Social Media and Library Outreach

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Social Media and Library Outreach
Share Resources, Highlight Services, and Build
Support John L. Amundsen, Communications
Specialist ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach
Services
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What is Social Media?
 Kaplan and Haenlein define social media as "a
group of Internet-based applications that build
on the ideological multi faceted and
technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that
allow the creation and exchange of user-generated
content. Kaplan, Andreas M. Michael Haenlein
(2010) "Users of the world, unite! The challenges
and opportunities of Social Media". Business
Horizons 53(1) 5968
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Come again?

• Social media in OUR context - refers to online
  applications where users can create and share
  content on Web applications, including
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Delicious
• Pinterest
• Foursquare
• and many, many more

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Why bother?

• Social media is
• Everywhere. Chances are that many of your local
  businesses, institutions, and patrons use it
  every day.
• Easy. You and your friends probably already use
  it daily.
• Cost effective. Most platforms are free.
• Quick. You dont have to spend a lot of time on
  it to be effective.

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Is it relevant to libraries?

• People LOVE their libraries the kind of online
  marketing goodwill businesses envy!
• As such, people will want to engage with their
  libraries online, creating an opportunity for you
  to
• Highlight services
• Share resources
• Communicate value
• Build support

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Cool, Lets Get Started! Wait.

• Before you start, be sure to check with your
  administration for the following
• Library messaging
• Policies and guidelines
• Existing accounts

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Think strategically.

• A social media plan is still a marketing plan.
  Before moving forward, consider
• Goals
• Timeframe
• Stakeholders
• Message framework for
• Your event AND your library
• Tactics (i.e., tools)

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Goals

• What do you want to accomplish with your social
  media effort?
• Make reasonable goals
• Increase attendance at bookmobile stops
• Increase awareness of outreach sevices
• Drive participation in library initiatives

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Tactics

• Identify what social media platform(s) you wish
  to use link between them
• Identify potiential partners link to them
• Incentivize! Give them a compelling reason to
  interact (giveaways, etc.)

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Tools of the Trade Facebook

• www.facebook.com
• Now over 1 billion users
• Disseminate news and information
• Facebook Pages
• Easy to make a page
• Easy to link to partners
• Easy to link to Twitter
• Track activity through Insights

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Tools of the trade Facebook
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Tools of the Trade Twitter

• www.twitter.com
• The original Microblog
• Good for quick, concise messages
• Disseminate news and information
• Linkable with Facebook
• Use hashtags to keep track of the conversation

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Tools of the Trade Twitter
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Tools of the Trade YouTube

• www.youtube.com
• Share your videos on your YouTube Channel
• Encourage your fans to make their own videos

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Tools of the Trade YouTube
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Tools of the Trade Delicious

• www.delicious.com
• Social Bookmarking
• Share, tag, and annotate Web resources

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Tools of the Trade Delicious
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Tools of the Trade Pinterest

• www.pinterest.com
• Social photo sharing/bookmarking
• Similar to Delicious, but for images
• Good for developing themed collections

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Tools of the Trade Pinterest
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Bringing it all together HootSuite

• www.hootsuite.com
• Schedule your posts in advance for Facebook,
  Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, and others
• Free (premium service available for cost)

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Bringing it all together HootSuite
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Cross-Promote!

• Always have your social media accounts reference
  each other and point towards your Web site
• Do this creatively through contests, special
  offers, etc.
• Make sure the Web site you're pointing people
  towards has good and relevant information

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Evaluate your results

• Reflect on your lessons learned what worked?
  What didn't work?
• Don't be afraid to ask your fans and followers
• What did they like?
• What would they like to see in the future?

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Recommended Reading
Ars Technica www.arstechnica.org Mashable
http//mashable.com ReadWriteWeb
http//www.readwriteweb.com/ Beth Kanters Blog
- http//www.bethkanter.org/ Social Media
Examiner http//www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
Nonprofit Tech 2.0 http//nonprofitorgs.wordpre
ss.com/ HubSpot blog http//blog.hubspot.com/
Social Times http//socialtimes.com/ All
Facebook http//allfacebook.com/ Steve Rubels
Twitter feed http//twitter.com/steverubel
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Lets hear from you!

• How have/will you used social media to promote
  your services?

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Thank you!