In this Issue:
Mic Check. 1, 2. 1, 2. Is Your Social Back From Summer?
Here at Springy Headquarters, we know the importance of getting your message out with social media. As mentioned in our July 26th post, “…social surpasses phone and email as the first place most people turn when they have a problem or issue with a product or service.”
So, if that’s the first place your patrons go, why is it often the last place you share your phenomenal library cosmic powers? We know….time and staff :( Libraries are increasingly short-staffed, often pulled in so many directions, and things get lost in the crush.
We've got you covered with a Back-to-School social media plan and Springy tools to help you plan your social media presence – even if you’re a library of just one staffer!
Rachel Langlois
Musing by
Springy Rachel
A Springy Back-to-School Social Media Plan
1. Be Where 'They' Are
Many libraries offer year-round tours for students and teachers, designed to get students off and running. Why stop there? Librarians are knowledge authority experts full of research superpowers and peer-reviewed resources. Your social media presence can affirm this by being where your users are the whole school-year!
Tweet out those database resources, Facebook post your free tutoring help sessions, blog about Book-A-Librarian and watch your school partnerships flourish. Work with your community teachers and schools in learning the school year curricula, so you can target appropriate resources and research skills available.
2. Start Simple
Don’t stress about using lots of social media, start with one! Twitter is an easy tool to schedule short meaningful posts with hashtags (#) targeted to research topics students are studying. In 140 characters or less, you have revealed a specialized resource with instructions on how to use it targeted to a specific assignment or class!
Use those hashtags to tag the appropriate topic students and teachers can follow year round: #ScienceExperiment #AmericanLit #PeerReviewed #BookReport #SpeechClass.
Embed your Twitter feed on the appropriate LibGuides, and watch your engagement climb!
3. Use your Springy tools to:
- Advertise Your Published LibGuides:
Have you created specialized guides targeted for Summer Reading, Science Projects, Senior Research Thesis, or STEM programs? Do tell! Navigate to your LibGuide and select the ‘Change Status & Share’ Button. From here, you can publish your LibGuide, snag a guide screenshot, and advertise your LibGuide on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t forget, your guide thumbnail is automatically included in your social posts – helping them be more visually engaging to users.
- Announce Your Latest Blog Post:
Create blog posts around homework assignments and research topics. Highlight appropriate resources for students to use and how to use them. If you’re using the LibGuides Blogging functionality, for every new blog post you can seamlessly share it on social media. - Market Your Upcoming LibCal Events:
Are you offering classes on research methods, database instruction or how to find appropriate resources for book reports, science projects or that senior research project? Shout it out! When creating a new LibCal Calendar event, you can publish the event and advertise it on social media with one simple click. Plus, if you’ve uploaded a ‘featured image’, it will automatically display in your post to create a more visually engaging post. - Maximize the Hashtag:
Get busy with Twitter and post new content directly from LibAnswers! Got FAQs on what #peer-reviewed means or where to find those great #Lexile grade-level reading resources? Schedule your posts ahead of time to keep your channels active, even when you're not. ;) View the monthly breakdown for tracked hashtags, or drill down to daily and hourly statistics and distribution. Use the power of SMS to create automatic keyword responses to student text questions like DATABASES, RESEARCH, or HOMEWORK even when the library is closed!
Using the power of your Springy platform, leveraging your social media presence has never been easier…in fact it just might propel you to the head of the class!
Mic Drop!