Communication, connection & collaboration: social media @ UP Library during the COVID pandemic

Elsabé Olivier was invited to do an online presentation on social media and marketing at the HELIG and MAIG collaboration as part of the South African Library Week 2021 webinar series on Wednesday, 17 March 2021. 

In her presentation, Elsabé shared her experiences on how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the marketing landscape of librarians. The unpredictability of the pandemic made it difficult to plan a marketing strategy. On top of that, things changed easily and constantly, but she quoted Mark Schafer, who said: “Marketing means rolling up your sleeves and doing something.” 

She focused on social media marketing, as it became fundamental during this crisis. She explained that UP Library manages Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts. She then shared some tips on communication, connection and collaboration. 

In a time of crisis, it is important to maintain communication with your users. In the words of Karin Aviles: “Control the controllable. If we focus on the things that we can control, it will make this crisis much more bearable”.

Communication tips: 

• Prepare a template for critical communication and have it ready when needed.
• Content is king – if you urgently need to communicate something, don’t worry about the design. Rather focus on communicating accurate information.
• Try to be creative in all your posts. Mix visuals – static image one day, carousel the next, and then a short video.
• Brand your designs and play around with other formats, e.g., video and use themes for posts that convey the same kind of information.
• Invest in the right tools, such as Hootsuite and Canva.

Megan Pratt said: “Marketing relies heavily on empathy, which in turn relies on an understanding of the people you’re trying to talk to”. If you want to build an emotional connection with library users, you must help them. UP Library adjusted their messaging to be empathic and respectful. 

Connection tips:

• Focus less on you and more on what users want. Let them know that you understand their challenges and that you’re here to help them through this tough time.
• Post “feel good” content to create positive energy.
• Use emojis in posts to symbolically represent emotions.

Elsabé recommended that social media librarians involve their fellow librarians. Her team consists of 4 members and each team member has their own assigned role. 

Collaboration tips: 

• Librarians who interact with users know what they are looking for, so involve them as much as possible.
• Involve interested library staff members, students and other role players on campus.

Social media librarians should regularly check their social media metrics. The UP Library social media team records their metrics carefully each month. The team then gets together to discuss their audience and followers, post reach and engagement, number of posts, and the most popular and least engaging posts. This data analysis is necessary because the results may reveal something important that will guide future strategies. 

The social media team has readjusted their social media strategy for 2021. Some of the most important changes entail rethinking their social media platforms’ goals, purpose and audiences, collaborating with their Teaching and Learning, Research and Library Technical Services teams, branding their posts, using more GIFS and videos, and repurposing (but not cross-posting) content across social media platforms.

In conclusion, Elsabé reminded everyone to keep up with social media trends by reading and following relevant articles and blogs. Her personal favourite is Super Library Marketing https://superlibrarymarketing.com/ 

The recording can be accessed at this link https://youtu.be/uRCNTet_U_w or view the slides here: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79018

References

• Edmond, R 2020, ‘What to do if the Pandemic Threw a Wrench in Your Marketing Budget’, web log viewed 16 April 2020, https://blog.gaggleamp.com/pandemic-threw-wrench-in-your-marketing-budget  
• Hines, C 2020, ‘Social Media Collaboration: Tips and Tools for Effective Team Work’, web log, viewed 15 April 2020, https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-collaboration/ 
• Hursh, A 2020, ‘Taming the social media beast’, paper presented at the Library Marketing and Communications Conference, 4 – 6 November, viewed 2 December 2020. 
• Hursch, A 2021 ‘NEW SEGMENT! Social Media Updates on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest That You Need To Know’, online video, viewed 24 February 2021, https://youtu.be/tZXQzvIMp2E 
• Pratt, M 2020, ‘4 Steps to a Social Media Strategy During COVID-19’ web log, viewed 14 December 2020, https://www.adroll.com/blog/marketing/4-steps-to-a-social-media-strategy-during-covid-19  
• Schaefer, M A 2021, ‘Marketing means rolling up your sleeves and doing something‘, web log, viewed 4 March 2021, https://businessesgrow.com/2021/03/04/rant/