Topic: Marketing and Public Relations
Attendees:
Shannon, Hoover
Todd, Hoover
Ryan Godfrey, APLS
Selina, Wylam, BPL
Heather, Homewood
Deidre, Bessemer
Elizabeth, BPL
Mary, Homewood
Leslie, Avondale
Michelle, Irondale
Laura, Homewood
Jennifer, Five Point West, BPL
David, BPL
Cristina, Homewood
Debbie, Leeds
Nancy, Leeds
Maura, Trussville
Lynn, BPL
Tracie, BPL
A show of hands determined that many area libraries utilize social media in the form of:
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, GoodReads, Meetups, YouTube channels, Pinterest and a few use SnapChat. For us, Birmingham 365 is a must-use even though it is not easy to navigate (and not a guarantee that your event will be featured.) Libraries are also often using area newspapers and free publications such as Hoover Sun, Western Star, etc.
Elizabeth Swift at BPL utilizes MyEmma to send out e-blasts to patrons with emails attached to their cards or those who sign up for news. Some libraries pay extra in order to get just their patrons to send to. Contact Elizabeth if you are interested in learning more about e-blasts. If you send her an image and text, she will send it out (total emails to about 35,000 addresses.)
We went "round robin" style to hear how various libraries are successfully marketing their services and collections. Hopefully there will be some ideas that will catch on in your library!
- Avondale uses Facebook to promote their very popular craft and ukelele programs. Recently they did well with a Game of Thrones program too.
- Michelle at Irondale utilizes MyEmma to target the 6,000 residents of Irondale. Her last e-blast had about 14 people request to be on their ongoing mailing list!
- Selina from Wylam uses Facebook and has worked with McDonalds and Burger King for prizes. Her branch also uses Roy Williams (head of PR for BPL) for press to a larger group.
- Five Points West has successfully utilized Instagram.
- David from Central talked about their very outstanding Passport Fair. They produced 112 passports in 7 hours. Lynn added that they had a TV spot and used Facebook Marketing as well.
- Christina from Homewood often posts to Instagram -- Homewood uses just one account on Instagram, while Hoover has both a children's and all-around account.
- Hoover has discovered a new free online tool called GIMP which is an open-source free version of Adobe Photoshop for photo editing. Still using the free version of Canva.com for a lot of publicity deliverables.
- Heather at Homewood talked about a sold-out Adults Potion Class for those Harry Potter fans -- they scheduled a second one and 871 were "interested" on Facebook with 60 "going". Huge success! There was even fake scalping of the tickets!
- Mary Eller from Homewood kids dept talked about doing story times out in the community (like Urban Cookhouse and Magic City Sweet Ice) during the summer - very successful effort.
- Gardendale also does pop-up storytelling out in the community with good success.
- Speaking of "out in the community": JCPLA had a table at the Mutt Strutt to advertise the digital collection -- dogs wore JCPLA tee shirts and the humans had a great time!
- Deidre at Bessemer had several people to her 3D printingg program -- everyone seemed to learn a lot. Bessemer also got LSTA Funding for a 60" HG TV and 8 laptops with which they will be taking into nursing homes to teach residents how to use.
- Nancy from Leeds talked about their successful pop-up at Rails & Ales called "Tales and Ales". They've also done story time at Chick-Fil-A and Green Up.
- Debbie from Leeds also talked about how they utilize the Leeds Tribune -- don't forget those smaller, local newspapers or free publications for free publicity! Leeds was able to secure 12 Alabama Humanities speakers (one for each month) for celebration of the Alabama Bicentennial. Those have been hugely popular.
- Lynn from downtown talked about how circulation puts targeted bookmarks in each book as they are checked out. Easy and simple!
- After that note, Elizabeth Swift informed us that with the newest Sierra upgrade, we will begin to implement "Return on Investment" on each checkout slip -- in other words, the checkout slip will reflect the costs of checked out materials to show how much a patron "SAVED" by using the library! Can't wait!!!
- Maura from Leeds has used bookmarks in the checked out books for informing patrons of new services or about their Device Day, etc.
Ryan Godfrey from APLS specializes in marketing of public libraries showed a slideshow about keeping your message simple and not being overwhelmed by the multitude of options available for marketing your library. That slideshow can be accessed here.
One important point Ryan made is to begin marketing your library like a business and to distill your message. It is very hard to capture people's sustained attention but if you convey the bare bones - it will resonate with people.
If at all possible, create a brand for your library that will be consistent, on message and recognizable to your patrons. Above all, use STORY as a marketing tool. If you have patrons who have used the library to get a leg up in business or get their degree, utilize their personalized story as your success story.
Also, don't take things for granted - patrons don't always remember that we have a fax machine, craft programs, drivers manuals, voter registration, etc.
You might even want to push the use by patrons of the Amazon.com extension that allows you to see if a resource is currently available from their public library. It's called "Library Extension" and can be found for Chrome or any other browser.
There was a brief discussion of tracking the number of clicks on links shared on social media -- even though it was brief, more can be found by reading this article: 2 Ways to Track Bit.ly
Tray to stay relevant and timely. When Doris Day died, did you pull all of her movies and display them? Have you put out a beach read display for your summer readers? Keep in mind that social media is FLUID -- to learn more about doing a better job at marketing, follow other libraries, innovate and try new things.
One great idea is to keep an Idea Journal -- something you can jot down ideas you read about or come across that might turn into real success stories for the future. Keep track of your success and failures so that others can follow your examples (and share these with the adult services roundtable group!!!)
Todd from Hoover, who was instrumental in re-branding the Hoover library talked again about Story. Bring the stories from within the library and those created by your patrons. Track any numbers you can and use these things to convert people into users. Once they become used to all that the library can do for them, they become your advocates.
Todd has taken inspiration from all kinds of sources such as "People of Alabama", "Humans of New York", anything that shares relateable content. Keeping things simple and consistent is KEY. For marketing purposes, if you are creating flyers or posters and they will be for use inside the library, don't overburden it with addresses and phone numbers, etc. Keep any URL links short and pretty, if you can.
Take advantage of tools out there like NextDoor, Yelp, Google My Business. And if you get any money to put towards marketing and public relations, get something that will stand the test of time and will always remind patrons of the library and its many FREE uses.
One great idea is to keep an Idea Journal -- something you can jot down ideas you read about or come across that might turn into real success stories for the future. Keep track of your success and failures so that others can follow your examples (and share these with the adult services roundtable group!!!)
Todd from Hoover, who was instrumental in re-branding the Hoover library talked again about Story. Bring the stories from within the library and those created by your patrons. Track any numbers you can and use these things to convert people into users. Once they become used to all that the library can do for them, they become your advocates.
Todd has taken inspiration from all kinds of sources such as "People of Alabama", "Humans of New York", anything that shares relateable content. Keeping things simple and consistent is KEY. For marketing purposes, if you are creating flyers or posters and they will be for use inside the library, don't overburden it with addresses and phone numbers, etc. Keep any URL links short and pretty, if you can.
Take advantage of tools out there like NextDoor, Yelp, Google My Business. And if you get any money to put towards marketing and public relations, get something that will stand the test of time and will always remind patrons of the library and its many FREE uses.
Below is a handout on general PR & Marketing resources:
Elements of Public Relations & Marketing (General Resources)
Advocacy: ROI/return on investment, data on the value of libraries to the community
Performance Measurement: how to measure the impact of programming
Disaster Recovery: bans, protests, bad press - how to handle things in a crisis
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