Digital Marketing: Session 2
Sarah Houghtan-Jan & Aaron Schmidt
Links will be on the blogs: librarianinblack.com
Digital outreach–connecting users with library services, connecting users with librarians
OCLC study: number 1 thing people care about is transforming lives, need to connect users with librarians
Ex. Librarian Trading cards
What is online outreach:
Tons of ways to outreach
Online: no barriers (I would disagree with this on a basic access level) but we are serving global audience now
What are we marketing?
Have to have an interact library website! Web 2.0 interaction
Must have good content online, must have quality, be relevant
Everything in this presentation is free!
Library directory listing: check if the library listing is correct: LibDex, MapMuse, Libraries411, PublicLibraries.com, Libraries on the Web
Blog search engines: submit rss feeds to search engines, Feed Submitter site–goes to 15 different sites, great way to get out the word, easy marketing
Blog geo-search engines: frapper, feedmap, blogwise, gFeedMap–lots of people use these
Wikimapia–like wikipedia but a map–cool! Draw a box around where your library is on the map–put in information and a link
Search Enging Findability: search for variations of your library’s name, expand beyond Google, can buy AdWorks from Google–could use for special programming or hire a search engine optimizer (SEO)
Wifi–people expect it, and they expect it to work, list your library in wifi directories: wififreespot, wifi411, wifinder, jwire, wi-fi zone, wifihotspotlist gets people in the door
Community websites: American towns.com, canadaeventscalendar, booksalescout.com, artsopolia, eventful, librarythinglocal–take ownership of your library’s listings
Google: link: URL and you will know who is linking to the library website, blog, etc. see who is talking about your library
Social Review Websites: yelp, city search, etc. use the flattering comments in your marketing material (how cool is that!), can also see problems and work to change it
Directory Information: look online for phone numbers, addresses, make sure listed correctly, Google Maps, yahoo!local, ask city, can claim your library, upload photos, etc.
A/V content Findable: you tube, google video, blip.tv, blinkx, singing fish, yahoo pod casts, pod cast.net, podcast alley, get some subscribers
Social networking Sites: can create a profile for your library, ex. MySpace, Facebook, flickr, ning (note: some studies show students do not like libraries in their social networking space, other studies show the opposite, just an FYI)
Find Local Blogs: by city, lodger local, metro logging, feedmap, interact with local blogs, be available, find appropriate blogs, have authentic interactions, don’t be heavy handed, be friendly, takes time to be integrated into a community and have street cred
Blogs and Forums: tech boards, continuing education boards
Get out what you put in!
BookSpace (Huntington Library Minnesota): place to talk about books online, online community space, news, lists, etc. great design and space, get all information about books from disparate ploaces into one social networking site, no barriers to contributing to BookSpace
Expert Sites: list our staff on these sites: all experts.com, ziki, illumio, qunu, yedda, FAQQLY, Otavo, yahoo! Answers, SLAM the Boards (on the 10th of every month), identify themselves at the end that they are librarians
Ask Meta site: jump in and answer questions
Push the information out: have subscription services, rss/email updates (you can use feed burner), newsletter software, etc., don’t spam the inbox!
Make sure you are in Wikipedia! List on your city, create an entry
IM: free, easy, primary form of communication for many
Text messaging: send out notifications via SMS
Text a Librarian: combines IM and text messaging into one web-based platform, soon will have queue feature so many people can monitor one screen-name
Twitter: quick updates, be clear about what you will be sending so people know what they are subscribing to
SecondLife: time-sink, lots of time to set up for the investment, needs to mature
People are using this stuff. So no excuse to not do this! Be user centered!
Take home message:
Get out there and market online! It is well-worth it!