David Lee King

social media | emerging trends | libraries

Social Media Trends vs Your Message

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Recently, I read this article that talked about TikTok and Instagram Reels. The article discusses the rise of TikTok and how Instagram Reels (and Instagram in general) is floundering.

As an aside, not so sure about the Instagram thing. I just posted an Instagram Reel on my personal Instagram account that has quickly become my second most popular Reel. So it’s working for me… 

But – the larger thing that struck me from this article is that social media tools come and go. And that’s ok! The one constant with social media is that it’s still changing every few years.

Libraries and organizations don’t really need to be concerned with the hot new tool, or the most viral-worthy types of content to post on each social media platform.

Your job on your social media channels is to share snippets of what you do, and snippets of who you are. And I suppose snippets of why people should care/be interested. That last one will mostly come from the first two. But it’s still good to include.

The best part about this? You can create these snippets for pretty much any platform. TikTok, Facebook, Twitter. Your website. A paper brochure. A presentation. A 1-minute elevator pitch. Etc.

You don’t really need to focus too much on hot trends in the next new social media app (i.e., Reels vs TikTok vs YouTube Shorts). So please, no middle aged librarians dancing in TikTok (well – unless you’re really good or really funny. Then it’s ok)!

But sharing snippets about books, events, and creating stuff? Yes please. Sharing what just happened that was really cool? Yes please. Sharing how you help better your community? More please!

Posting like this is easy, because it’s what you have always done (or should have been doing, anyway). And it’s stuff you already know how to do.

Let’s do more of that!

image from Unsplash

Don’t Do Email Marketing Like This

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I’m planning to go to ALA2022 in Washington DC at the end of June (well, like 90% sure). I’m starting to get vendor emails about the conference – mostly invites to breakfasts, private events, and product launches. Normal vendor stuff.

That’s all good! But I just received an email that wasn’t so hot. Why not? Here’s a short list of things they did wrong:

  1. Bad email subject heading. It just mentioned the annual conference … nothing else. Seriously – the whole subject line says this: “The American Library Association’s Annual Conference.”
  2. Bad email content. It was all about this vendor’s brand-spankin’ new … conference booth! This is me, not caring about that fancy new booth.
  3. Bad video message. Finally, at the end of the email, there’s an embedded video – a message from someone in sales, I think (they don’t actually say who he is – they just mention his name). In the short video, the sales dude reminds me that: 1. there’s a conference coming up soon (yep, I know that), 2. there will be lots of vendors there (yep, I know that too), and 3. they have a new booth!

Ok – good for them for trying to do some good email marketing and for inviting me to find them at the conference. However, I think this vendor could have done a better job of it! Really easily!

Some things they could do differently next time include:

  • Don’t remind me there’s a conference. I know. I’m pretty sure they got their email list from ALA (my library’s not a customer of theirs).
  • Change that email subject line to something a bit more catchy and/or useful. Something like “3 Reasons to Visit us at ALA!” Or “we’re excited to see you in DC! Here’s why!”
  • Don’t mention the new booth. Um, guys. I am glad you are excited about that fun new booth. But guess what? Your customers are not. They’re actually interested in your new products, updates, innovations, etc. And how that new product might help meet their goals. You know … stuff like that. The booth is something that your sales team is probably pretty excited about, but not something your customers will notice. Instead, give me some solid reasons to visit your booth: things like … New products! A discount! A free t-shirt (hey, I’d wear it on lawn-mowing day). Then when I’m there… don’t mention the booth.
  • Short video message – great idea! Do a little editing (it could have been snappier pretty easily). And tell me about your new stuff (not about the booth). Or even your old stuff that still works.

Most importantly, this company should re-think their reasons why I should visit their booth. If the most exciting customer-centric reason to visit your booth is that you have a new booth … you are probably wasting time in the exhibit hall. I’m positive you can come up with a bunch of better reasons to visit your booth with a good 10 minutes of brainstorming time. So next time, do that brainstorming and focus on those things instead.

Mixology at the Library (well, sort of)!

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Has your library ever partnered with a bar to make drinks that match up with a library event? Well … we have!

Watch our first Mixology video (embedded in this post) – showing a bartender at a local restaurant making a themed cocktail.

Here’s what we’re doing: we have an art gallery as part of the library. Our current art exhibit is called “Blue” – more info here. Basically, the exhibit shows a bunch of … blue stuff. We also partnered with some local restaurants to create a signature blue cocktail, to go with our art exhibit’s theme. You can visit the restaurant and order the drink.

Why? Well, the exhibit’s goal is to help you “experience” the color blue. You can see blue-themed artwork, listen to “blue-sounding” music as part of the exhibit, attend a talk related to the theme … and “taste” the color blue via these cocktails. Just another way to experience the color blue.

We’ll eventually have 4-6 of these videos, all of local restaurants making their signature blue cocktails. It’s a fun way to reach outside the walls of our library building and into the community. Also into the part of the community that likes to visit restaurants and order blue cocktails.

Also, a good example of a nicely done video from our Marketing department! They actually took cameras and lights to each restaurant to make these videos.

So – fun idea, thought I’d share it! Hope everyone has a happy holiday season!

Remind People you are Open

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Well … this has certainly been a weird year so far.

One thing I have found odd (besides politics and a global pandemic) is simply having to let people know that the library is, in fact, open again!

That’s a REALLY strange thing to have to tell people. This year my library just celebrated its 150th anniversary. That’s 150 years of being open. Sure, we closed for things like snow days … but otherwise, we’ve been open for one hundred and fifty freaking years.

So having people ask “is the library open yet?” is a pretty strange thing to hear!

Here’s how we have been letting our community know we’re open:

  • Website – check out our What You Can Do Now page. As things change, we update this page.
  • Social Media – the image in this blog post came from a Facebook post letting people know we are open. We have shared similar messages on Twitter and Instagram.
  • E-News – we do a weekly enewsletter, and we have shared there that we are open.
  • Signs outside the building – we have signs out front saying we are open (and to wear a mask)!
  • YouTube Video Ad – we just created our first YouTube video ad (Koios helped us set up our Google ads account). The ad goes out to people living in our service area, and lets viewers know that we are open again.
  • Phone message – call our main number after hours, and you’ll hear my voice, letting people know we’re open, what our hours are, etc.
  • Traditional media – we’ve also been on the local TV news and had some newspaper articles written about what’s been happening at the library.

I’ve probably missed a few things, too.

My point? It’s important to let your community know that you are open (if you are). It’s also important to let people know when something changes – like opening up a curbside pickup service for the first time, or if there’s a change in service levels, open hours, meeting room use, etc.

Let your customers know what’s going on, and what to expect at the library. And make sure to keep sharing about your digital services, too!

You got this – keep going strong!

Image by Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Check out the videos this library made!

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A couple of days ago, I saw a mention of the videos that Invercargill City Libraries & Archives, in New Zealand, has been making [saw the mention over at the Libraries and Social Media Group on Facebook. You should check em out!].

They are making some really fun videos! I have a couple of them embedded in this post – definitely watch them – they will make you smile.

Which, of course, is a great goal to have for video. With social media (they seem to be posting most of these videos on their Facebook Page, even though they also have a YouTube account that’s not linked on their website), making you smile most likely leads to making you click. Clicking Like, Sharing, adding a comment, etc.

And on Facebook, doing those types of actions means you will start seeing more of their Facebook posts. So – watching and liking a video could equal seeing something about a program at the library.

Also – what they have done with video isn’t hard to do – they have just done it really well. Short, to the point, a “story,” and they made me smile.

I especially love their Mean Tweets Videos – here’s one below.

Great job, Invercargill City Library!