In this episode, we’ll answer a question from a viewer. They wanted to know how to tell which of their promotions are working. It’s sometimes tricky work trying to figure out where people are learning about your library’s services and collection. I’ll share three strategies to help you figure out what is working… and what isn’t!
Kudos in this episode go to the Baytown Library. Watch the video to find out why they’re being recognized.
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.
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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.
The Library Marketing Show, Episode 146: In this episode, we’ll answer a question from a viewer.
They want to know how far in advance to start promoting their library programs on social media. I’ll share some tips to help you find the “sweet spot” for your library audience.
Kudos in this episode go to the Ann Arbor Public Library. Watch the video to see why they’re being recognized.
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!
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.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Libraries know the power of storytelling. Most of us are literally and physically surrounded by some of the best stories in the world.
But the quest for library stories that have emotion and a compelling story arch is daunting for many libraries. A Kentucky librarian has the solution: let your patrons tell their own stories!
Levi Simonton has worked for the Jessamine County Public Library for three and a half years and is now the library’s social media coordinator. “I love this place,” said Levi when I asked him about his work experience.
In January, Levi and his library launched a video series called Share A Story. The videos were created to amplify the voices of library superfans.
Levi’s library believes that patrons’ real-life experience is the best way to increase the use of the library and relay the library’s value. “We think that a community member is more likely to visit the library after hearing a story from one of their peers rather than seeing an advertisement from us,” explains Levi.
Approaching a patron and asking them to share their story is often intimidating for libraries. But Levi has a remarkably simple approach. “We typically ask other staff members if they know anyone who might be willing to share an impactful story with the library,” says Levi. “We may also ask for patrons with experience on a specific topic we plan to promote. Sometimes it’s a bit more serendipitous, though. We met the first patron we interviewed by chance at our big comic con event last October.”
The interview itself doesn’t take much time, according to Levi. He typically spends about 45 minutes interviewing his subject. Then he focuses on getting footage of the subject that matches what the patron talked about (in the TV world, this is called B-roll). The footage is used later in editing, to cover parts of soundbites and edits. It also makes the video more interesting.
Once the interview and footage are shot, it’s time to put it all together. For Levi, this is the most labor-intensive part of the process. “These particular pieces usually take 10-15 hours over a week or two,” recalls Levi. “Honestly, that’s longer than it should take. I’m just new to video editing and have a bit of compulsive behavior when it comes to getting those darn details right.”
When the library launched the first video, the reaction was positive, both from patrons and staff. “We showed the videos at a recent staff meeting,” says Levi. “They seemed to resonate with everyone. Hearing directly from patrons about the library’s impact on their lives brought at least a few staff to tears.”
So far, the library has released three videos in the series, including one from a woman who has been visiting the library since she was a little girl. “I grew up in an environment that was considered impoverished,” says Anna Kenion, who is featured in one of the videos. “However, my way of escape, to solitude time and to dream bigger was when I would go to our public library,”
The library is taking a break from releasing videos over the summer to focus on summer reading. But they are working on videos to promote their new outreach vehicle and children’s storytimes. “We may release podcasts, written pieces, or other media that fall under the Share A Story umbrella in the future,” said Levi.
Is your library telling patron stories as part of your marketing? Let me know in the comments!
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.
The Library Marketing Show, Episode 145: In this episode, we’ll answer a question from Leica. She says, “I am a one-gal, part-time show here. I can set my priorities easily, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on working with NO goals or strategic plans? I know it sounds crazy, but I’m not given anything to work TOWARD. So, as much as I *think* I do well, I don’t really have any measurable way to verify.”
Kudos in this episode go to the Garland County Library. Watch the video to see why they’re being recognized.
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!
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.
The Library Marketing Show, Episode 144: In this episode, we’ve got our monthly social media headlines, and this month, we’re going to focus exclusively on Instagram. The platform is testing some new features and they could have significant implications for library marketing on the app.
Kudos in this episode go to the Coos Bay Library. Watch the video to find out why they’ve been recognized.
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!
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.
The Library Marketing Show, Episode 143: In this episode, we’ll answer a viewer’s question.
Sara of the Washington State Library asked for help promoting library chat services. I have six suggestions that will work for any size library.
Kudos in this episode go to the Greenwich Library. Watch the video to find out why they’re being recognized.
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!
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.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Every time I see a misaligned pink square on top of blue and white plaid, my heart skips a beat.
I realize that may be the weirdest sentence I’ve ever posted to this blog but hear me out.
I am a die-hard fan of Bath and Body Works.
The bath gels, the body lotions, the candles, the hand soap. There is a scent for every season, every mood, every situation.
No, they did not pay me to say this. (But if anyone from Bath and Body Works ever reads this blog, I am willing to work as an influencer.😊)
Bath and Body Works has a strong, recognizable brand. They don’t want you to just buy their products one time. They want you to come back, again and again. They know a strong brand style that is recognizable across all platforms is key to creating a relationship with their customers.
You want that for your library. You want your community to recognize the promotional materials you make. When someone sees a sign or a social media post or a video, you want them to know that it comes from your library without having to see your library’s name or logo anywhere in the brand.
Building a library brand takes consistency. And to remain consistent when multiple departments and staff members create graphics, social media posts, posters, and other promotional materials, your library needs to create a brand style guide.
A brand style guide will clearly define the look and tone of marketing materials. It saves staff time. It will be used by staff when creating graphics and writing text. Most importantly, it will ensure your library’s marketing is recognizable.
Here’s a step-by-step guide for creating your library’s brand style guide. Scroll to the bottom of this post for examples of library brand style guidelines.
Grounding statements
Begin your document by centering your library’s brand on the guiding principles of your organization. Remind your staff of your core mission. You want to explain the importance of this work and create buy-in for your style guide.
Set the tone with your mission, vision, and values statement.
Include a sentence or two that positions your library’s strategy, personality, and customer service principles.
Define your library’s personality. Do you want people to think of you as authoritative and resilient? Whimsical and conversation? Warm and welcoming?
List the perceptions your library is trying to avoid, like boring, traditional, formal, or pretentious.
Logo use
Emphasize the proper use of your logo across all platforms, including print and digital.
Define space rules, including the use of white space in relation to the logo.
Set the acceptable color variations for your logo.
List the minimum logo sizes, including pixels, print proportions, and aspect ratios.
Colors
Your color palette is the tangible component of your brand that people notice first. Color increases brand recognition up to 80 percent. Your colors also play a significant role in how your library’s brand is perceived.
Include the RGB, CMYK, Hex Code, and Pantone versions of your color palette.
List the shades of your color palette which are acceptable for use, including those variations required for accessibility on digital screens.
Include color contrast requirements for print and digital screens, keeping accessibility in mind.
Typography
Like color, the fonts your library chooses are a visual cue about your brand. Your fonts should tie all communications together, from your website to print promotions. It’s important to set clear guidelines for the use of fonts.
List the styles, sizes, and weights that can be used. Be sure to include instructions on acceptable fonts for headers, copy, and footers or fine print.
Include acceptable variations on fonts, if the font is unavailable in a particular piece of creative software.
Set guidelines concerning spacing to maintain a consistent style when font size changes.
Tone and text
This section is important to maintain a consistent brand through all the text written for your library promotions. These guidelines will ensure people recognize the copy is coming from your library, no matter who is doing the writing.
Outline your preferred word and sentence length. Shorter words and sentences are easier to read and will speed up the tempo of your message. Longer words and sentences will require your audience to do more in-depth thinking but may also be more nuanced.
List the jargon or library terms that staff members should use. This includes terminology for how you will refer to patrons, non-cardholders, staff, branches, and your branded names for services.
Determine the acceptable terminology for equity, diversity, and inclusion. Set guidelines for the use of gendered pronouns, ability, and references to racial and ethnic groups within your community.
Set your grammar guidelines. Will you use contractions? Will you allow prepositions? What grammar rules will you keep sacred, and which can be broken?
Images
In this section, you’ll give anyone creating promotional materials for your library the rules they need to find graphics, photos, and artwork that represent your library.
Set standards for the proper size, style, and composition of images for social media, email, digital signs, print, video, and your library’s website.
List approved image sources, including a list of websites that provide free stock photos and images. Here are ten websites to help build out your list.
Include clear guidelines on diversity representation to ensure staff use images that accurately represent your community.
Incorporate guidance on the use of graphics, GIFs, and memes.
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The Library Marketing Show, Episode 142: In this episode, we’ll answer a viewer’s question.
Jennifer says her library has some followers that regularly comment on their posts, but never say anything positive. She wants to know how to handle those repeated negative commenters.
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!
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.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Libraries spend a lot of time focused on getting people to sign up for a library card–particularly during summer. That’s a worthy promotional goal. Imagine how great the world would be if everyone had a library card!
But we often take our current cardholders for granted. We assume that once a person has gone through the trouble of signing up for a library card, they’ll use it.
The first reports on the exact statistical impact of the pandemic on library use will come out this fall. But I’m not willing to wait that long to address this issue. Every single library I work with tells me circulation, database use, program attendance, and overall visits are down.
Many libraries are trying to build our use and circulation stats back to their pre-pandemic levels. But I think we can do better. We can get more people to use the library now than before the pandemic.
How do we do that? With a focused plan to re-engage our current cardholders.
Re-engaging our disconnected users makes strategic and business sense for libraries. Our friends in the retail business have a secret: They know it costs five times as much money to obtain a new customer than to convince a current customer to buy more.
For libraries, this means it takes us five times more energy and resources to build our cardholder base than it does to get our current cardholders to use the library more often.
Summer reading is the perfect time to re-engage cardholders. It is your library’s biggest opportunity to build momentum that lasts throughout the year.
Here are three promotional goals that every library should have this summer to reconnect with current cardholders and get them to use the library more.
Goal #1: Get an email address from every single cardholder.
Did you know that 99 percent of people check their email at least once a day? How many times have you said, “I wish we had one way to reach our community.” Emails are how you do it! They are the absolute most effective way to promote your library.
People expect to be marketed to by your organization. You are not spamming anyone. You are informing, educating, and entertaining the community. And you are making certain they remember they have access to your resources, which they pay for with their tax dollars.
How do you go about getting emails from current cardholders? Ask. Every time someone checks out, look to see if they’ve included an email address in their cardholder profile. If not, ask for one!
Check cardholder profiles before you put books on the holds shelf or pull together items for curbside. If the cardholder doesn’t have an email on file, slip a bookmark into their holds asking them to share their email address using an online form or by calling the reference desk.
Your library can also use social media to gather email addresses. Schedule regular posts with a link for an online form or an opt-in page on your website. You’ll want to make it as easy as possible for your community members. That’s the best way to build your subscriber list.
Goal #2:Onboard current library cardholders.
Normally, onboarding is the process of introducing your new cardholders to the resources available at your library. But it is also an effective tool for re-engaging cardholders. This is especially true as we rebuild after two years of COVID separation from our community.
The most effective way to onboard an existing cardholder is through email. Your library should create a series of emails sent to cardholders once a week for four weeks. Those emails will re-introduce your cardholders to the best features of your library. It will inspire them to use their cards again.
To create your onboarding campaign, you’ll make two lists. The first will be for the most popular resources at your library. This could include things like your Makerspace, popular storytimes, laptop terminals, or your extensive e-book collection.
Next, make a list of your library’s hidden treasures. These may be items or services that you know will solve problems for your community. This list should include things that are unique to your library, like online Homework Help, your small business resources, your vast historical resources, or your “library of things.”
Finally, look at the two lists you’ve created and narrow your focus. You want to highlight the best and most helpful things at your library without overwhelming your recipients. Choose to promote one resource from your list of popular items and one from your list of hidden library treasures for each of the onboarding emails you send.
Goal #3:Upsell at every opportunity.
Whenever possible, your library staff should suggest other services, collection items, and programs to the people they encounter.
Teach staff to pay attention to context clues. Then upsell another collection item, service, or program based on what the staff observes.
For example, is the patron standing at the checkout a young father with two small children and an armload of picture books? Pull a take and make craft kit off the shelf and suggest that that dad subscribes to your YouTube channel, where you have videos explaining how to finish the crafts.
If a community member asks for help finding a resource for her small business, make sure she knows about your co-working spaces, your entrepreneur book club, and your LinkedIn profile.
When a patron registers for a cooking class, hand them a bookmark with a list of recommended cookbooks and show them how to access the Cooking Fundamentals series on Kanopy.
To help your staff spot opportunities for upselling, it may help to create a flow chart or graphic to illustrate the connections between everything your library offers. You can even make a game to encourage participation by staff members.
Ask staff to keep track of the number of times they upsell to a patron. You might even use a log, like your summer reading log, to help with tracking. The top upsellers win a prize at the end of the summer. And your library wins by increasing awareness of services and use.
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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 
Is It Ever Okay to Hide Negative Comments on My Library’s Social Media Pages? How to Handle Trolls!
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The Library Marketing Show, Episode 142: In this episode, we’ll answer a viewer’s question.
Jennifer says her library has some followers that regularly comment on their posts, but never say anything positive. She wants to know how to handle those repeated negative commenters.
Kudos in this episode go to the Fremont Area District Library. Watch to see why they are being recognized.
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!
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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