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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!
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.
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There is one very simple tip that you can use to increase the organic reach of your library’s posts on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook (and X, if you still use that). And honestly, when I heard about this tip, I felt like smacking myself. How did I miss this? It’s so easy. I’m going to share it with you.
Plus we’ll give kudos to someone doing great work in library marketing.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
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The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 178: A viewer issues a plea for help!
Grace wrote in with this request:
“I am interested in working on our YouTube channel but I am really struggling with content ideas. In the past, no one held the only marketing position at my library so everyone made content (especially during the pandemic). This was good because subscribers were hearing book reviews, storytime programs, etc. directly from librarians and programmers.
Now that I am in the sole marketing position, I would like to do videos, but I don’t think folks want to get their book reviews, book recommendations, etc. from a marketer. And now, post-pandemic(ish), our librarians are back in-person doing traditional library roles and don’t have time to support much with content creation.
Any recommendations for the best approach to take to YouTube if a library marketer has limited access to our very busy librarians?“
I’ll share five tips for coming up with great ideas for YouTube videos.
Kudos in this episode go to a school librarian named Lucas Maxwell.
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 please subscribe to this series on YouTube 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.
The Library Marketing Show, Episode 164: Click the video link above to hear about the top two social media headlines for libraries.
YouTube channels are getting their own handles. And TikTok fires back at Instagram with a new feature. Let’s talk about how these changes will impact library marketing and promotions.
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
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.
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, we have the top three social media headlines. There are huge changes coming to the Facebook algorithm (again!) plus a new feature on Instagram and why you might want to rethink your library’s YouTube strategy. What does this all mean for libraries? We’ll dive in.
Kudos in this episode go to the Lexington Public 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
When I was a kid, I was careful to always order the least expensive meal on the menu.
When we shopped for clothes, I always picked the cheapest option. At the start of each school year, I scoured ads (yes, even as a child!) to find the lowest prices on supplies, backpacks, and lunchboxes.
My frugality was a blessing during my time working in a library. I did a lot of effective promotions for free, especially on social media.
When I started work at the library in 2013, the average organic reach of a Facebook post was 12.5 percent. Today, it’s just 5.2 percent. That means roughly only one in every 19 fans will see your content. That is a huge decline.
Platforms adjust their algorithms to help them make money. And that’s why organic reach is now so limited.
Why your library might want to spend money on social media ads
Social media ads can do what organic posts cannot. They will ensure your posts will be seen by your target audience.
For major library campaigns, there is value in spending precious library dollars to purchase social media ads. Your library should consider investing in social media ads for the following reasons:
To reach new audiences
To solicit participation in system-wide programs like summer reading
To publicize larger library events especially if your library has invested a lot of time and money creating the event.
To publicize building openings and renovations
To soften the ground for upcoming levy or bond issues
To introduce a new library director or board member
To solicit donations
To recruit volunteers
Careful planning will lay the groundwork for a successful library social media ad campaign.
Planning your library social media ads
The first step is to identify your goal. What result are you looking to achieve? Be specific. Use numbers. Specify how you will measure the results.
For example, you may write goals like these:
“Last year, we had 500 kids ages 12-18 participate in our summer reading program. This year, we will increase that participation number by 25 percent to 625 kids.”
“We will fill 95 percent of the seats at our next virtual author program with Benjamin Gilmer, author of the new book, The Other Dr. Gilmer. Our platform has a 300-viewer capacity, so we will get at least 285 people to log on for the event.”
Once you have a specific goal, your next step will be to identify your target audience.
Let’s take the two examples above. The target audience for the summer reading program goal would be teens, their parents, and teachers. For the virtual author program, your target audience would be avid readers of nonfiction, true crime, and thriller books, book club leaders, medical professionals, lawyers, and criminal justice leaders, as well as medical, law, and criminal justice students from the nearby university. Note your target audience under your goal.
Finally, you’ll need to determine the content of your ads. To do that you’ll make these decisions:
What text will we use?
What images will we use?
What will our call to action be?
When those details are in place, you’ll be ready to begin buying your ads.
Choosing your social media ad platform
Let’s compare the three major platforms on which libraries typically purchase ads: Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Facebook
Facebook is still the largest of the social media platforms, with nearly two billion active daily users. 15 percent of those users interact with ads on Facebook.
Facebook has the most powerful and accurate tools to optimize and target your audience. Facebook says nearly ten percent of the people who see the ads take an action. That’s quite high, and a great argument for using money to buy Facebook ads.
It used to be that libraries would create one ad on Facebook and be done with it. But Facebook now encourages pages to run multiple ads at the same time for optimum results.
But don’t worry about having to create the perfect combination of text, images, and calls to action. Facebook makes it easy with its Dynamic Ad creative tools. You’ll find them in the Facebook Ad Creator section.
Select “optimize ad creative for each person.” Then give Facebook at least two options for text, headlines, and images or videos. Facebook will then use keywords and its extensive knowledge of its own audience to mix and match the right combination for your target audience.
To increase the chances that your dynamic ad content will be successful, be sure to select the keywords in your text and headlines carefully and strategically. Facebook will use these keywords to help it decide who your ads will be shown to, and when they’ll be shown.
The final step is to set up Google Analytics on your library’s website with a Facebook Pixel. That will allow you to accurately track your ad on Facebook. The pixel will give your insight into how many people click on your ad and come to your library’s website to take any action, like registering for a program or signing up to participate in summer reading.
Once your ad creative pieces are chosen and your pixel is set up, run a test of all the ad options for seven days. At the end of the week, you’ll have a clear idea of which ad combination works the best. You can then invest a little more money in the ad with the best performance.
Boone County Library in Kentucky used Facebook ads.
Facebook also makes it easy to retarget people who interact with your initial ads. For example, let’s say you bought ads to spread awareness of your summer reading program. When registration opens, you can buy a second ad that will be shown to people who engaged with the first ad. That second ad might have a goal of getting those folks to register and pick up their reading log from the library.
A few weeks after that, your library could buy a third ad, retargeting anyone who engaged with the first and second ads. That third ad may have the goal of asking people to share summer reading content like photos of their book haul, their reading log, or their participation prizes.
Instagram
Instagram has around 500 million daily active users. 70 percent of shoppers say they use this app specifically to shop!
Libraries might not be selling anything, but we can certainly use the sales tools to drive engagement with our collection and services. And since the platform is owned by Facebook, libraries have access to the same targeting options that make Facebook ads so effective.
There are five types of Instagram ads:
Photo
Video
Carousel
Collection
Stories
Photo and video ads are self-explanatory. They feature one photo or video that shows up in the Instagram feed.
An example of a photo ad on Instagram.
Carousel ads let you combine anywhere from two and ten photos and videos all in the same post. People can swipe through to see everything in the carousel. These ads are dynamic, and they stand out from everything else in the Instagram feed.
Companies use collection ads to directly sell products. People can browse a wide range of products and services captured in a story format. For a library, a collection ad would let you showcase a series of specific library services, like a list of individual titles in a theme, or a list of your most popular databases.
You can also run Instagram story ads for your library. This would allow you to incorporate filters, video effects, music, and texts in these ads. And best of all, they include a swipe-up feature that directs the users to your library’s website.
To run an Instagram ad for your library, you’ll need to have an Instagram business or creator account—you can’t post ads from a personal Instagram account. You can convert your library page to a business account if you haven’t already done so.
You’ll be able to effectively target your audience on Instagram in the same way that you can on Facebook. You’ll choose from criteria including the location, age, gender, behavior, language, and browsing patterns of your target audience.
With both Facebook and Instagram, your library can set a daily budget. The platforms will help you determine the correct amount, based on your target audience specifications. For most libraries, a budget of $10 a day will be an adequate amount for a successful ad campaign.
YouTube
YouTube boasts an audience of over two billion monthly users. The platform is especially effective for reaching Gen Z. YouTube reaches more adults aged 18 to 24 than any TV network.
YouTube has two kinds of ads. The first, and most popular among users, is called “TrueView.” TrueView ads play before someone watches a video or in the middle of a video. The viewer may get the option to skip the ad after it plays for about 5 seconds. Your library can also customize your video’s call to action in a TrueView ad.
An ad that viewers can skip might not sound like a great idea. But YouTube’s pricing structure is set up so that your library will only pay for the ad if the user watches at least 30 seconds of a long ad or the entirety of a shorter video ad.
YouTube also has non-skippable ads that can play before, during, or after the main video. These are interruptive ads, but if you have a beautiful video ad that is valuable and entertaining, you won’t annoy the viewer. Non-skippable ads are shorter, between 7 and 15 seconds in length.
An example of a non-skippable ad on YouTube
The process of buying an ad on YouTube is slightly more complex than it is for Facebook and Instagram. Your library may end up being connected to a Google specialist by YouTube to help you make your final decisions.
But in general, once you’ve created your video ad, you’ll make some decisions that will impact the effectiveness of your ad. You’ll let YouTube know what goal you’re trying to reach. You’ll also indicate the demographics of your target audience. And you’ll set the budget for your ads. Then, your campaign begins!
Has your library purchased social media ads before? On which channels? Did you see results? Share your experience 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.
In this episode, I’ll share the latest social media updates for January 2022, including a new way to filter analytics on YouTube and a new way to share video clips from Facebook to your stories. We’ll talk about what all of this means for libraries. Plus a study that may make you rethink the way you spent ad $$ for Summer Reading and other big library programs.
Kudos in this episode go to the ten winners of a huge award given by the American Library Association! 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.
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 