The answers to your questions about…

Survey Results  Facebook 47.0%  Twitter 18.0%  YouTube 14.0%  Flickr 8.8%  MySpace 8.6%

Web 2.0 and Marketing Why do we want to use social media? How do we work it into our already busy schedules? How do we choose which social media to use? How do we use it? How do we promote it? How can we tell if it is really worth our time?

Why do we want to use social media?  Libraries need to change and adapt to the needs of customers. Social networking sites give voices to your customers. Social media is rapidly becoming a core channel for disseminating information. Go where the fish are! 85% of teens engage in some form of electronic personal communication—they are immersed in media and gadgets. They are mobile!

It’s not going away…  NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- With Facebook registering its 300 millionth user and investors valuing Twitter at $1 billion, it's time to put to bed the notion that social networking is a fad. It's not. It's our destiny. (October 13, 2009)  The main players today may not be the main players tomorrow.

How do we work it into our already very busy schedule?  Share responsibility with other staff members.  Look closely at the current duties of staff and decide which functions to stop performing so that Web 2.0 tools may be incorporated into the work flow of library staff members.  If you are a one or two person library, just chose one or two tools to use and focus on them.

Policies for Using Social Media  Visit Genny Carter’s delicious page  es.php es.php

How do we choose which one to use? FacebookMySpaceBlogsTwitterYouTube PicturesYes Yes (with app) No VideosYes Yes (with app) Yes Live ChatYes No AnnouncementsYes No CommentsYes

What do people want out of social networks?  Getting news and product updates (67%)  Having access to promotions (64%)  Viewing or downloading music or videos (41%)  Submitting opinions (36%)  Connecting with other consumers (33%)

So….  Give them information that they can’t get elsewhere  Make it the first place you place the updates  Give them an offer that can only be gotten from the social network  Provide value and be contextually relevant to why they’re there in the first place.

How do I use it?  Share information. You can post links related to your niche (databases, your web page, etc) or just interesting things you find around the Internet. “Today in History” Answers to frequently asked questions Post tips related to your niche.  Ask questions. You can increase your relationship with your fans/followers by asking questions.  Share your opinion. You can post links to recent news stories, especially those related to your niche, and offer your opinion.

Any more ideas?  New book/materials information  Announce events/programs  Share pictures or video from events/programs  Inform about current displays  Tell about a service the library offers  Be sure and tell them when you make history (Brentwood addition for example)

And for Universities….  Gather and Share Information  Showcase Student and Faculty Work  Broadcast Events  Emergency Notification  Create a dialogue with students

Facebook:  Number 1 social network in the U.S.  Number of users 350,000,000  Number that log in every day 175,000,000  Number of friends average user has 130

61% of users are between 18 and 44

Twitter  Third largest social network…but is considered the “hottest.”  Number of Tweets to date 1,111,991,000  Number of Tweets per day3,000,000  Number of users 26,000,000  63% of Twitter users are male  Lots of free applications at various other sites  (see following page)

 Do an advanced search  Search for the word “library” within 25 miles of your city to see what people are saying about the library  Search for a keyword if you want to see if there is any interest in a particular subject (for a potential program, etc.)

MySpace  Second place, but….  Down to 30 percent of the market from 66.8 percent last year.  “Facebook and Twitter are in, MySpace is out, according to Experian Hitwise.”

YouTube (videos)  Number of total videos 70,000,000  Number viewed per day 100,000,000  Average length of video 2 min seconds  Average age of uploader 26.57

YouTube uses: Tours of library Information about library services Show programs at the library Online tutorials

The Big Question: How do I promote it?  “Doesn’t social media promote itself?...well, kind of. You can usually find someone through a search engine.  But…You still need to let folks know of your presence. It’s just like a building. Do you want people to find you through “serendipitous discovery” only?  Passive endorsement-when fans and friends post to your wall, comment on your postings, and accept invitations, News Feed (FB) will tell the story!

Promoting…  Electronic Link, link, link: web site, to FB, to Twitter, etc. Staff can obtain accounts to help promote library’s account Ask “fans” to “share” with their friends (If your 100 fans tell their 100 friends….wow) Library’s signature  Word of mouth Tell about it everywhere you speak  Post it everywhere! (use old marketing methods) Flat-screen TV in library which displays library info Receipt when patron checks out materials Outdoor sign Handouts Your business card

Social Media Cards

Just remember…  Be patient.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  It takes time.  Do not measure your success by the number of fans.

How can we tell if it is truly worth our time?  Difficult to measure quantitatively  Set goals that can be measured qualitatively—assessing the value of the resulting conversations and relationships.

And we didn’t even talk about  Wikis  Blogs  RSS feeds  Flickr  Delicious (social bookmarking)  Web sites  Or the next big thing….

Which is……  Mobile technology  Read about it at  Convergence is the keyword  People want what they want, when they want it, with the least amount of effort as possible

Dinah Harris Search for Everett Horn Public Library on