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The 2024 Guide to YouTube for Libraries: Updated Tips To Get the Most Organic Reach

Library employees, including men and women, sorting film canisters in the 1960s.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

This is part of the 2024 series of social media guides for libraries. It includes:

We’ll cover Twitter/X on December 18. Stay tuned!

YouTube for Libraries

YouTube remains the third most popular social media platform for libraries, according to the 2023 Super Library Marketing Survey. I’d like to see that number rise. Here’s why.

If you’re thinking about where to devote your limited video energy, I personally recommend YouTube over Instagram and TikTok. I know that’s not conventional wisdom. It comes from my own personal experience.

My YouTube channel gets higher engagement and has been more effective in reaching my audience and getting them to take action than Instagram or TikTok. In fact, I rarely, if ever, get clicks to my website from TikTok or Instagram.

TikTok and Instagram are great for brand awareness. But if you have tangible marketing goals (and I sure hope you do!), YouTube is your platform.

If you don’t believe me, consider this.

YouTube is the second most visited website in the world, bested only by Google. YouTube gets more website traffic than Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Reddit, Instagram, and Amazon combined!

*according to SEMrush
A successful tutorial video from Jessamine County Public Library posted on YouTube.

How are people using YouTube right now?

Here are some more YouTube statistics to consider, according to Sprout Social.

  • The United States has the second-largest YouTube audience in the world.
  • Adults in the U.S. spend an average of 46 minutes a day on YouTube.
  • 62 percent of YouTube users log onto the platform every single day.
  • 55 percent of U.S. viewers prefer shorter video content over long videos on YouTube.
  • 77 percent of YouTube viewers are between the ages of 15 and 35 years old.
  • YouTube viewers skew slightly male. Men make up about 54 percent of the audience.

Here’s the most compelling reason to consider a library marketing strategy for YouTube: Google owns YouTube. YouTube videos are automatically integrated into the main Google search.

I typed “How do I get a library card” into Google and I was served these three videos.

If someone is looking for something that your library provides, and you’ve optimized your videos, it improves the chances that a non-cardholder will discover your library through your YouTube videos.

How much success can we see on YouTube?

I found it very difficult to get updated engagement information for YouTube. Descript says accounts with less than 10,000 followers see an average engagement rate of 5.22%. Every other source I checked either reported engagement rates that seemed way too high to be believable or didn’t list an average engagement rate at all.

However, I did run across a cool new tool in my research. HypeAuditor has a free YouTube engagement rate calculator. Here’s a look at how it rated my YouTube channel.

You’ll need to sign up for an account and potentially pay to get the full report. But the number I wanted, the engagement rate, was free. Run a report on your library’s YouTube channel once a month to track your stats throughout 2024.

The YouTube algorithm for 2024

The YouTube algorithm focuses on one, core goal for the platform: to keep viewers watching videos for as long as possible. Viewers are recommended videos on YouTube and viewers use the search bar to find content.

Here are the four ranking factors that YouTube uses to decide who sees your library’s videos.

  • Video title and description: YouTube uses the title and description to match your video with viewers who are looking for that type of content. It’s important to be clear about what your video is about, especially in the title. For example, a video titled “Frank Discussion about ‘Let Us Descend’ by Jesmyn Ward” will get you more views than the video titled “Thursday Winter Reading BookClub Discussion”.
  • Watch time: The amount of time people spend watching your videos is incredibly important. If you create videos that are engaging and you can get people to watch most, if not all of the way through, your videos will rank much higher.
  • The newness of your video: YouTube will rank your videos according to how recently you uploaded the video. Like most social media platforms, they are always on the hunt for new content. However, in my experience, if you promote a video months after it’s been uploaded and it gets a new round of engagement, then that video will be re-recommended by YouTube.😊
  • Engagement metrics: Likes, comments, and shares will all work to boost the ranking of your videos.
A fun video with a great title and description from Prince William Public Libraries.

Here are four ways to get the best organic reach for your library’s YouTube videos in 2024,

Find your niche and stick to it.

The expert advice I found in my research all says the same thing: the best way to see success on YouTube is to find a topic that interests your audience and then stick to making videos in that niche.

I know that’s hard advice for libraries to hear and follow. Most library YouTube channels have many playlists with videos covering a wide variety of topics. Many libraries view their YouTube channel like the stacks… a place to store all their videos.

That’s not the approach to take if you want a successful YouTube channel. Your library’s YouTube channel is not meant to be a repository of videos.

Making a commitment to focus on one or two niche topics that your audience is interested in is a better use of your time. How do you figure out your niche?

Dive into the analytics of your YouTube channel. Which videos get the highest engagement? The topics in those videos are your niche. Spend 2024 creating videos about those topics.

If you must store videos on your YouTube channel for use elsewhere, put them in unlisted playlists. If you do that, their lack of engagement won’t count against you in the algorithm.

A San Jose Public Library volunteer put together this incredible video for the library’s YouTube channel. You can ask volunteers and teen patrons to help produce your videos!

Find less competitive keywords to use in your titles and descriptions.

Keywords and key phrases in your video title and description play a huge role in YouTube’s success. There are lots of ways you can search for keywords and key phrases that will boost your organic reach on YouTube. But my hands down personal favorite tool is TubeBuddy. It’s a free Chrome extension that’s easy to use.

TubeBuddy has a feature called Keyword Explorer that helps you figure out your video titles and identifies key phrases to add to your description. Here’s how it works:

I used TubeBuddy to do some keyword research. “Book club” is a very competitive keyword. So TubeBuddy lists the score as fair. If you were posting a video about a book club, you would want to add other keywords that are less competitive, like the title of the book, to rank higher on YouTube.
Next, I tried adding the title of the book and the phrase “book club”, and our score made it into the good range. There’s less competition in search but TubeBuddy also says there aren’t many people looking for videos about that book.
Finally, I tried “analysis of let us descend” and TubeBuddy’s results show this would be an excellent choice for a key phrase. If I were a library, I’d put this phrase in my title and in my description.

This whole process took me less than five minutes. I do this with all my YouTube videos. It has made a world of difference in my engagement rates.

I made a tutorial to show you how TubeBuddy works and the benefits of using it for your library.

Spend time responding to your viewers.

We know the YouTube algorithm will rank your videos higher if your viewers like, comment, and share your videos. But YouTube also adds a boost to your videos if your library participates in that engagement. It’s very easy and takes very little time. All you have to do is…

  • When someone comments on your video, reply to them.
  • Pin a comment.

I know from personal experience that those two simple steps will work wonders for boosting the reach of your video.

This is what a pinned comment looks like. To pin a comment, click on the three-dot “hamburger” menu to the right of the comment and select “pin.”

Promote your videos as soon as you publish them.

Within the first 24 hours of uploading and releasing a video, send an email to your cardholders to alert your audience that the video exists. You can also embed the video on your website or blog. Maybe add a carousel slide to your homepage that leads to the videos. And add a link to your video in your email signature.

These promotions are all designed to get you views as quickly as possible. The more views you get in the first 24 hours after you’ve uploaded a YouTube video, the higher your YouTube video will appear in search rankings.

An absolutely adorable video from Leicestershire Libraries explaining their Summer Reading program.

Maybe also try…

Posting to Shorts: YouTube is reportedly testing a new feature that would let you easily link a Shorts video to a longer video. That would make Shorts an effective way to drive people to your library’s channel. 

In case you were wondering how big of a deal Shorts are, Social Media Today reports that there are 50 billion views of Shorts clips every day worldwide!

I am a big personal YouTube user, and I watch all the Shorts recommended to me. The Shorts algorithm appears to be more aligned with my personal video preferences than any other social media platform. If you have the time and energy, experiment with Shorts for your library.

A great Short posted by the Leiden University Libraries.

How often and when to post on YouTube

Consistency is a key component of YouTube’s success. If your library only has the resources to post once a week, pick a consistent day and time to schedule your posting, like Mondays at 9 a.m. Your audience will begin to expect and anticipate the release of your videos.

Influencer Marketing Hub has a cool calculation tool that determines the best time for your library to post videos based on your location. You can boost anticipation by using the “Premiere” feature on YouTube. Here is YouTube’s easy guide for creating a Premiere.

P.S. Want more help?

A 13-Year-Old Kid Gives Library Marketing Advice About YouTube. Is He Right??

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Does Your Library Really Understand Your Community? How To Use Emotion To Elevate Your Promotional Impact!

Hit the play button above to watch the video

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 171: In this episode, I’m going to share an example of a marketing campaign from the makers of the game Monopoly.

This campaign uses a very specific technique to get at the emotional motivation for playing the game. What does that have to do with library promotions? Watch the video to find out!

Kudos in this episode go to a group of Alabama libraries.

👏 I do a lot of bragging about libraries. But I can’t see everything everywhere, and I’m certain I’m missing some of the best #LibraryMarketing examples. So I need your help! You can share anonymously if you like. Thank you!

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments.

And subscribe to this series to get a new weekly video tip for libraries.

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.

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Plan for Library Marketing Success! How To Create an Effective Marketing Plan No Matter the Size of Your Library (Plus a Free Downloadable Template!)

Photo Courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

The first time I went to a conference, I made a plan.

I decided which sessions I would attend weeks before the conference began. I studied the floor map of the convention center so I could plot the best way to get from room to room. I made a list of local restaurants and tourist attractions within walking distance of my hotel so that I could make the most of my free time.

Am I bonkers? Nope. I am a planner.

A plan provides a guide for action. It ensures goals are met and time and resources are used wisely.

There are times when spontaneity is called for. But library marketing is not one of them. A marketing plan is key for the success of any type of library promotion.

What exactly is a library marketing plan?

A library marketing plan is a tool you use to help to achieve your library’s overall goals. It lays out the steps involved in getting a promotion out into the world. It helps you decide how and when promotional work will be done for a pre-determined time in a specific way.

A library marketing plan also ensures everyone knows the end goal of your marketing efforts. It sets deadlines. It keeps people accountable. And it clarifies how you will measure your results.

You don’t need a plan for everything you promote at your library. You do need a plan if you are creating a campaign that lasts for more than several weeks.

How to put your marketing plan together

Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a list of free project planning websites. They will help you with the execution of your plan. At the bottom of this post, you’ll also find a customizable template to download. It’s based off the library marketing plan spreadsheet I used for years.

Know the thing you are promoting inside and out.

Be sure you can answer every single question about the thing you are promoting. You must become an expert on the event, service, or item you will promote.

Ask yourself, what problem will this solve for my patrons? How easy is it to use? What are the features that can’t be found at any of my competitors?

Clearly define your end goal.

Use the SMART goal framework to ensure you and your co-workers know exactly what you are aiming to achieve. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

So, if you are looking to increase brand awareness, set an actual, measurable end goal like: “Within the next 6 months, we want 50 percent of residents living within a 30-mile radius of our Main Library to know that we have renovated the building and to be able to name at least one new service available at the library.”

Determine your target audience.

Many library marketers say their target audience is “our cardholders.” Be more specific.

Ask yourself:

  • Which cardholders?
  • How old are they?
  • How often do they use the library?

Fill out your picture of your target audience with as many demographic characteristics as you can. This gives you and everyone working on the plan a picture of who you are trying to reach.

Analyze your competitors.

Research anyone providing a similar program, service, or product. Ask:

  • What are they doing well?
  • What are they doing poorly?
  • What are the things that differentiate your library from their business?

These are your marketing advantages. You can use this information to create messaging that tells your target audience why they should use your library service, instead of a competitor.

Create the message.

Get the message or elevator pitch for your promotion set. It’s the most important part of your plan. You need it to create all the tactics you will use to promote your library.

Choose your tactics.

Go through all the available channels at your disposal for marketing and decide which ones will work best to reach your end goals.

You do not have to use everything that’s available to you. Sometimes, a video will work well and sometimes an email will do a better job. Not every promotion needs print materials, a press release, or a digital sign.

You know best how your target audience reacts to each tactic and which will bring you the best results. If you have a budget, decide how you’ll spend it during this step.

Set the schedule.

Every library has a different approach to its promotional schedule. I am a fan of tiered distribution of marketing. The approach takes advantage of a consumer cycle of excitement. Here’s how it works:

  • Release one or two promotional tactics at the beginning of your promotional cycle, like a social media post and a press release. The promotion gets some play, and excitement builds in the consumer base. It gets shared and people talk about it… and then the excitement dies out.
  • Release the second tactic, like an email, and the people who see the email get excited and start talking about it and sharing it, and then their excitement dies out.
  • Release a video, and that builds excitement and gets shared, and the excitement then dies out. And so on!

When you use the tiered distribution approach, you get a longer promotional thread. Your promotions will be more successful because the excitement around them builds over time, not in one big burst.

It is also easier on the person running the marketing! It gives you a small break in between each tactic and creates time for you to measure the success of each tactic individually.

Assign tasks.

Delegate jobs and deadlines for appropriate staff. If you need help from another library department, assign their deadline now so they have plenty of time to get you the information you need.

Measure results.

Don’t forget to measure and record the reaction to each piece of your marketing plan. Analyze what worked and what did not, so you can put that knowledge to use next time.

Free or cheap project management solutions

Clickup: the free plan will work for small libraries. The unlimited plan is very affordable and would work well for medium to large libraries.

SmartSheet: their lowest plan tier is a little more expensive than ClickUp but has more integrations.

Asana: this is what my employer NoveList uses. It makes is easy to assign tasks and deadlines.

Marketing plan template

I’ve created a customizable marketing plan spreadsheet. It includes my suggestions for the timing of promotional tactics for an event or service promotion.

You can delete or add columns based on the tactics available to your library and the size of your library. Download it here.

Related Advice

What the Heck Is the Difference Between Library Statistics and Marketing Metrics? Here’s the Full Explanation and Why They Are BOTH Important!

Planning for Magic! How To Keep Your Eyes (and Your Schedule) Open for Unexpected Library Promotional Opportunities

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📱How to Properly (and Legally!) Share Creative Content on Your Library’s Social Media Channels

In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I’ll answer a question from the viewer about sharing original content from other creators on social media.

This viewer asked for clarification on the correct online etiquette for sharing content, specifically cartoons or memes, from another page. I have two tips that worked for me when I worked in a library plus advice from experts.

Kudos in this episode go to Saul Hernandez of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments.

And subscribe to this series to get a new weekly video tip for libraries.

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.

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The Divide and Conquer Method of Library Marketing: How to Realistically Reach Your Library Promotional Goals Without Losing Your Ever-Loving Mind [ARTICLE]

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Have you been in the grocery store cereal aisle lately?

Recently I had a craving for yogurt topped with cereal as a snack. So, I went to the store with the simple plan of buying a box of cereal.

Did you know the average grocery store carries nearly 300 types of cereal? The cereal in my store takes up the length of an ENTIRE AISLE.

Holy Cheerios, Batman.

There is such a thing as too many choices.

When you’re faced with a wide range of selections, you can end up feeling paralyzed and unable to decide. Or, worse yet, you make a decision that turns out to be the wrong one because there were too many factors to take into consideration.

I sometimes feel the same way about working in library marketing.

Many of us have too much work to do. We have multiple goals we are trying to reach. And all that work makes it impossible to do anything well. It’s no wonder our promotions fail. We need to focus on focusing.

Now that’s you’ve created a promotional strategy and you’ve set up a promotional calendar, you may be tempted to try a whole bunch of new promotional ideas all at once.

But for true library promotional success, you’ll need to pace yourself. You want to be deliberate, intentional, and thoughtful about the library promotions you put out into the world.

Easier said than done, right?

So how do you create your promotions, track the results, and not lose your mind?

By using something I like to call “the divide and conquer approach.”

I’ve put together a three-step process to help you manage your workflow. This simple plan will help make sure your time is spent wisely. It will ensure you have the time to create your promotions and check the results so you can ensure that you’re reaching your promotional goals.

This method will make your marketing goals feel more manageable to you. You won’t get overwhelmed. And you’ll be able to spend time creating and tracking promotions to make sure the work you’re doing is effective.

Tackle one goal at a time.

People often sing the praises of multitasking, but any time management expert will tell you it kills productivity and leads to burnout.

Instead, you’ll want to prioritize your library marketing goals. Decide which is the most important by asking yourself one simple question:  Which goal will have the most positive impact on your library? That’s the one you should focus on.

This laser focus will actually allow you to reach ALL of your library promotional goals faster. When you focus fully on one goal, you can learn valuable lessons about your community and how they respond to your promotions on your available channels. And those lessons will make it easier for you to reach your future goals.

As you work towards your goal, you’ll learn along the way which work, which don’t, and how to carry them out effectively. You can use this valuable knowledge for future goals.

Create an action plan with list of tasks you need to complete to reach your goal.

In this step, you’ll very specifically lay out what needs to be done to reach your goal. This will make the final goal seem less overwhelming. It will also help you to gauge how much time you need to set aside each day to work on your promotions.

Let’s say that your priority goal is to increase the number of people who come to visit a physical library space. Your initial task list might look something like this.

  • Create a weekly email to promote a service that’s only available inside a library branch.
  • Create one Instagram and Facebook story per week to highlight a service that’s only available inside a library branch.
  • Create two social media posts per week on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote one in-person event.
  • Create a video that shows people coming into a library branch, focused on the physical space as a place of community and social interaction.

Now that you have your initial list of tasks, you can divide each task further into two or three smaller action items.

For example, your initial task of creating two social media posts per week on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote one in-person event can be accomplished by making a smaller action item list like this:

  • Choose events (consult with programming department)
  • Write post text
  • Create images
  • Schedule posts

Set a firm timeline for reaching your overall goal. Assign deadlines for each item on the task lists.

For our example, we may decide that we are going to work for the next two months on increasing in-person visits to the library.

Now, we can take our lists of tasks and set deadlines for when each of these tasks needs to be completed and released out into the world. Those deadlines will help you reach your target efficiently by assigning a timeframe—a start and end date—to every step in the process.

This “divide and conquer” approach gives you and your co-workers a chance to merge this new way of thinking and the new workload into your schedule without stress. It will make it easier to measure results.

Related Posts

How to Create a Social Media Strategy That Actually Works

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

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.

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Twitter Changes Their Image Policy, New Instagram Trends, and the Best Times to Post on Each Platform!

Watch Now

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 96

In this episode, we’ll go through the latest updates for social media platforms and what they mean for libraries.

This month’s headlines include a change in Twitter’s image cropping policy, a new report on Instagram use, and another new report that lays out the “alleged” best times to post on each social media platform. Watch the video to find out why I believe libraries should take this third report with a grain of salt!

Kudos go to the Coralville Public Library. Watch the video to find out why a fellow viewer nominated them for mention in this episode.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments. And subscribe to this series to get a new video tip for libraries each week.

Thanks for watching!

Angela’s latest book reviews

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant

Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo

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Why NOW Is the Time To Experiment With Your Library Marketing and Promotions!

WATCH NOW

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 95

In this episode, I want to inspire you to experiment with your library marketing and promotions this summer. I’ll give you some ideas to help you do this, and I’ll explain why right now is the perfect time to try things you’ve never tried before.

Kudos go to the Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. They were honored by the Library of Congress for their work during the pandemic.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments. And subscribe to this series to get a new video tip for libraries each week.

Thanks for watching!

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Two New Tools That Will Help You Write Better Library Promotional Copy!

Watch Now

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 93

In this episode, I’m sharing two tools that will help you when you’re writing any kind of library promotional copy for any type of marketing tactic.

Kudos go to the Elizabeth Public Library in New Jersey for their great work with their immigrant population and with job seekers.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments. And subscribe to this series to get a new video tip for libraries each week.

Thanks for watching!

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Library Programming and Promotions SHOULD Be BFFs! Here’s Why They Must Work Together.

Watch Now

The Library Marketing Show, Episode 68

In this episode, Angela shows you three reasons why you must keep promotions in mind while you create your library programming.

Kudos in this episode came from Evelyn Shapiro from the Champaign Public Library for their series of Library Love videos.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments.

And subscribe to this series to get a new video tip for libraries each week!

Thanks for watching.

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