We use social media not only for connecting and reconnecting with our peers but for getting updates on what is going on in our community. There are so many events and programs at your local library, such as learning how to self-educate, but the community needs to learn about these exciting opportunities.
If you want more people to know about your library programming, Super Library Marketing says social media is an amazing way to curate a following.
Using Instagram to Market Your Library Programming
Instagram is an excellent platform not only for posting pictures but to inform followers about upcoming events in your library. According to Omnicore Agency, the average Instagram user spends half an hour on the platform with 50% visiting a website after seeing a product or service there. Your regular content should focus on video content and carousel posts thanks to the growing competitors of YouTube and TikTok.
For example, Cascade Public Library made a video promoting a Girl’s Code Club with hashtags and event info in the captions. SearchEngine Journal says carousel photos are the most engaging type of posts. Brooklyn Public Library made an engaging carousel post of pictures of staff-made book displays to encourage people to vote in their contest. If you mix photos with video in your carousel post, that’s a bonus.
With Stories being the most popular feature on Instagram, post a story once a day. You can create tutorials about your library’s services and add any relevant links. Stickers are great for engagement like asking questions, creating polls, and encouraging viewers to comment and send photos of their own, such as the Windsor Public Library. The platform’s live scheduling function can effectively promote your event to followers and even non-followers if you like. Your audience can receive notifications for your live posts so they’re informed.
Posts to Feed or Reels should be only two to three times a week. Check insights once a month to get an idea of the best time and week to schedule your posts for the highest possible views. You can see your account’s metrics by converting it to a Business Profile.
Using Facebook to Market Your Library Programming
Facebook is a tricky platform for libraries. Despite its growing number of users every year, its Content Distribution Guidelines state Facebook will prioritize posts that encourage people to interact on their platform and suppress the distribution of posts that can take you away from the platform. Factors the algorithm will consider will be its comments and likes, content shared by users in feeds and messenger, replies to comments, the informativeness of the posts, and how new the post is.
Storytelling and live-streaming videos should be three minutes or longer. Promotional videos should be less than 60 seconds. Hook viewers within the first three seconds of the video with clear branding. Ask users to engage in a specific action in the video such as answering a question or leaving a comment.
Use search terms in the title that will allow users to want to play the video. Create captions whenever possible and specifically ask viewers to share videos. An example of an effective library video for Facebook would be Flinders Public School’s video promoting its new library.
If you're an academic librarian and you want to promote your library’s event, share the page instead of writing your own post about it on your personal profile. The algorithm tends to notice more when real people share posts.
TechCrunch reported that Facebook gets over 500 million viewers a day from Stories. If your library posts Instagram stories, choose to share the same content on Facebook Stories as well to make use of both platforms.
Try to post on Facebook once a day and during the workday for more engagement. Like Instagram, check your Facebook metrics to know when to make your posts based on when people check them.
Using TikTok to Market Your Library Programming
When you think of TikTok, you might think because of how fun the platform is that it’s not the best place to promote a business. As of March 2021, TikTok has 689 million active users worldwide which is more than Facebook’s 2.8 million. With the average user spending 52 minutes a day on the video-viewing platform, that’s got to mean people love TikTok.
The best thing about TikTok is that your video will be shown to a small group of people with that particular interest on their "For You" page. If the video gets a lot of engagement, TikTok will expose the video to more people. TikTok allows you to get creative with your videos like adding music and special effects.
An example of a TikTok famous library is The Milwaukee Public Library. They make fun videos to promote important holiday events, such as a video of girls on rollerskates racing to read banned books for Banned Books Week with Weezer’s “Pork and Beans” playing in the background. They’ve also made serious videos, such as one for library patrons wanting to check out media on a sensitive topic. This TikTok channel has more than 41,000 followers— including actress Reese Witherspoon! Their popularity proves that making your videos both informative and entertaining will naturally garner a ton of followers.
Using Pinterest to Market Your Library Programming
Last but not least, Pinterest is the perfect way to link out events. According to the Business of Apps, 57% of Pinterest users access the platform at least once a week. People actually log into this platform more each month than Twitter and Snapchat. The ranking factors that affect Pinterest’s algorithm are posting from a real website, using the best practices in images, keywords, descriptions, and board management, pinning about trending topics, and video pin engagement.
If you look at Pinterest’s trending page, you’ll understand what content from your library matches trending topics. Create boards that are very specific or relevant to your library’s work and strategy. Then, make pins solely for those boards. Using Idea Pins, your library can post up to 20 images in a carousel with limited text and background designs. Use hashtags at the end of your description text so that people can find them.
Libraries should probably post 6-15 pins a day. Pinterest analytics can give you an idea of which pins have generated the most engagement. Waltham Public Library offers a great example because they have event pins and interesting topics about the many books on their library shelves.
Social media is an excellent tool to provide an awareness of your library’s resources as well as encourage patron engagement. By using several social media platforms to promote your library programs, library patrons will be lining up at the door.