Mark Aaron Polger considers himself an ‘accidental library marketer.’ He is an Academic Librarian at the City University of New York and he is the Founder of the first ever marketing journal that is related only to libraries, Marketing Libraries Journal! Mark has just released his third issue and there are so many great articles and words of wisdom in these pieces that are perfect for any library marketer to indulge. Find out more about Mark and the awesome work he’s doing, in this week’s episode!   Key Takeaways: Meetpiola has a couple of free resources to help with your library’s marketing campaigns. Visit our website to check it out! Who is Mark and what does he do? What is the library journal all about? What’s the difference between a double-blind peer review and a traditional review? Mark believes a lot of marketers do ‘upside-down marketing’ where they market first and then look at the data after. Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! The library journal is completely free to use! What kind of articles can you expect to find in the academic library journal? There’s some great content that gets featured in the journal like how to use cats to market your library and the power of Reddit! Mark answers some quickfire questions!   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar Marketinglibraries.org Csi.cuny.edu Markaaronpolger.com

Library Figures

15: Mark Aaron Polger — What is the Marketing Libraries Journal?

Adam Kurzawa is the Head of Partner Development at ExpandTheRoom, a digital marketing agency that helps clients with their user experience, SEO, marketing, and digital strategy. Adam is not in the library space, but offers some excellent advice on how to cultivate content and engagement that resonates with your audience on this week’s show!   Key Takeaways: Meetpiola has a couple of free resources to help with your library’s marketing campaigns. Visit our website to check it out! Who is Adam and what does he do for Expand the Room? Adam shares how disruptors like Amazon changed the way consumers saw a product and how you can do the same with your library. A common complaint Tyler hears is that libraries have way too much content and the website hasn’t been able to adapt to it. How does Adam approach content strategy with his clients? There are four key principles on how to manage a good content strategy. Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! It’s important to have the difficult conversations about projects as early as possible. How does Adam check that their recommended content strategies are actually being implemented consistently among his clients? How frequently do Adam and his team do audits with a client? What mistakes should libraries avoid making? Adam answers some rapid-fire questions!   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar Expandtheroom.com Adam on LinkedIn Treejack — Optimal Workshop

14: Making website content easier for your library patrons to access

Tyler Byrd has a solo episode for you today to discuss some things he’s had on his mind about vendors, the library, and the branding issues the library faces while promoting these services. Why do patrons keep struggling to find out the library offers key services like audiobooks, databases, and other services? Tyler believes it’s due to bad branding practices! Tune in to this week’s episode for more thoughts and insights from Tyler.   Key Takeaways: Meetpiola has a couple of free resources to help with your library’s marketing campaigns. Visit our website to check it out! Tyler is doing a quick solo episode for you today! A lot of library patrons aren’t even aware that their library has audio books or streaming music services, among other things. Despite library marketing efforts, people still don’t know about these services. Why is that? Tyler thinks it comes down to poor branding practices. He shares an example of two clothing company brands and the message they each convey. Patrons are looking at (and remembering) library vendors overtime instead of the actual library. Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! How can libraries fix this branding problem? Vendors are here to help libraries and the community. And, the best way to do that is to reinforce the library’s brand, not the vendor’s brand. What are the steps that we need to take to use the library brand instead of the vendor’s brand? Vendors don’t offer this service. Tyler shares another branding example. Did you find this episode helpful? Please share it!   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar

13: Tyler Byrd — Helping Patrons Discover the Library is More than Books

Misty Nesvick is the Community Relations Manager at Anchorage Public Library. Prior to this, Misty worked at iHeartMedia for nearly 16 years as a Senior Account Manager and Digital Sales Strategist. Misty has a different take on how to market a library due to her radio background. On today’s show, she shares some key insights and results she’s gotten through leveraging radio influencers and promoting library content on the radio.   Key Takeaways: Meetpiola has a couple of free resources to help with your library’s marketing campaigns. Visit our website to check it out! Who is Misty and what does she do for the Anchorage Public Library? The Anchorage Public Library is the largest library system in the state of Alaska. They have five locations with one main hub, and they serve a population of about 300,000. Prior to this, Misty worked at iHeartRadio. What kinds of lessons did she learn while she was there? What are some of the benefits of using radio advertising? Misty shares how she got influencers to endorse their library. When it comes to a radio ad, what should libraries focus on? When you’re on vacation, you’re more open to spending more. When you’re at work, you’re focused on your day-to-day life and not as open to new messaging. Advertising at ‘peak times’ isn’t always the best time. Misty shares an example of a fantastic radio ad she heard from the U.S. Postal Services. Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! Don’t be everything to everybody. Very rarely will your budget allow for you to do that. What kinds of demographics does Misty look for? What should libraries avoid in their radio marketing campaigns? Misty shares some metrics and results she’s gotten from her marketing campaign so far. Final thoughts from Misty on how to better market your library!   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar Anchoragelibrary.org Misty on LinkedIn Iheart.com

12: Misty Nesvick — Optimizing radio ads to increase library circulation

Trey Gordner is the Founder of Koios, a marketing solution for libraries looking to show up in local Google searches. Trey also helps libraries get approved by Google’s Ad Grants program, where they can use free advertising credit to promote specific pages and event landing pages. On today’s show, Trey shares how the Google Ad Grants program works, why paid search is better than SEO for libraries, and addresses privacy concerns libraries might have about using Google ads.   Key Takeaways: Meetpiola has a couple of free resources to help with your library’s marketing campaigns. Visit our website to check it out! Who is Trey and what does he do for Koios Library Software? People might be finding your library on Google, but they might not be finding the right kind of information about your library. How do you show up in Google search results? Trey helps libraries with Google Ad Grants and helps them with their Google ads. How does Google Ad Grants work? How can libraries apply for this grant and what are some of the reasons why they would get rejected? What are some best practices a library can follow to set up their Google ad for success? What are some of the advantages of using paid searches vs. SEO? Trey shares the types of KPIs and metrics he likes to track. Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! Trey provides an example of how he would track a particular ad and its traffic. What are some common mistakes people typically make with their paid searches? What are some of the benefits of working with Trey’s company to help with a library’s Google ads? How does Google collect information about who clicks and what kind of privacy concerns should libraries be aware of?   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar Koios.co Trey on LinkedIn Google Ad Grants Mangolanguages.com

11: How to get your library $10,000 of free adwords per month

Terri Carroll is the Marketing Manager at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library. Terri has been in this position for a little over a year, but prior to this, she worked as the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for Bowling Green State University. Today’s subject involves managing workflow and productivity. Terri describes how she created a streamlined line process for the creative team at the library and some of its positive impacts!   Key Takeaways: Meetpiola has a couple of free resources to help with your library’s marketing campaigns. Visit our website to check it out! Who is Terri and what does she do for Toledo Lucas County Public Library? How has Terri improved the library’s systems and processes? By streamlining the process, the team can focus more brain power on the core purpose of each marketing piece. Terri has a very simple brand guide in place that the creative team can quickly reference. How does Terri help the branches stay on brand? What happens if a branch is unable to notify the library in time about their local event? Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! Terri shares the impact it has had on the library by incorporating a project management system. By using these systems effectively, the creative team now has a bigger capacity to work on the ‘bigger picture’ and dedicate some time into doing some really, really fun projects. Terri’s team went down by one team member and they’ve reduced their overtime hours to zero! Terri goes through a quickfire round!   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar Toledolibrary.org Terri on LinkedIn Communico.co Wrike.com

10: Terri Carroll — How project management can save your library money and time

Kimberly Crowder is back with another guest appearance! Kimberly serves as the Marketing Director for the Indianapolis Public Library and her team recently finished the library’s website redesign. On today’s show, she shares the process of how the new website came to be and how she sourced information from visitors to get the website functioning the way they needed it to.   Key Takeaways: Kimberly is back on the show to give an update about the website redesign she was overseeing for the Indianapolis Public Library. Kimberly launched the fresh new site two days ago and has been getting feedback both from the staff and the public. Why does the website not have a home page slider? Through research and customer insights, it was found that having a search feature front and center can help website visitors find their information more quickly without having to click around and get lost. Kimberly employed a third-party consulting firm to help them with their website because this was not her staff’s area of expertise. What is a wireframe and what does it look like? How did they decide what content to keep vs. what content to get rid of? What were some of the biggest things Kimberly discovered after doing a survey from the library’s visitors and supporters? Is the website ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) friendly? Yes, it is! How did Kimberly decide what content goes where? Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! Has Kimberly done any heat mapping or user testing on the website? Kimberly explains how Algolia helps users find what they’re searching for. How long did this website redesign take and how much did it cost? If Kimberly had to go back in time, what advice would she have for herself? It’s important to manage expectations so that everyone on the team is on the same page. What’s next for the website?   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar Indypl.org Kimberly on LinkedIn Email Kimberly: Kimberly.Crowder@live.com & KCrowder@indypl.org Algolia.com

09: Kimberly Crowder — Using Data and Research to Redesign Your Library Website

Hannah Christian is the Assistant Director of Career Services at Northwest Missouri State University. Prior to this, Hannah was a research librarian for the university before transitioning into this role. Today, she oversees the library’s social media following and has trained student employees on best social media practices in order for the library to successfully communicate with their younger demographic. Find out more about what Hannah and her team are up to and how they bring awareness to their academic library on this week’s show!   Key Takeaways: Who is Hannah and what does she do for Northwest Missouri State University? How does academic library marketing differ from public library marketing? What types of Twitter posts did Hannah find success with? Hannah recruited students that matched with their target demographic so that they could stay up-to-date and trendy on their social media accounts. What types of strategies do Hannah and her team use for Facebook? Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! How does Hannah make sure that her staff shares things that are on brand and not too off-topic? Hannah would give the students all the credit and she would take the flack from everyone else. It’s important to have your team’s back. What advice does Hannah have for other libraries to help improve their social media engagement? What’s Hannah’s favorite source for staying up-to-date with marketing ideas?   Mentioned in This Episode: Meetpiola.com/library-figures MeetPiola.com/webinar NWMissouri.edu Hannah on LinkedIn The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership, by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, and Craig Walsh

08: Hannah Christian — Leverage viral content to triple your library's social media following

Natalie Newville is the Marketing Manager at the Missouri River Regional Library. For the last year, Natalie has been advertising on an ‘old school’ medium, radio! She has seen great results from it because radio demographics are similar to the library’s ideal demographics. She shares how she picked out the radio station she advertises on, the type of content that’s mentioned in the ad, and so much more!   Key Takeaways: Who is Natalie and what does she do for Missouri River Regional Library? Natalie has partnered with a local radio station to promote their library and they’ve seen a huge increase in traffic for their online resources. How did Natalie pick the radio station? How does Natalie structure the radio ads? In the beginning, Natalie really relied on the expertise of the radio guys to help them craft a nice 30-second ad. Now, they’re more familiar with the process and are tweaking their own ads. How has Natalie been able to track the data? Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! What advice would Natalie give to other libraries about starting their own radio ads? Natalie shares improvements she’d like to make for 2019. What mistakes should you avoid when trying run your own radio ads?   Mentioned in This Episode: MeetPiola.com/webinar Mrrl.org Natalie on LinkedIn

07: Natalie Newville — Use Radio Ads to Gain Attention and Clicks

Cordelia Anderson worked at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library for nearly 15 years before starting her own consulting business, Cordelia Anderson Consulting. As the Marketing & Communications Leader for Charlotte, Cordelia was in charge of using marketing strategies to increase community awareness of the library’s services, programs, and more. Find out how she and her team managed all of their social media accounts without losing their minds or stepping on each other’s toes.  See the full episode with transcripts and visuals at: https://meetpiola.com/expert-libraries-social-media/ Key Takeaways: Who is Cordelia and what does she do at her consulting company? What is the biggest opportunity libraries have when it comes to marketing? What kind of tools does Cordelia use? How can smaller libraries manage their social media accounts in a smart and time-effective way? It’s getting tough for libraries to remember where to post. For example, when a library wanted to communicate that there was a snow day, they now had to update 20 different social media sites. How can a library increase their open rates? Quick announcement: Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! Simple posts can generate the biggest engagement. How many people do you ideally need to monitor all your accounts? Remember! It takes time. Don’t feel overwhelmed. It took Cordelia several years to implement a strong strategy in place. How often would the team at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library post on social media? What mistakes should people avoid doing in social media? Cordelia wasn’t really sure why anyone would use Instagram at the beginning, but now she understands what makes it so much fun. Cordelia goes through a quickfire round!   Mentioned in This Episode: MeetPiola.com/libraryfigures MeetPiola.com/webinar Cordeliaandersonapr.com Cordelia on LinkedIn Sproutsocial.com Uturnpodcast.com Theelevatepodcast.com

06: How your library staff can be experts at social media

Kimberly Crowder serves as the Marketing Director for the Indianapolis Public Library. She has more than 13 years of experience and has served in a variety of roles during that time — everything from public relations to journalism. Today, Kimberly and I sit down to talk about her marketing strategies and how she brought awareness (and attendance!) to the new center of Black Literature and Culture at the Indianapolis Public Library. See the full episode with transcripts and visuals at: http://meetpiola.com/promoting-library-events/ Key Takeaways: Who is Kimberly and what does she do for the Indianapolis Public Library? Kimberly shares what projects she and her team have been working on. The Indianapolis Public Library had a grand opening for their center of Black Literature and Culture. It was run as a campaign and they doubled their goal for attendees. How did Kimberly determine the target audience for this event? Are you struggling with your library’s current website? We have a webinar to help you through this process! Kimberly shares how she brought attention to the event on Facebook and how she rewarded loyal followers. Kimberly explains how she communicated unexpected problems with the event with the attendees before they arrived. When dealing with a crisis, the best thing you can do is tackle it head on and apologize to your audience. What would Kimberly do differently if she could go back? Kimberly tried doing an email blast to generate awareness from a select few of ‘influencers’ but did not receive a good response from that. Instead, she had to do a manual approach and reach out to these people via LinkedIn and social media. What advice does Kimberly have for fellow library marketers?   Mentioned in This Episode: MeetPiola.com/webinar Indypl.org Kimberly on LinkedIn Email Kimberly: Kimberly.Crowder@live.com & KCrowder@indypl.org

02: The strategy that drove over 2,000 patrons to 1 library event

Scott Jarzombek is the Executive Director for the Albany Public Library. Scott has been in the position for nearly five years but has over 28 years of experience working in libraries. In this week’s episode, Scott discusses the benefits of including a podcast as part of your library marketing efforts. He also shares some of the mistakes he’s learned from this experience as well as the results he’s seen from the podcast. See the full episode with transcripts and visuals at: http://meetpiola.com/library-podcast-drives-website-traffic Key Takeaways: Who is Scott and what does he do for the Albany Public Library? Two years ago the library started doing a podcast. How did Scott figure out their target audience for the podcast? What’s the format for the show? Scott shares the kinds of results he’s seeing from the podcast so far. Scott has seen big jumps to the website’s traffic just from the podcast alone. Quick announcement: Piola is a digital library branch that helps build library websites. Has Scott considered repurposing his podcast into blog format? What equipment is Scott using to record the podcast? What would Scott do differently if he could start over? How long should a podcast be? What kinds of metrics should you be tracking? How much time should someone dedicate in order to get their podcast up and running? When it comes to marketing, you gotta know your audience. You can’t take the Albany Public Library marketing template and replicate it in a smaller district. Everywhere is slightly different.   Mentioned in This Episode:   MeetPiola.com/webinar Albanypubliclibrary.org Albanypubliclibrary.org/podcast Scott on LinkedIn Gilderlehrman.org Poklib.org

03: How a library podcast can drive over a 30% increase in website traffic

I’m so excited to invite Angela Hursh back onto the show to discuss email marketing. If you didn’t know, Angela is the Content Team Leader for the Marketing Department at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. She is doing some interesting things with Orange Boy to keep her card holders engaged and aware of new book releases. Find out more about what she’s up to on this week’s episode! See the full episode with transcripts and visuals at: http://meetpiola.com/optimizing-your-libraries-email-marketing   Key Takeaways: Angela shares how she keeps her cardholders engaged and aware of new content coming into the library. Before using Orange Boy, Angela was using MailChimp, but she explains why MailChimp wasn’t the best fit for them. Why do people typically sign up for a library card? How does Angela track her open and click rates? Angela shares an example of what a typical email marketing campaign might look like. What kinds of trends has Angela noticed so far? Angela plans to do some experimenting in January to see if teenagers prefer digital or print. Quick announcement: Piola is a digital library branch that helps build library websites. How does Angela structure her email when featuring the book of the month? Angela doesn’t feature the same ebook/print book in her email because there’s a chance her audience would get two emails based on their preference. Angela doesn’t want her audience to see the same books. How often does Angela send out emails to her card holders? Angela programs out her content calendar about six months in advance. How can a library marketer replicate this without switching platforms? Angela started adding emojis to the subject line. And wow! It has an impact!   Mentioned in This Episode: MeetPiola.com/  Superlibrarymarketing.com Angela on Twitter Cincinnatilibrary.org Orangeboyinc.com Mailchimp.com Bitly.com

04: The strategy your library needs to improve email engagement

Ken Harvey is the Communications Director for Sno-Isle Libraries. On today’s episode, Ken explains the types of patterns he was able to notice with his email marketing campaigns, some early challenges that arose, and also shares his main purpose and goal for their cardholders. It’s important to think of yourself as a student during this process because trends and marketing techniques change so frequently! See the full episode with transcripts and visuals at: http://meetpiola.com/engaging-new-library-patrons/   Key Takeaways: Who is Ken and what does he do for Sno-Isle Libraries? Ken shares what projects and initiatives he and his team have been working on. How does Ken onboard new cardholders? How many emails does Ken send to his card holders? Ken currently uses Orange Boy to understand their data and notice patterns. What day seems to the best day for open rates? What metrics is Ken looking at when it comes to his email campaigns? Ken shares an early challenge he was able to identify with the data. The best marketers don’t think of themselves as experts, they think of themselves as students. Ken will be sharing some of his email examples. What’s Ken’s favorite source for staying up-to-date with marketing strategies?   Mentioned in This Episode: MeetPiola.com/  MeetPiola.com/webinar Sno-isle.org Email Ken: KHarvey@Sno-isle.org Ken on LinkedIn Orangeboyinc.com The Logic of Failure: Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations, by Dietrich Dörner Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, by Frank Partnoy

05: Using email marketing to engage and educate new library patrons

Hello everyone! This is your host Tyler here. I’m excited to announce our very first podcast episode with Angela Hursh. On today’s show, Angela shares some of the struggles a public library faces in today’s digital world, the strategies she’s currently using to increase library attendance in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, and why re-education of our librarians in so important to help them adapt to this new environment.   Key Takeaways: What is Angela’s primary marketing goal for this year? There’s been less attendance at public libraries in the past couple of years due to a lot of the reading material being accessible online. What kinds of struggles do libraries face in today’s world? In order to increase attendance in the library, Angela has been working to change the mindsets of the librarians in our system. Sometimes we just have to forget about the quotas. Hosting five programs a week at the library might ‘feel’ like the right thing to do but there’s actually a better way to approach it. In this case, Angela has seen an increase in attendance at her library because they’ve introduced fewer but higher quality programs. By having fewer programs in your calendar, you will also have more of a budget to bring in presenters who might cost a little more. Angela overseas 41 locations across Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Each of these locations has different demographics and interests. These events need to be customized to the residents of each location. What kinds of metrics has Angela been tracking? On any given day, there are probably 5-10 storytime events happening at libraries in Angela’s system. It’s important to form a relationship with cardholders so that they not only attend the events but come in for research projects, get a passport, etc. Angela encourages staff to talk to the people in the community to see what they’re up to and what’s important to them. It’s important to help librarians become aware of changes in society and technology as well as keep them connected to pop culture. What would Angela do differently if she could go back in time?   Mentioned in This Episode:   Superlibrarymarketing.com Angela on Twitter

01: Angela Hursh on Smart Ways to Increase Public Library Attendance

Library Figures is a show about the people, data, and tactics behind the marketing campaigns that are changing how libraries engage their communities and patrons.

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Library Figures

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