For this assignment, I chose to review the social media strategy of the Los Angeles County Public Library. Established in 1912, the Los Angeles County Public Library currently has about 84 libraries (including a branch in Catalina Island) as well as a number of mobile libraries. With advancements in computers and access to online information and now having an generation entirely grown up in a digital world, I believe having a solid social media presence and good strategy to generate engagement is very important. It is particularly important for the library this year, – its 100th year anniversary. Exploring what the library currently does on social media platforms and comparing it to what it could do may help call more attention to this historic event.
The social media outlets currently being utilized frequently are Facebook with Instagram integration, Twitter, Flickr, Pinterest and Vimeo. Each social media platform will be reviewed and assessed.
Facebook
The Library’s Facebook profile has a mixture of content. The content seems very random and hard to break into groups. Some content is library related. For example, content from the last week included highlighting authors, upcoming library events and attaching visual imagery to a literary quote, Other content has less connection to library culture. Due to the presidential campaign there was a post reminding people to register to vote. Overall content was very diverse and overall engagement seemed low - only one post that had more than 5 responses. Interestingly, visual imagery seemed to be more successful than content only posts. Most of these imagery are done via Instragram through it signature look and feel. This makes photos more appealing to younger demographics. Though there needs to be more understanding why use another tool for photos being uploaded to Facebook instead of doing it directly.
Twitter
Based on the style and content, I suspect Facebook and Twitter are being managed by separate individuals. Compared to Facebook, Twitter had a more precise content strategy. It offered more direct information (upcoming events, author mentions, info about the county library system). The Twitter strategy seems to be effective, since there are twice as much followers than Facebook. So far Twitter has a more succeful social media strategy that is gaining engagement.
Flickr and Pinterest
The library is managing visual content using Flickr and its younger rival Pinterest. Both platforms have a unique stock of images that don’t overlap, though I find Pinterest content to be more current and more engaging. Again, I question if each social media platform is being worked on by an individual and not by a team. Flickr has random images that are more about internal organization events that may not appeal to social media user. Also most images have no background story to give the user an idea of what he or she is viewing. It seems the Flickr profile is not being fully supported compared to Pinterest, which has a board dedicated to the history of the County of Los Angeles Public Library and current events. A good thought to utilizing both things are creating Flickr for more artistic user generated content that is associated to the library. There is nothing wrong allowing patrons to contribute to content. While Pinterest can be a platform to really bring right content to users. Only Pinterest is promoting the 100th anniversary.
Vimeo and YouTube
Vimeo and YouTube are the two sources of video social media. Vimeo is a popular video sharing platform but lacks YouTube’s broad awareness. Right away it appears that YouTube was dropped, since the latest update to content was in 2010, but Vimeo has incredible content that county created. And the Vimeo content is great and engaging for all ages! The videos have stories and have a call to action to specific events. I was surprised why the videos were not shared on the other social media platforms. To me this content that is enjoyable is lost due to it only living in Vimeo’s world of users, we can bring more eyes to these videos if its placed in Twitter, Facebook and even Pinterest. The traffic that it will generate will create a stronger engagement and followers.
Overall Assessment
If offered the opportunity to consult for the County of Los Angeles Public Library, I would recommend building a social media strategy that is more cohesive and engaging. To make the strategy more cohesive, I would try to determine how the social media platforms are being managed. If I found that there was not strong alignment, I would explain the importance of preplanning content to determine if things flow together. Specifically, I would recommend creating a week’s worth of social content up to a planned year ahead on what would be social media content worthy. There should be still consideration of content that can come up last minute to post, but having a cohesive plan to start will help the user experience.
To increase engagement, the organization needs to create content that in two to three seconds conveys enough of an idea to entice the user to like, share or comment. It should also feel welcoming to a digital user, so I would creatively make certain user experiences available in social media only. One example is creating Facebook applications that have an association to possibly current library events that can only be accessed via social media. This will enhance library events and online presence.
Since social media has become a means of customer support communication, the library should build this kind of support system. This is where the organization needs to create a script and determine best approaches for customer support. Unfortunately there will be cases of angry patrons who will vent on social media, and this must be dealt with promptly and achieve positive results. The worst thing is to have negative posts that the County of Los Angeles Public Library is tagged in, since it damages the reputation and makes families less interested in using the library.
Through these simple steps, the Library can develop a more successful social media strategy that can increase community engagement and build excitement for the historic Los Angeles County Public Library.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LACountyLibrary?ref=ts&fref=ts
Twitter - https://twitter.com/lacountylibrary
Vimeo - http://vimeo.com/lacountylibrary
Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/lacountylibrary/
Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacountylibrary/
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/LACountyLibrary?feature=watch
County of Los Angeles Public Library- http://www.colapublib.org
Enjoy this fun Vimeo video I had a good laugh http://vimeo.com/42240608
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