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Was It a Fluke? What a Viral Instagram Video Can Teach You About Library Social Media Promotions

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

In my many years of personal and professional social media use, I’ve never gone viral.

Until two weeks ago.

My brief moment in the sun came out of nowhere. And it was so crazy that I wanted to dissect it, to see if there was any lesson I could share with my library friends.

Experimenting with Instagram Reels

For the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with Reels so that I can give the best advice possible to libraries.

I started by creating my own original Reels. I shared recipes, book reviews, and homages to my co-worker. The results were nothing to write home about. I got a couple hundred views and a few likes for each video.

Then I changed focus. I decided to share my favorite genre of TikTok videos. These videos feature lots of home organization gadgets and cleaning products in action. They’re soothing to watch and usually contain some oddball element, like a fake plastic spider in the rice container!

I screen-record these videos. Then, I re-upload them on Instagram with my own narration, pointing out the things I love. I use similar captions and hashtags for every video. Sometimes I add emojis to the caption. I also add close-captioning to all the videos, using Instagram’s in-app creator tool.

Hitting the jackpot

On Sunday, August 14, at 3:30 p.m., I uploaded one such Reel.

This was the fourth Reel in my experiment. The most popular of the last three Reels got 4500 views and 26 likes.

But for some reason, this Reel was magic.

It received 1800 views in the first 20 minutes and a constant stream of likes. It was so wild that I took a screen recording of the notification stream.

Then I looked again at the views 40 minutes after I posted the video, and my jaw dropped.

22,000 views.

For a brief moment, I felt like that most popular girl at the dance.

But it was over as quickly as it started. 60 minutes after I posted my Reel, the notifications abruptly stopped. And the view count halted.

Understanding the Instagram Reels algorithm

The first step in the journey to dissect the success of this Reel is to understand the Instagram algorithm.

The main goal of Instagram Reels is to entertain. As a result, many of the videos that show up in a follower’s feed are from accounts they don’t follow.

And that’s certainly true with my Reel. Nearly all the likes I received from my Reel were from non-followers. Instagram was showing my Reel to those people because the algorithm predicted that my content would entertain them enough that they would watch all the way through and like or comment on the video.

These predictions are called ranking signals. They are part of every social media platform’s algorithm. The ranking signals for Instagram Reels are:

  • Recent user activity: Instagram predicts which Reels its users will find engaging by comparing new content with the kind of Reel a user has most recently liked, shared, or commented on.
  • Interaction history: If an Instagram user interacts with an account, Instagram will continue to show them content from that account, even if they aren’t a follower of that account.
  • Reel information: Signals about the content elements in a Reel, including the audio, hashtags, and keywords in the caption, help Instagram decide who to serve the Reel to.
  • Information about the poster: Instagram serves Reels from accounts that post consistent, entertaining videos.

Other factors that can impact the engagement of your library’s Reels

There are a number of things your library can do to try and boost the reach of your Instagram Reels.

Post at the right time

Since interactions are a strong ranking factor in the Instagram algorithm, you need to get as many likes and comments as possible within the first few seconds of posting your content. That’s why it’s important to catch your followers when they’re the most active on the platform.

The perfect timing will be different for every library. Check your Instagram insights to see when your audience is most likely to be using Instagram.

Carefully consider your caption

Write captions that give context or tell a story about your Reel. Consider a longer caption to boost the time people spend interacting with your posts as they read your caption.

Add one or two hashtags to your caption. Hashtags are an important ranking signal as they help the algorithm to understand what content is contained in your Reel.

Finally, add emojis to capture the attention of scrollers.

Interesting content outweighs expert advice on length

Experts say the optimum length of an Instagram Reel is 7 to 15 seconds. However, my viral Reel was much longer, at several minutes.

I’ve been experimenting with Instagram Reels length. I’ve found that length really doesn’t matter, so long as your video is interesting.

Really, it was just plain dumb luck

It’s most likely that my experience had nothing to do with my skill on Instagram. In fact, I’m sure of it.

Going viral on social media is like winning the lottery. You can plan and strategize and spend lots of time creating great content. And you may never go viral. That’s okay!

Going viral will bring you fame and brand recognition in markets outside of your service area. But that won’t increase your circulation or program attendance.

Your library’s goal should not be to go viral. Rather, create engaging content that speaks to YOUR audience and aligns with your library’s overall goals.

Final results and what I learned

In the two weeks since I posted my Reel, it’s received nearly 23,000 views and 609 likes. I got about 15 new followers from the Reel.

I have not seen a substantial increase in the number of visits to my blog. And I’ve got no website traffic or purchases for my day job at NoveList.

So, while it was exciting and interesting, my viral Reel did nothing to help me reach my strategic goals.

And that’s the most important thing to remember about social media. You can’t control who sees your library’s content. But you can create engaging posts aligned with your library’s goals.

Want to learn how to transcend algorithms and get the best results for your library’s social media promotions? I’ve created a self-paced course to help you reach your goals.

Related Posts

Promoting Library Programs on Social Media: How Far in Advance Should You Start Posting?

Is It Ever Okay to Hide Negative Comments on My Library’s Social Media Pages? How to Handle Trolls!

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3

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

Watch the Video Now

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 156: In this episode, we’ll explain the difference between library statistics and library metrics.

We use the terms interchangeably. But the exact definition is really important to the success of your library marketing.

Kudos in this episode go to the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System.

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 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.

2

The Complete List of the Most Ideal Length for Each of Your Library Promotional Tactics

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

For many of us, a hamburger is a delicious sandwich, no matter where you get it. No one can mess them up.

But there are things you can do to make your hamburger exceptional. For me, that means the addition of bacon, cheese, and avocado. I’ll still eat and thoroughly enjoy the hamburger if those ingredients aren’t available. But they make the hamburger go from good, to memorable.

Hamburgers are like marketing. Much of the work you do to promote your library is already good (because I know you’re doing good work!) Now, you’re on the path to maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing.

One of the ways you can ensure success is to make certain your marketing content is the perfect length. It may seem insignificant. But the right number of characters or words for a piece of content can make all the difference.

How do you know how long your tactics should be? I did the research, so you don’t have to.

Ideal length of a Facebook post: 100-259 characters

Research from experts on this one is mixed. Some studies suggest you keep captions at 50 characters or less.

But in my work with libraries, I try to pay attention to engagement rates and post length. And I personally think 50 characters is too short. So, I would suggest you try to write between 100 and 259 characters.

Ideal length of a Tweet: 240-259 characters

Most experts agree that using slightly less than 280 character limit on Twitter is ideal. That gives people the room to quote Tweet your library.

But you can do two other things to improve your library’s Twitter engagement.

  • Include rich media in your post, like photos, graphics, and video. In fact, multiple photos or a mix of photos and a video will help your Tweet get more engagement.
  • Use emojis at the beginning of your Tweet to capture attention and stop people from scrolling past your messages.

Ideal length of an Instagram post: 138-150 characters

Fun posts should have shorter captions. Information or educational posts should have longer captions.

There are other caption tricks that help with Instagram post engagement.

  • Add spaces between your sentences, so they look like paragraphs. Here’s an example from Amherst Town Library.
  • Weave in plenty of emojis. You can even substitute emojis for words to add character to your post.
  • Include multiple kinds of rich media, like photos and videos all in the same post, to increase the value.   

Ideal length of a TikTok video or Instagram Reel:  between 7 and 34 seconds

There is not a lot of data or research surrounding TikTok videos or Instagram Reels. It does appear that, even though the platforms allow you to create videos that are several minutes long, shorter videos lead to maximum engagement.

Ideal length of a LinkedIn post: Less than 210 characters

There is lots of dispute around this recommendation. I’ve picked the median number. And to help with engagement, I have a formula that’s worked well for me.

Construct a good, first teaser sentence, and then put a space between it and the rest of your post caption. This will cause your reader to have to click on “see more.” It works!

Good content on LinkedIn is also important. Videos natively uploaded to the platform get lots of engagement. Also, try polls to increase engagement.

Ideal length of an email: 100 words

Different types of emails should have different lengths. If you’re sending someone an onboarding email, you’re going to need to write more than if you’re sending an email promoting an upcoming event.

There are some scenarios where a couple of sentences is plenty to capture your cardholder’s attention and others where you’ll need several paragraphs to get your full point across.

In general, keep your email text as simple as possible. Be straightforward about the benefit of your library service or collection item or event. And drive recipients to your website for more information.

Ideal length of an email newsletter: 3-4 pieces of information

In my experience advising libraries, email newsletter recipients never click anything past the first 3-4 pieces of content in an email. I always recommend sending shorter, more frequent email newsletters rather than one long monthly version.

If you don’t have control over how long your email newsletter is, you can help engagement by placing the 3-4 most important things at the beginning of the email. If your email provider has a table of contents feature, use that to drive interest to content further down in the email.  

Ideal length of an email subject line: either very short (30 characters) or very long (90 characters or more)

It appears that the extreme ends of length catch the attention of the inbox scroller.

Longer subject lines boost response rates, according to Adestra, a U.K.-based email service provider. Its analysis of more than one billion emails showed that subject lines of 90 characters and more produced the highest response rates. They theorize the added characters increase engagement because they can communicate more value to the recipient.

But their research also found that subject lines at 30 characters or less performed well. That’s because the full subject line can usually be seen by the recipient, both in desktop and mobile versions of mail provider apps.

Experiment with both ends of the length spectrum to see which your audience responds to. And keep in mind the other factors that can impact subject line effectiveness.

Ideal length of a YouTube video: Between 7 and 15 minutes

This stat comes from several sources, including Social Media Examiner.

It’s important to let your content dictate video length. A how-to video may need five minutes or more to show the process. An unboxing video can be shorter. If your video is interesting to watch, the length won’t really matter. 

Ideal length of a podcast: 22 minutes

Your target audience will really dictate the perfect length for your library. Most research I found recommended 20 minutes for podcasts aimed at listeners who are doing chores or taking short walks, 40 minutes for people commuting or doing longer chores, or 60 minutes for those who want an extended listen.

Ideal blog post length:  2,000 words

That’s a lot of words! For context, the Monday articles here on Super Library Marketing run between 1,000 and 1,500 words each.

So, before you get anxious about word length, remember that quality blog posts will always do well, no matter how long.  If your post contains valuable or interesting information that your reader wants and needs, it will do well.

If your blog is less than 2,000 words, there are some things you can do to make it feel meaty to the reader. You may have noticed these tricks in my blog posts.

  • Present information using bullet points or lists.
  • Write longer paragraphs at beginning of the article.
  • Insert scannable headlines.
  • Include images, especially those that explain concepts or demonstrate your point.

Finally, it’s important to include keywords in your title and frequently within your post. You may notice I use the terms library marketing and library promotion in almost every title and throughout my articles. That’s because I know those are used by library staff searching for help with their marketing.

The most important thing to remember

Pay attention to your metrics. Your audience will tell you about the perfect length for any one of your tactics.

Related Posts

Maybe the Biggest Lesson for Libraries from Content Marketing World: Why Broad is Flawed!

The Top Four Reasons To Use Content Marketing To Promote Your Library on Every Platform

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1

Why Is It So Hard for Libraries To Recruit New Cardholders? Early Research Results May Hold Answers Just in Time for National Library Card Sign-Up Month

Watch This Video

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 155: In this episode, I want to share the early results of ongoing research in Poland about how non-library users view the library.

This research is being conducted with the help of mystery shoppers, who are asked to go into a library and perform a specific task. After their experience, they are interviewed.

The results are fascinating. I’ll share some topline findings and ideas for how to counter these results with smart library promotions.

Kudos in this episode go to San Rafael 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 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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Are You Sure Your Digital Library Promotions Are Working? Gain Confidence and Take the Guesswork Out of Marketing in Five Minutes a Day!

Photo of the Old Main Library reading room for the blind, courtesy Cincinnati & Hamilton County Library

The Town Hall Library in North Lake, Wisconsin occupies a quaint white building with black shutters that looks like it might have once been a church. It serves a population of about 10,000 residents and its website says it’s “known for its friendly service and varied collection”.

The library’s summer reading program has two more weeks to go. But Town Hall Library is already taking the data from the program and putting it to use in its promotions.

The Library created a Facebook post that leads to an infographic, which lays out the number of participants, visitors, programs, and pages or books read in plain, easy-to-understand details.

Libraries have long counted circulation statistics, program attendance, minutes logged during summer reading, and the number of visitors who walk in and out of their building on any given day.

They’ve taken those stats and created videos and infographics. They’ve used those numbers to win awards. And they share that data to prove their value to their community, donors, legislators, and whoever controls their budget.

I wish libraries would measure their digital marketing with the same dedication. That data is crucial to figuring out which library promotions are working.

Metrics are the key to confidence in library marketing.

When I ask libraries if they measure their digital promotions, here are the three most common answers I receive.

“Measurement is hard.”

“We think we’re reaching our community.”

“It seems like our promotions are effective.”

My co-workers often describe me as “a data nerd.” And it’s true. But I’ll share a secret with you. My love of numbers is rooted in insecurity.

That’s because promoting your library can be scary. I often don’t know exactly which of my choices will work.

And when I’m facing a decision that could either lead me to a successful promotion or a total failure, I lean on the numbers to help me decide.

If you are not tracking the results of your digital library marketing, you are setting yourself up for failure. You may think you are doing a decent job.

But the only way to know if you are truly connecting with your community is through the consistent measurement of your digital promotions.

Measurement of digital library marketing is necessary and transformative.

Metrics are a game changer for your digital marketing.

They tell you what is working so you can replicate that success. They tell you what isn’t working so you can stop doing those things.

They give you the proof, in the form of data, to back up your decisions. They can justify more budget for things you need to reach your audience.

And most important, data holds information about when and where your specific audience wants to receive promotional messages from your library. You’ll also learn their favorite types of content.

Digital marketing metrics every library must track

On a basic level, every library should consistently track the following metrics.

Email

  • Open rate: the percentage of people who receive your email and open it.
  • Click-thru rate: the percent of people who click on something inside your email.
  • Actions taken by email subscribers: did they register for a program, check out a book, or use a database after receiving your email?

Social media

  • Reach: total number of people who see your content.
  • Impressions: the number of times your content is displayed. Impressions will always be higher than reach because your content may be displayed more than once to the same people. That might sound like a waste of time. But a high impression count means the social media platform you are using thinks your content is so good, that they want to make certain people see it!
  • Engagement: the number of times people take an action, such as liking, commenting, or sharing your post.

Website

  • Number of visitors to your website
  • Number of new visitors versus the number of returning visitors
  • The length of time visitors spend on your website
  • Traffic sources that determine how visitors find your website

What this data will reveal about your digital library promotions

At the basic level, measuring your promotions will ensure that you are using your valuable time and energy in the place where it will be the most effective.

Data can also help you make sure you create more effective promotions! Leslie Marinelli is Communications Manager at Forsyth County Public Library. She’s been closely monitoring the data around her email marketing.

She noticed her library’s subscriber list got smaller and smaller each month, even though her library was signing up a substantial number of new cardholders every month.

Because she was monitoring her email metrics, she was able to uncover a hole in her subscriber list process. Fixing that process led to an increase in subscribers to her email list each month. And that means more people in her community will discover what the library can offer them.

Make measurement part of your daily library work schedule.

Block off five minutes in every workday to gather or analyze the metrics of your marketing and promotions. Honestly, it only takes five minutes a day.

Check the basic numbers listed above. Every. Single. Day.

Pretty soon, you’ll notice patterns. You’ll be able to predict the types of content that get the most engagement. You might also notice that promotions on certain days of the week get better results.

At the end of your first month, ask yourself what is working and what isn’t. And adjust your promotions accordingly.

Tracking metrics will lead to more effective promotions. It’s that simple!

Don’t Skip This Important Library Marketing Step

More Library Marketing Advice

Are My Library Email Metrics Good…. or Bad?! Here Are the Latest Stats to Help You Figure It Out.

You Don’t Have to Choose Between Print and Digital Books: How to Promote Your Collection to Patrons Who Use BOTH Formats

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1

Your Library CAN Compete With Amazon for Readers! Here Are 4 Ideas To Beat the Big Box Giant at the Book Game🏆

Watch the Episode Now

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 154: In this episode, I will share how your library CAN compete with Amazon for readers!

A study by two researchers from Portland, Oregon shows us why readers prefer Amazon.

But libraries can win those readers back with some simple changes. I’ll show you what the researchers said libraries need to do to compete with Amazon.

Kudos in this episode go to “the lone librarian” of Castle Rock 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 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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Turn Library Promotions on Their Head with This Surefire Yet Simple Way To Capture Attention

Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Imagine for a moment that you are walking down a city street, minding your own business when you see the clown Pennywise.

That’s right. The terrifying lead character from the Stephen King film “It,” remade and re-released in 2017, is hanging out in your city.

Now, what if I told you that the reason this horrifying clown was roaming the streets was to promote a library event?

Yea, that’s the reaction I had too.

But a library in St. Petersburg, Russia really went this route. And you know what? It worked.

The library used the wandering horror film character as a chance to draw attention to their Stephen King Festival. Someone dressed as Pennywise “would walk through the city, frightening passers-by and informing them about the upcoming festival.”

Honestly, I would never have approved this when I was working as a marketing manager in a library.

But it worked for this library. Because the media found out about the Pennywise clown stalking pedestrians. The clown, and the library, were covered in the press. We’re talking about dozens of outlets.

And that’s how people found out about the event. That led to record attendance. The library said 800 people showed up for the festival, more than four times what they had expected.   

How do you draw attendance without scaring your community

Promoting your library is difficult. Events, renovations, new services, and additions to your collection cost money. They come with high expectations and goals. They require months of planning. The pressure to prove the value of your work to your community is high.

But there are things you can do to increase the likelihood your library gets noticed. This list does not include having someone dressed as a horror character wandering around your city or town.

But you know, I’ve learned a lesson from reading about the Friends Library. Sometimes you must be bold to get results.

Use storytelling to capture attention.

The first step is to think differently about the way you promote your library to the world. You want to capture the attention of your community, your cardholders, and the media. Telling a great story is a powerful and effective way to do this.

Your promotions need to do more than list off the details about your library. You want to set up the reason why your community should use your services. You want a memorable, compelling way to convey the value of your work.

A simple storytelling formula begins with the people.

Talk with the library staff and community members about whatever you are trying to promote. If you’re focused on a big event, follow the organizers around for a bit as they attend meetings, make calls, and get materials ready for the big day.

Interview a community member who is benefiting from the event, service, or collection item. If you are promoting a project that involves a partner or sponsor, get an interview from those organizations.

You don’t have to do a full-length Barbara Walters-style interrogation. You can ask a few simple questions that will add color and humanity to your promotion.

Here are some interview tips.

  • Write down your questions ahead of time.
  • Ask open-ended questions like, “Why did you sponsor this event?” or “Tell me why the library is offering this new service to our community.”
  • Actively listen and ask follow-up questions.
  • End the interview by asking if there is anything else the interviewee wants to say that you haven’t covered.

Once you have all your interviews, it’s time to write.

Focus on the characters, not the library.

Put all the quotes you want to use into your document. Then, work the details of the event into your story where it’s appropriate. Before you know it, you have a compelling piece that you can use to promote your event on social media, in email, and in print.   

Guille-Alles Public Library is on the island of Guernsey, just off the coast of Normandy. And they work with Storybook Dads, a charity that helps incarcerated parents stay connected to their families by recording a bedtime story for their children. The Library’s Outreach Team has been working with Guernsey Prison for several years to provide books and readers’ advisory support for people convicted of crimes on the island.

To show the value of their work and to make sure their community knew about this project, the library wrote a compelling story. It featured interviews with library staff and incarcerated fathers.

Another great example of this comes from Bridges Library System. Marketing and Communications Librarian Jill Fuller does a great job humanizing the value of physical library spaces.

Find a home for your story.

The logical place to put this story is on your library blog. Another option is to create a landing page on your website and post your story. You want your work somewhere where you can easily share a link, preferably on your own website.

Housing your story on your website has an added benefit. You’ll also be rewarded by Google, which will pick up you keywords in your post and start showing the post in search results for anyone looking for those keywords. Google doesn’t catch keywords on PDF or Word document press releases posted to a website.  

If you are not allowed to post your story on your own website, you can post your story on Facebook or on LinkedIn as an article. Both social media outlets offer you plenty of space. Facebook gives you 60,000+ characters, which can be roughly 8-10,000 words. LinkedIn articles give you twice that amount!

Share your story link everywhere.

Your library has an available audience on a variety of platforms. Now it’s time to make sure they read your story!

  • Send an eblast to your cardholders and include the link.
  • Share the link on your other social media platforms.
  • Make bookmarks that include a few sentences teasing your article and a shortened URL. Insert those bookmarks in all your holds and checkouts leading up to your event. Share the bookmarks with your partner organizations.

And send a link to your story to your media contacts in a personalized email. I know it takes longer to send an email to each media contact than to send one mass email, but it’s worth it.

Here are some tips for writing the perfect pitch to journalists by email.

  • Keep the body short but personalized. Address the journalist by name.
  • Keep the subject line short and simple but intriguing.
  • Get to your point quickly and include the link to your story.
  • Explain why news of your upcoming event is beneficial to that media outlet.

3 Stories Your Library Should Be Telling Right Now

Related

The Top Four Reasons To Use Content Marketing To Promote Your Library on Every Platform

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1

Let’s Put This Big Question To Rest Once and for All: Sending Marketing Emails to Your Library Patrons Is NOT an Invasion of Privacy!

Watch the Episode Now

The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 153: In this episode, I will try to put to rest a question that continues to permeate the library marketing world.

Libraries are defenders of truth, democracy, and privacy. And in that noble quest, they sometimes hurt themselves by repeating the false myth that they cannot send emails to their patrons because it’s an invasion of privacy.

Email marketing is not an invasion of privacy. I’ll explain why and what you can do even if there are laws (not privacy-related!) that limit the amount of emails you can send.

Kudos in this episode go to the Oakland 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 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.

0

Your Patrons Are Not Goldfish! The Powerful, Scientifically Proven Reason Why Your Library Should Aim To Hold the Sustained Attention of Your Community

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

When I was a child, my first pet was a goldfish.

I named it Goldie. Totally original, I know.

Goldie lived in a glass bowl decorated with neon-colored rocks and a tiny treasure chest that opened and closed to release bubbles. I’m sure when I brought her home from the pet store, she thought she’d landed in some kind of 1980s pirate hell.

I liked to watch Goldie swim around her bowl. And she liked to watch me.

When I did my homework or practiced my instrument or danced around my room to Phil Collins, she swam to the side of her bowl and stared at me. She could do this for hours. It would have been creepy had she not been a fish.

The statistic that some say ruined marketing

In 2015, large news organizations, including Time, The New York Times, and The Telegraph reported a single, mind-blowing finding from a new study by Microsoft.

The average human being’s attention span has shrunk to just eight seconds, about the same as a goldfish.

By the way, in researching this post, I found this great blog post from the University of Melbourne about the intelligence of goldfish. Their attention span is way longer than eight seconds.

The reports were grossly inaccurate

It turns out that the news organizations were not actually quoting the results of the Microsoft study. A BBC reporter investigated the origin of the goldfish statistic in 2017.

“All those references lead back to a 2015 report by the Consumer Insights team of Microsoft Canada, who surveyed 2,000 Canadians and also studied the brain activity of 112 people as they carried out various tasks. However, the figure that everyone picked up on – about our shrinking attention spans – did not actually come from Microsoft’s research. It appears in the report, but with a citation for another source called Statistic Brain.”

Simon Maybin, BBC World Service

The goldfish comparison has since been removed from Statistic Brain. And the original study from Microsoft is no longer listed on their website.

But it was too late. The damage was done.

Marketers were told to create short, scannable promotions, use clickbait titles, and make sure our blogs and videos were “snackable.” Promotions began to all look the same.

Nothing stood out. Everything we created lacked depth and interest. And people actually paid less attention to us.

A better way to promote your library

It’s true that humans have difficulty dealing with distractions. But it’s also true that when we are consuming quality content, we can focus.

There are two kinds of attention. Transient attention is a short-term response to a stimulus that temporarily attracts us or distracts our attention. It comes into play when you read a billboard or a sign, or watch a TikTok video.

Then there is sustained attention. This describes your ability to focus on something for an extended period.

We use sustained attention when we binge-watch an entire season of Stranger Things in a single day, read a good book cover to cover in one sitting, or attend a concert, play, or sporting event.

Sustained attention is where great experiences are found. It is also the basis for information processing and cognitive development. It is where real connections are made.

That means that if you can engage your cardholders’ sustained attention, your marketing will be memorable. And memorable marketing is more effective.

How do we do this exactly?

There are circumstances in which you will need to create short promotions that appeal to transient attention. Social media is a perfect example. So are printed signs. A few, well-written but interesting sentences, and an eye-catching design are required for those formats.

But many of your library promotions should aim for the sustained attention of your cardholders. Blog posts and videos are perfect examples.

These pieces of content should be as long as they need to be to tell a good story. That means you can create a video that runs 8 minutes or write a blog post that is more than 1000 words, as long as they are interesting and compelling. They must also contain two key features.

  • Emotion: The joy of finding a book, the fear of not getting a job, the frustration of another night of homework without any help… these are all emotions felt by our library’s customers. Other people can relate to these experiences and empathize. Emotion activates many portions of the brain, including the sensory, memory, and empathy sectors. The more active the brain is while consuming content, the more likely it is that the listener or reader will remember the story.
  • Conflict and a resolution. Your sustained attention marketing must include some conflict and a problem or situation that is resolved. Without conflict, your story risks being flat and unmemorable.

How to get started

Pick one tactic to focus on. Your print or online newsletter is a perfect place to start. Take six months and watch as your audience transforms.

I’m speaking from experience here. In my former library job, I turned our print program calendar into a magazine filled with stories.

It took our community members about 10 to 15 minutes to read the magazine. That’s time they spent thinking about the library, empathizing with the patrons and staff in our stories, and committing our stories to memory.

And guess what happened? Our circulation increased. Database usage grew. Our brand awareness grew. We passed a levy to fund renovations to old libraries.

Podcasts are also a perfect example of long-form library content that holds attention. Most episodes last between 20 to 30 minutes. That’s an invaluable time in which you are talking directly to your community!

Your cardholders aren’t goldfish. They are real people with attention spans that can be used to our advantage. You can help them to make a lasting and meaningful connection to the library with longer, interesting, memorable content.

Further Reading

Ditch the Formal Document! How One Library Turned Their Ordinary Annual Report Into a Storytelling Masterpiece That Connected With Their Community
Your Library Should COMPLETELY Ignore These 4 Pieces of Promotional Advice! Plus What To Do Instead for Real Results. [ARTICLE]

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