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Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Francesca Castro has been visiting libraries for as long as she can remember.
“My mother took me to children’s programs at the public library when I was very young,” recalled Francesca. “Then, in elementary and middle school, I begged my parents for cash to spend at the annual book fair. In college, I was pulling all-nighters and made some of my best memories of my academic career in the library.”
Now, not even a year after graduating from Arkansas State University with a degree in communications, Francesca is working her first professional job at a library. And her success, particularly around TikTok, is inspiring library marketers twice her age, myself included.
Francesca is a Marketing Coordinator for the Saline County Library in Benton, Arkansas. The library has a service population of about 85,000 residents.
Francesca’s interest in managing the library’s TikTok began during her interview. “I remember asking if Saline County Library (SCL) had a TikTok account,” she said. “Their response was no. So I told them if they hired me, I would make a Saline County Library TikTok account and that I had gone viral a few times on my personal account and would want to do the same for SCL.”
“I understand that it is hard to grab the attention of teens and tweens these days and a lot of them are already on TikTok, so why not bring the library content to them, ” continued Francesca. “I also use the platform to show that libraries are more than what people assume that they are. I have made videos about what working in the library is like versus what people probably think it is like, and I make sure to post content that shows you can check out items other than books.”
Francesca has created more than 40 posts on TikTok since she launched the Saline County Library account, which has nearly 500 followers. One of the most popular posts is a simple, short slideshow of storytime set to music.
She’s quick to jump on trends, like this one featuring the Titanic theme. Francesca also appears in some of the posts, which adds a personal touch to the account and adds a face that library patrons may recognize when they walk into the building.
Francesca does have a secret formula for TikTok success based on her experience and research.
“I have learned to almost spam posts on TikTok,” she revealed. “The algorithm on TikTok is like an endless loop, and videos from weeks ago are still floating on the surface. Unlike other platforms, your post would not be the first to pop up on the screen after a few days. The reason I say spam post is because the more videos you post, the more content you have going through that endless loop.”
“Another tip I have figured out is to keep the content short and relatable. The key to success on TikTok is to be short, entertaining, and straight to the point.”
And even though consistency is key, Francesca admits she is not always consistent when it comes to posting TikToks. “I usually post them when I have an idea, and I get inspiration from other library TikTok accounts. I try to post 3-5 times a week.”
Many library marketers are also intimated by the process of editing videos for TikTok. But Francesca says you don’t need fancy editing software or third-party apps. Simplicity is key.
“When it comes to editing the videos, I usually just edit them on TikTok, which only takes a few minutes,” she advised. “I will say I am consistent with the hashtags I use. I like to use #Librarytok #librarymarketing, and #booktalk.”
And although she’s only six months into her new role, Francesca has advice for other libraries looking to use TikTok to reach new audiences.
“If you are unsure about starting a TikTok page, I suggest you have a person or a team of people who are outgoing and not shy to run the page,” she said. “The advice I would give any Library would be to beware of trends and KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!”
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The Library Marketing Show, Episode 176: A marketing agency has done the research and is unveiling the best days and times to post on social media. But is this the advice your library has been searching for? Or will you end up being less successful on social media if you take it?
We’ll unpack the results and how to interpret them 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 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.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
When Julia Pitts walks into a library or flips open a newly checked-out book, she remembers her grandmother, Velma.
A frugal woman who grew up in the Great Depression, Velma embedded Julia with her a few lifelong habits, including frequenting the library for its free entertainment.
“With eerie clarity, I can picture her tiny body reading a hardcover crime novel wrapped in the plastic library sheathing under the glow of her lima bean green table lamp,” recalled Julia.
Julia Pitts and her grandmother Velma
Today, that lamp sits in Julia’s office at the W. Frank Steely Library on the campus of Northern Kentucky University, where she serves as Communications and Marketing Manager. Before taking the job at NKU, Julia was a freelance marketer. But after four years of feeling like she was always on the clock, she was ready for a change.
“The idea of working on a college campus where the target audience is primarily young adults actively working to create a better future for themselves excited me,” remembered Julia. “After all, what group of people could be more fun to market to than college students? Better yet, I could use my skills to share the work of a library, an institution designed to empower its patrons with free access to life-changing resources and services. It truly felt meant to be.”
The Steely Library Instagram account is a favorite of mine. Julia says the platform is where she focuses most of her content creation energy, and for good reason.
“From a strategic standpoint, it is where the most significant chunk of our primary target audience (students) prefers to consume their content,” she explained. “Additionally, Instagram is where the majority of NKU’s other social media accounts are the most active.”
“Steely and a handful of other NKU accounts have created a bit of an unofficial influencer circle. We tag and share each other’s posts on stories, increasing the visibility across the campus of NKU’s services, resources, and events. After all, we aren’t competitors and are working towards the same goal; student success.”
“On a personal note, Instagram is my favorite platform. It is where I feel like I can best humanize the library through visual and written storytelling, speaking in a voice that resonates with students, capitalizing on visual elements, and creating fun mini-digital user experiences to engage with our audience. It’s where I can let Steely’s hair down and have a little fun.”
In the spring 2022 semester, Steely Library launched a weeklong scavenger hunt-inspired social media campaign. Staff hid six baby dinosaurs, each with their own adorable personality, throughout the library. The goal was to increase Instagram engagement and build awareness about their brand-new makerspace, Stego Studio, named after a 20-foot-long sculpture created by artist Pat Renick.
“Stego is the library’s beloved unofficial mascot,” explained Julia. “The six baby dinosaurs represented Stego’s children, curious wanderers, and patrons of the arts who had gotten lost in the library. If a student found and returned a baby stego, we rewarded them for their heroic efforts.”
Stego, the unofficial mascot of Steely Library
Each day, Steely Library shared a photographic clue along with a brief caption personifying the baby dinos on Instagram. Each baby stego included a small tag redirecting students to the makerspace with a message that read, “Woohoo! You found me! Take me to Stego Studio (Room SL 215) to claim your prize.” The prize for finding one of Stego’s long-lost children consisted of a Stego Studio sticker, an “I found baby stego” keychain, and a certificate to create a project of their choosing (free of charge) in the makerspace.
“To increase the awareness of our campaign and maximize the number of students that could participate, we created a second way to win a prize,” revealed Julia “If students liked, saved, shared, and tagged friends in the campaign launch post, they were entered for a chance to win a study room for a day with a Jimmy John’s catered lunch for them and three friends.”
The idea for the campaign originated with the Board of Student Stakeholders (BOSS), the student library advisory board. Each year, the group receives funds to execute a library improvement project of their choosing.
BOSS’s idea to launch a social media campaign was the perfect opportunity to begin building awareness of the space and demystifying its technology to the student users. “With the makerspace’s off-the-beaten-path location in the library, we knew the campaign needed to contain an element that physically brought students into the space,” explained Julia.
“Once we launched, it did not take long to realize that we were on to something. The first baby stego was found in seven minutes, the second in 30 seconds, and the third in 20 (seconds). Before we launched, I was just hoping that the baby dinos would be found by the end of the day. I was not expecting (or ready for) the high level of interest we received.”
After the third baby stego was found so quickly, Julia knew it was time to go back to the drawing board and shake things up. What started as a simple scavenger hunt promptly pivoted into a trail of clues and challenges rivaling the Amazing Race.
Students formed teams, scouting potential hiding locations, camping out in study rooms to be close to the action, and tracking Julia’s movements once it was revealed that she was the baby stego hider.” One student even planted fake clues to lead other hopeful seekers astray,” remembered Julia. “It was pure chaos, and I loved every minute of it.”
“By the end, it was clear that we had created something that struck a chord with our students and accomplished our goals. Over the week, we saw a 4,381% increase in post interaction and 71 new followers on Instagram. But, more importantly, we introduced Stego Studio and its technology to a highly captive audience.”
When she’s looking for inspiration, Julia turns to other libraries, both academic and public. One of her favorites is the University of Kentucky’s social media accounts. “Their posts are fun, lighthearted, and have a unique tone of voice,” she explained. “I think far too often, libraries fall into the trap of only sharing text-heavy promotional graphics for events and programs. As a result, their feed can come off as impersonal and spammy. UK relies more on intriguing photography to lure its viewers in, and I knew I wanted to do the same.”
And despite the successes she has created at Steely Library, Julia knows 2023 will be a banner year. “The most significant project of my life is projected to launch on January 21…the birth of my first child (eeek!). So, for the first few months of the year, I will be preoccupied with learning and panicking over how to keep a tiny human alive and well. Upon my return, I’d love to start building a team of student content creators or a library marketing fellowship opportunity.”
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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.
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 152: In this episode, I’ll share two major changes coming to Twitter AND two major changes coming to Instagram. These four headlines will have an impact on the way you promote your library.
Kudos in this episode go to the Douglas 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 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.
In this episode, I’ve got three big updates for libraries that will affect your ability to post to social media.
Kudos go to the University of North Carolina Libraries for their free racial equity challenge syllabus.
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.
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.
I’m starting a new segment! On the last Wednesday of every month, I’ll be updating you on three headlines related to social media that pertain to library marketing.
In this episode, I’ll update you on news about Instagram Reels and TikTok, Facebook, and a new Pinterest feature.
Kudos in this episode go to the Bristol and South Gloucestershire libraries in the UK for their involvement in the Collect and Drop Surge Testing Service for COVID 19.
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!
Next week on the blog: What to do if your library’s social media accounts are hacked!
Two years ago, I listened to two episodes of the Social Media Examiner podcast that gave me nightmares.
The first episode featured an interview with a fitness instructor who lost control of ALL her accounts in the span of an hour. Her quest to gain control back was a saga I don’t ever want to experience.
The second episode featured an interview with the Social Media Examiner team as they recounted the day they lost control of their own Facebook business account.
If it can happen to Social Media Examiner, it can happen to your library.
Here’s the truth: most of us are too trusting. We probably don’t think a social media security breach will never happen to us. But we couldn’t be more wrong. In the first six months of 2020, the data protection company ZeroFOX reported a 95 percent increase in threat activity on social media accounts, compared to the last six months of 2019.
We may be even more vulnerable right now, with staff members working from home and resources stretched thin. One library I know allows more than three dozen staff members to post on their various social media accounts. I’m happy to say they are taking steps to beef up their social media security. But I fear there are too many libraries who operate in this way.
Anti-virus and malware software are essential, but that’s only half the battle. You need to take steps to protect your library’s social media accounts from compromise. Here’s how to do that.
Limit access to your social media accounts.
If you have a large team of people who post for you, consider trimming to no more than five admins for all social media accounts. Most platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn will let you assign roles to people. Limiting access is a good way to protect your full account’s security.
What should you do if you have a large social media team who currently post on your accounts? Ask your team to send pre-written posts with photos, videos, and graphics to a team leader via email or a shared file system like Google Drive, Trello, or Base Camp. Your social media account admins can pull and post that pre-written content.
Create an email exclusively to manage your library’s social media accounts.
This step will prevent your social media accounts from being compromised if one of your admins accidentally opens a suspicious link or file in their own work or personal email.
Use two-step authentication.
Most platforms will ask you to enter a randomly generated code every time you log in. Take the extra step. It’s better to choose safety over convenience.
Pick strong, unique passwords.
According to the digital risk protection company Idagent, 80 percent of data breaches in 2019 were caused by password compromise. That’s why choosing a strong password is critical.
Strong passwords contain:
At least six characters.
A combination of numbers, symbols, and letters.
Letters in both upper and lowercase characters.
No connection to your library. Don’t use the name of your mascot or the numerical portion of your street address in your password.
The easiest way to create strong passwords is to use a secure password generator like Passwordsgenerator.net. You should also consider a process for storing your passwords in a secure location, like a locked file on your Share drive. You could choose to pay a small fee for a password manager like LastPass.com and 1password.com.
Finally, you must also be sure the password you use for each social media platform is unique. Don’t use the same password across all your accounts.
Change your passwords often.
Don’t get too attached to your passwords. Changing them is an inconvenience, but it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.
A good rule of thumb is to change your passwords at least every quarter, but more often is even better. You should also be sure to change all passwords anytime a staff member who had access to your social media accounts leaves the library’s employment.
Don’t use your library’s public Wi-Fi.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission warns that public Wi-Fi is not secure. Cybercriminals easily gain access to passwords and other data on these types of wireless networks. Use your staff Wi-Fi or a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) if available.
If you are posting on a mobile device in a location outside the library with public Wi-Fi, use your cell service instead of the public Wi-Fi. Cell service providers use encryption to ensure safety. You may need to consider the purchase of a library-owned device with cell service so staff aren’t using their personal cell service to post for the library.
Did I miss anything? Did your library experience a social media attack and if so, how did you handle it? Let me know in the comments below.
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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 