Using Facebook to Market Libraries
Mindy Tomlin, University of Texas at Tyler
Facebook, one of the most common social networking sites, has exploded to the point of dominating web usage since its creation in 2004. According to Alexa.com (2012), Facebook is the second most visited website in the world following Google. As of October 4, 2012, Facebook had one billion monthly active users, and in September 2012, the site had 584 million daily active users (Etherington 2012). Users vary in age, sex, socioeconomic status, religion, and various other facets of life, thus making Facebook a viable option to engage a large portion of library users in an environment they are already using. With this level of usage in mind, it is not a question of whether or not to embrace Facebook but how to proceed with an implementation that will reach as many patrons as possible.
During the early years of Facebook, the site was limited only to students—first college and then high school—a process that was validated through institutional e-mail accounts. The popularity of the site quickly grew, and by 2006, all users were welcome to join (Phillips 2007). Institutional profiles were regulated to “Groups” pages until November 2007, when the site introduced Facebook pages. The “Pages” feature essentially acts as a profile for organizations or institutions to promote their presence: bands, sports teams, artists, films, brands, nonprofits, and businesses (Facebook 2012).
While Facebook is not a new technology, it still can pose some challenges for libraries. Although many libraries have experimented with Facebook, there are questions about how to improve a presence in order to better provide services to patrons. Common questions include: “What types of things should I post?” “How do I get more likes?” This chapter seeks to provide groundwork for institutions that have not yet established a Facebook presence and also to provide tips on enhancing and sustaining a successful one.
FACEBOOK FOR MARKETING
There are several steps that are important to create an effective marketing Facebook page. The sections below will guide you through the process.
Establishing an Account
Facebook has two primary options for libraries seeking to communicate with users: groups and pages. This chapter will focus on using pages, due to the additional assessment features pages offer. Both pages and groups can be created and managed from personal or organization accounts.
Groups
Groups are small, personalized spaces for people with shared interests and can be created by anyone. Members of a given group add other members and users have control over privacy settings on posts. Members are also able to post documents, create and share events, and participate in chats. One of the major limitations of groups is that administrators are not able to send messages to members once the group reaches five thousand members (Smarty 2010).
Users can create a group using the home page of Facebook. In the left column of the page is a section “Groups.” At the bottom of the section is a link, “Create Group.” To create a group, select this link. Selecting it brings up a form to input information on the group. Name the group and select members to immediately add to the group. From there, select the privacy settings: open (open to anyone), closed (nonmembers can view who is in the group, but only members can see the posts), or secret (only members can see the group, other members, and posts).
Once the basic information is filled out, a box to choose an icon for the group will appear. This step is optional. Once an icon is chosen, the group is created. The home page for a group allows members to post, add photos/videos, create polls, and add files to the wall (fig. 2.1). The “About” page provides a description of the group, along with a list of members. The group page also has tabs for events, photos, and files, respectively. It is not currently possible to convert a Facebook group into a Facebook page. Libraries with groups may, however, create a page and notify group members (Facebook 2012).
Figure 2.1. Sample Facebook group page
Pages
Facebook pages have several features similar to personal profiles: users can add apps, post stories, host events, and much more. Pages are public and can be viewed by anyone on Facebook. Any user can like a page, an action that subscribes them to updates from the page. There are no limits to the number of likes a page can receive. Pages have various levels of administrators who can post or respond to users on the page’s behalf. One of the most useful features of pages is the “Insights” feature, which tracks a page’s growth, activity, user demographics, and more. This feature is discussed in further detail below.
To create a page, search the “Help” menu, search “create Facebook page” on the web, or go directly to the “Create a Page” screen: https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. On this screen, select “Company, Organization, or Institution” to get started. Choose a category and a company name, and agree to the Facebook pages terms.
Finding Followers
Once your page has been created, the next step is to build a fan base by inviting followers. One way to do this is to contact potential followers via e-mail. From the admin panel, go to “Build Audience” and select “Invite Email Contacts.” From there, choose one of the e-mail services and import references. If your e-mail service is not supported, go to “Other Email Service,” enter an e-mail address, and select “Invite Contacts.” Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and more are listed under “Other Tools.” This option requires creating a contact file. Note that the “E-mail Contacts” feature is limited to a maximum of five thousand contacts.
Figure 2.2. Changing the Facebook page voice
Another way to increase followers is to like and interact with other pages (Guza 2011). While any social media is a very useful tool to simply broadcast events, services, and library tools, Facebook is a very social tool. Use it to create discussions within your fan base in addition to announcing events and library resources and services. Bear in mind that social networks are intrinsically built on social capital, which requires time to build in any given community. Liking and interacting with posts from other pages helps build social capital (Solomon 2011). This can be done by changing the voice. From the drop-down menu in the top right of your profile, go to “Use Facebook As” and select your library’s page, as shown in figure 2.2. With this option, any one page can like other pages and can interact with users.
A marketing campaign outside of Facebook is another way to increase followers. Once your library’s page is established and a custom web address is generated, add the address to marketing materials: brochures, newsletters, websites, and any other tools the library has available, such as Ask-a-Librarian services. On a smaller scale, include the address on e-mail signature lines and ask staff to promote the page during events and classes.
Recently, Facebook introduced the option to pay for featured advertisements. This is a more aggressive marketing campaign that can target Facebook users who are not connected with your page. However, it is not necessary to use advertisements in order to create a successful and robust Facebook page.
Staffing the Service
Creating and implementing a social media campaign is a time consuming process that requires continuous maintenance and is often easiest when shared among several people (Guza 2011). Ideally there will be several people interested in social media at your library who can post to the Facebook page. Pages allow for an unlimited number of admins with varying responsibility—see Facebook for details.
When selecting page administrators, keep the following in mind:
• Try to have at least a few people in both the manager and the content creator roles. Many campuses, cities, and schools have some type of news or marketing department. These departments will likely need to be in a manager role, along with the library director and/or marketing contact. Having multiple people in these roles will ensure access and knowledge in the event of staff turnover.
• If several people are involved in posting, establish a best practices or style guide for administrators to follow. This will help ensure stylistic consistency and is a useful part of a procedures document, even if a single person is responsible for all the posts.
• Include content creators from several departments to add diversity to the types of posts.
• Recruit staff with a genuine interest in social media and who have the willingness to spend time posting, responding, and learning new features. Social media is a rapidly changing technology, and Facebook is no exception.
MAINTAINING FACEBOOK FOR MARKETING
Establishing and keeping a Facebook page actively marketing your library’s resources requires regular monitoring, continual updating, and frequent enhancing. The sections below provide details on these activities.
Monitoring
The admin panel is one of the most useful and powerful features of pages and is the primary tool for monitoring pages. The panel is broken down into several components: notifications (which contains new activity such as likes or comments on posts), messages, new likes to the page, the “Insights” feature, and page tips. Figure 2.3 demonstrates these options.
Prompt turnaround and responses to comments are vital, especially in an online environment. Staff should monitor the panel daily to ensure quick responses to virtual followers. It is also possible to enable e-mail notifications for administrators. On your page, select the “Edit Page” button above the admin panel and select “Manage Notifications” (fig. 2.4). Make sure the option to send e-mails when the page receives new activity is checked and select “Save.”
Figure 2.3. Facebook admin panel
Figure 2.4. Managing notifications on Facebook
When posting, remember to maintain a professional presence with a human element. Facebook is a casual way for people to connect and using stiff business language can unintentionally alienate patrons. Try to “foster conversation, ask for opinions, involve your stakeholders, and share content across multiple platforms when possible. You can still use social media as a marketing platform, but don’t use it solely for outgoing marketing messages” (Steiner 2012, 86). Listed below are a few ways to make posts more personable and user-friendly:
• Have staff sign off with their name to give the post a more personal approach. For example: Check out today’s book reading with free cookies. Hope to see you there! /Mindy
• Before posting, consider what you want the user to get from the post. For example, rather than posting, “Writing Center at the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8–10 pm,” try the following: “Can’t figure out how to format your essay? Come talk to the Writing Center tutors in the library this Thursday between 8 and 10 pm”. For more tips on posts, see Solomon (2011).
• Ask followers questions—such as “Where is your favorite spot to study in the library?”—in order to encourage conversation. Assign someone to respond to questions in a timely manner.
• Post more than just text. Videos, infographics, links, polls, pictures, and other forms of media provide diversity and are more interesting and engaging than text alone.
Regular posting is one of the best ways to ensure that a page remains in fan feeds. Facebook recommends posting to a page at least once per week, although posting more often will help increase activity. The frequency of posting is dependent on your target audience. Aim for at least several posts per week, with daily being preferable. There are several tools that can be used to schedule posts, including HootSuite (www.hootesuite.com) or the “Schedule” feature embedded into Facebook.
Figure 2.5. Scheduling a post on Facebook
To access the “Schedule” feature of Facebook, go to your page wall. Select the clock icon on the lower left-hand side of the status, and then fill in the year, month, day, and time for the post to appear. (This process is demonstrated in fig. 2.5.) Posts can be scheduled six months in the future and can also be backdated. If a post is backdated, it will automatically appear in the appropriate place on the page timeline.
Enhancing
One of the simplest ways to enhance a page is by filling out as much of the information as possible that is already embedded into the page. For example, create a thorough profile complete with contact and hours information to improve search results. Additionally, choose unique photographs for profile and cover images. Adding pictures to the photo albums also provides a fun way for followers to interact with the library. In addition to posting pictures of events, try posting images of displays, historical photos (if the library has an archives or genealogy department), covers of featured books, snapshots of staff in action, and more. Frequent posting to albums also provides an opportunity to chronicle the library’s history and events.
Facebook also offers several applications, or apps, which can embed other information in your page. Consider using these apps to link out to or sync with other social media. If your library has a presence on Twitter, YouTube, or a blog, be sure to link these resources for maximum exposure. Several free tools exist to make the insertion of apps easier:
• thruSocial (http://thrusocial.com) has a drag and drop interface, allowing you to pull from other major social media resources such as YouTube, WordPress, and more. Note that some widgets require a paid account.
• Involver (www.involver.com) allows users to select two apps for free, which is useful for embedding a Twitter or YouTube feed into a page.
Additional free, legitimate tools are also available. When searching through pages for other libraries and businesses, check their apps. Scroll to the bottom of the page and search for a “powered by” logo which will direct you to the resource (Ekhart 2011).
EVALUATING, ASSESSING, AND USING STATISTICS
The “Insights” feature of Facebook offers several assessment tools to assist with evaluating Page usage. As well as providing basic information, such as the number of likes, people talking about posts, and information on the reach of a page, “Insights” also offers information on the demographics of page fans. Detailed information on “Insights” is available from the admin panel by selecting “See All” (fig. 2.6). The data can also be exported to XLS and CSV file formats for later use.
A written strategy, which includes evaluation and assessment, helps ensure success (Guza 2011). Several factors should be considered when evaluating your page usage. Create a list of goals for your social media tools, including Facebook. The strategic plan for an institution and their mission statement are good places to seek inspiration. This step is vital to determine which metrics will be used for future evaluation. Consider some of the following potential goals:
• Increase attendance at events
• Improve awareness of your library
• Improve your library’s online and overall reputation
Figure 2.6. Facebook Insights on the admin panel
Once the assessment strategy is developed, establish a baseline measurement and determine the frequency of evaluation. Building a social presence takes time. It is highly unlikely that a page will have several hundred likes within a week or even a few months. If your page is stagnant or receives consistent negative feedback for an extended period of time, evaluate posting practices. Is it only information to the library’s events? Are other organizations’ events and activities posted (city departments, campus and school events, for example)? How frequently is content posted? What type of content is posted? Are user comments and messages promptly acknowledged and answered? Try adjusting your strategy, content, and timeframe for more success.
• CASE STUDIES •
University of Texas at Tyler Zombrarians
In the spring of 2012, the Robert R. Muntz Library at the University of Texas at Tyler implemented a “Zombrarian” team to actively participate in Humans versus Zombies, which is a campus-wide alternate reality game run by students. The game was conducted through Facebook groups and pages, with game players receiving communication through their personal Facebook feeds. Zombrarians posted promotional materials on behalf of the library within the group, although they were careful to abstain from posting too much in order to avoid overwhelming or alienating students. Promotional materials included an online zombie survival guide, flyers promoting the library’s social media activity throughout the week, and a zombie-themed book display. Once students spotted some of the library’s promotional and outreach materials online and around campus, they began taking pictures and reposting information within the group and on their own personal feeds (fig. 2.7).
Figure 2.7. Student posting of print marketing materials, Robert R. Muntz Library, University of Texas at Tyler
Zombrarians interacted with the Humans versus Zombies group through their own personal Facebook profiles. As representatives of the library, staff made sure posts were professional and personable. Discussion of the tone used on social media should be addressed in the preliminary stages of planning and include recommendations in a best practices or style guide.
Seattle Public Library
With over seventeen thousand likes, the Seattle Public Library (SPL) is one of the best examples of library marketing through Facebook. The SPL has a dedicated Social Media Team comprised of members from several library departments at the central library and hopes to expand to the branch libraries in the future (Robinson, Thomas, and Ullman 2011). The team has drastically increased their Facebook following, and fans regularly interact with the library through postings.
The team monitors the page seven days a week during regular operating hours. Postings are on a variety of topics: services, events, images of library displays and unique holdings, videos of librarians recommending materials, relevant web articles, reading lists, and much more. The library also makes sure that their posts are personable and often inject humor into posts. Figure 2.8 features a post designed to start conversation; it received over forty comments and more than a hundred likes. Additionally, the team regularly asks questions of users and posts polls to get conversations started on their page.
Figure 2.8. Facebook picture and post plus comments, Seattle Public Library
Figure 2.9. Facebook post featuring a readers’ advisory event, Seattle Public Library
In addition to regularly posting a variety of materials and creating an engaging space for patrons to interact, the Seattle Public Library has embraced Facebook as a way to actively promote public services, especially readers’ advisory. On November 14, 2012, a team of six Seattle librarians monitored Facebook from 10 am to 8 pm and encouraged patrons to share their favorite books. Librarians in turn responded with personalized book recommendations (fig. 2.9). In the November 2012 event, novelist Maria Semple and Mary Ann Gwinn, books editor of the Seattle Times, assisted with the event through Facebook access.
Seattle Public Library’s Social Media Team organizes their materials, ideas, and postings through an intranet (Robinson, Thomas, and Ulman 2011). Team members send in potential posts and receive feedback from other members of the team. The team uses Google Calendars to schedule when posts go up to ensure consistency and reduced duplication in posts. The use of the intranet allows for documentation in the event of staff turnover or absence. For example, if a member of the team is out sick, posting still continues.
A general privacy notice on SPL’s website covers online interactions with the library, including expectations of the library staff and patrons. This policy is written in clear, nontechnical language and frees the library from any liability. The open nature of the policy allows for variations in types of social media. Early on, the Social Media Team set a goal of transparency in their postings and decided not to remove negative comments, choosing instead to address them directly on the page. The only content that the team removes is spam and commercial posts.
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BEST PRACTICES AND CONCLUSIONS
As previously mentioned, the nature of Facebook is one of immediacy as followers want and expect quick responses to comments; institutions must update on a regular basis to maintain relevancy. This can be a time-consuming process, particularly as the number of followers increases. To ease this burden, multiple people should be recruited to assist with the monitoring of Facebook, and a schedule needs to be established for posting and monitoring.
When creating a schedule, consider what content is needed and when posting should take place. Are there several events going on during a single day? If so, try to spread out posts rather than putting them all up at once. If necessary, space out posts over the course of several hours or days. Sending out too many posts at once gives the impression of spamming and can alienate followers. Spreading out posts also ensures constant posting rather than letting a page linger without updates for several days. Keep your social media goals at the forefront of all posts. Before each posting, think about what benefit the users will get out of it. If the answer is unclear, revise the post or consider omitting it (Solomon 2011).
As with other forms of social media, Facebook changes at a rapid pace. One of the keys to success is to stay informed of updates and changes. This can be done through a number of methods, including following official Facebook updates on their page and following technology blogs, such as Mashable.com. By remaining flexible and adaptive, your institution will be able to fully embrace the functionality of Facebook and reach out to patrons through this tool.
References
Alexa.com. 2012. “Top Sites.” www.alexa.com/topsites.
Ekhart, Donna F. 2011. “Tech Tips for Every Librarian.” Computers in Libraries 31 (September): 46–47.
Etherington, Darrell. 2012. “Facebook Tops 1 billion Active Users.” TechCrunch. October 12. http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/04/facebook-tops-1-billion-monthly-users-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-shares-a-personal-note/.
Guza, Tracy. 2011. “Washington Libraries Reveal Social Media Secrets”. Alki 27 (March): 19–21.
Phillips, Sarah. 2007. “A Brief History of Facebook.” Guardian. July 25. www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia.
Robinson, Jennifer, Toby Thomas, and Caroline Ullman. 2011. “Connecting with Your Community via Facebook: They Already Like You!” Webinar presented by the Texas State Library. http://librariansbuildcommunities.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/connecting-with-your-community-via-facebook-they-already-like-you/.
Smarty, Ann. 2010. “3 Facebook Limitations You as a Marketer Should Be Aware Of.” Search Engine Journal. August 23. www.searchenginejournal.com/3-facebook-limitations-you-as-a-marketer-should-be-aware-of/23469/.
Solomon, Laura. 2011. Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide. Chicago: American Library Association.
Steiner, Sarah K. 2012. Strategic Planning for Social Media in Libraries. Chicago: ALA TechSource.