aims to serve everyone.
But when you are working on promotions, you have to target a specific audience. So, your staff must be trained to think in specifics.
Who are they hoping to see come through the door as a result of their promotion? Are they looking for:
Parents of young children?
Job seekers?
Lifelong learners?
Teens looking for a place to belong?
Some other target audience?
When staff can identify the specific people they are trying to reach, their messaging becomes more consistent — naturally
How to Communicate Your Brand to Staff
Your library doesn’t need a 40-page brand guide. Most libraries only need a simpledocument that includes:
1. Voice Traits (3–5 words)
These are the personality descriptors that guide how your library “sounds” in writing. For example:
For example, if your library decides its personality descriptor is “helpful, clear, approachable, and trustworthy,” you can tell staff that instead of saying, “Patrons must return materials by the due date“, you’ll say, “Just a heads up… return your items by the due date to avoid any fees.”
2. Visual Guidelines (colors, fonts, image style)
These define how your library looks visually across every tactic and channel, including social media, flyers, signage, and your website.
For example, your library might have three colors in your brand palette. Each color likely represents a feeling or emotion that you want your community to experience when they encounter materials from your library.
Let your staff know about the intentionality of your color palette by explaining each color’s associated emotion, like this:
Primary: Deep blue (trust, stability). We use this color for promotions about our hours and policies.
Secondary: Bright orange (energy, engagement). We use this color for promotions that include a call to action, like signing up or registering for a program.
Neutral: Light gray or cream. This color provides us with a clean background for promotions.
Set guidelines for font use. Be sure to lay out which font staff should use for headlines, body text, or as an accent font for special promotions for kids’ programming, summer reading, or other big programs.
Finally, give staff clear direction about the use of photos in your promotions. You may want to indicate that all photos must depict real patrons in one of your branches. (Check out this post about how to do a “stock photo day” to build your library’s cache of photos.)
If photos of real community members are not an option, let staff know what kind of stock photos they may use. For example, you may set guidelines that all staff photos must include:
Warm, candid, natural lighting
Diverse, inclusive representation
Focus on interaction (reading, attending programs, using spaces)
Coming Next
Now that you know how to align your team, there’s one more big challenge.
How do you create a consistent voice and look without making everything feel rigid and templated?
Your job is not to control every piece of marketing. Your job is to:
Set the direction
Define the brand clearly
Equip your team to execute
That’s what we’ll tackle in Part 3, which will publish on May 11.
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:
Running social media for a library is challenging. Running it alone is something else entirely.
A viewer recently asked how one person is supposed to handle it all — and it’s a question many library marketers are quietly asking.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I share strategies to help you stay consistent, reduce overwhelm, and focus your efforts where they’ll have the biggest impact.
Plus, we’ll share kudos for a library that received a huge shout-out from a major author in a major magazine.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
You might be writing the same great library emails, but getting very different results lately.
That’s because email platforms like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook are changing how messages are delivered and displayed, with AI playing a bigger role than ever.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I walk through what these changes mean and how to adjust your email marketing strategy to keep reaching your audience.
Plus, a library nominates their neighboring organization for kudos… find out why!
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 