Marketing Critique of San Francisco Public Library
The San Francisco Public Library system is comprised of numerous branches. These branches allow the SFPL to serve a large population and, similarly, their online presence allows for an even greater patronage.
What is the library doing to market themselves online?
The SFPL markets itself online through its main website, a Twitter page, a Facebook page, numerous blogs, and podcasts and videos of library programs. The main SFPL website is clean cut, informative, and eye-catching. Its Library Highlights section allows for patrons to browse through numerous events in a visual manner, while the library services, events, and hours are clearly stated and navigable. The library catalog itself is highly reminiscent of an Internet information search that blends into the layout of the rest of the main website.
The library’s Teen and Children’s pages are designed in a specialized fashion that targets their intended audience and shows an attention to detail and design. While the Kid’s website could be confusing to navigate to some, that the hyperlinks are incorporated into the actual background design is reminiscent of wallpaper in a child’s room and was most likely designed with that in mind. In comparison, the Teen website is clean cut and almost too simple, with few images or interactive elements that teens may appreciate, such as a scrolling message feed, chat features, or simply images of the latest movies or CDs.
SFPL’s Twitter page is active almost daily, providing important information on events and programs to its 1,366 followers. The language and jargon used is casual and avoids the formally polite phrasing of many librarians who use social media tools. The Twitter page does not, however, contain many conversations with or responses to patrons.
Similarly, the library’s Facebook page is often updated and has numerous comments and “likes” to each announcement. It has a staggering 6,379 likes. What stood out was the amount of Information on SFPL, which also includes a “status” of whether the library is open or not. The Facebook page’s Discussion section is a good attempt at creating conversation between patrons but has not been updated for months. The Poll section is important tool in order to receive patron feedback in a manner that is easy to both receive and provide. The Library’s Teen Services Facebook page makes many announcements which are image heavy but they do not update daily and only have 132 likes. What catches the eye the most is the photography folder of Teen Librarians, which consists of cartoon drawings of the SFPL’s young adult librarians. For the patrons who interact with these librarians, it must be fun to associate and recognize their favorite staff members.
The number of blogs published by the SFPL staff are numerous (21 in total), with the majority being specific branch blogs and only a handful consisting of specific subject blogs such as the Filipino American Center Blog and LGBT Resources Blog. While having so many blogs is rather staggering and looks good as a whole, they may not be updated as often due to spreading the staff so thinly between 21 blogs. Instead, they could have had a main blog for the entire system, including branch-related announcements (perhaps with accompanying photographs or caricatures to identify the branch) and events with separate subject-related blogs.
The SFPL also has a number of podcasts and videos of the events that occur at the branches, such as author visits, book readings, and branch openings. The podcasts revolve around book readings and panel discussions.
What are they doing right in their marketing efforts?
The SFPL system is reaching out through multiple social media tools as well as through its traditional website and media collection. The Kids’ library page especially shows that the library is marketing towards its youth population through the design of the website and the interactivity, even in the main categories that it chooses to embed into the front page.
Both Facebook and Twitter provide information in a timely and easy-to-access manner as well as provide a professional and modern face of the library online. Similarly, the blogs discuss interesting and important aspects of modern life, targeting audiences that may need extra support or information or even stories about people who are experiencing the same issues.
Providing specialized and targeted information is what the SFPL system is doing extremely well, in that their blogs and their Facebook pages target specific audiences and cater the announcements and news to them. This is especially important for those of differing generations who may digest and search for information in different ways. For example, the teen Facebook page is designed differently than the SFPL main Facebook page, in that it is more graphic heavy with briefer announcements.
Where are they falling short?
While the SFPL system does reach out with social media tools, it does not appear to be creating much conversation with its patrons, current or future. One of the greatest strengths of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, let alone blogs, is to create conversation and dialog between patrons and library staff, or even patrons and other patrons. Conversation can also include comments, which the Facebook page does have, but the Twitter page seems to lack. For a previous research paper, the American Eagle Outfitters Twitter page was researched and there were many tweets along the lines of “@customer: Those jeans look great!” or “@customer: I agree with you regarding that event.” While they may appear banal messages, it shows interaction between staff and customers in a manner that is conversational and sounds like dialog between individuals in a face-to-face encounter.
The blog effort, as previously mentioned, could be condensed into fewer but more often updated blogs. Keeping a high level of activity, which includes keeping up-to-date with recent vents in the world and respective communities is especially important to a library that serves such a broad populace.
What do you think of their branding efforts? Have they build a strong and consistent brand online?
While the SFPL does have a few items that they could work on in order to strengthen their online branding efforts, what they do have at the moment is a strong and consistent foundation for its brand name. With the Facebook and Twitter pages already up and running, it is only a simple step to improve their outreach and marketing. Their blogs provide a human voice of their staff along with the extremely humanized (through caricatures) teen librarian population. By making their staff identifiable through blog posts and rosters, SFPL shows the diversity of their members as well as the population they serve.
If the library hired you as a social media marketing consultant, what would you suggest to them?
If hired as a social media marketing consultant for the SFPL system, I would firstly congratulate them on their outreach thus far and state their previous accomplishments. Then I would recommend a redesign of their Teen website in order to make it as individual and eye-catching as the Kids page. Providing a Teen Facebook page does not allow the website page to be less impacting.
Regarding the Facebook and Twitter pages, I would attempt to increase conversation between patrons and staff members either by increasing the number of Discussion threads or polls, as well as changing the tone of the announcements into one that prompts response. Questions such as whether or not the patrons enjoyed the finished event and would want more of the same type or if the patrons enjoyed reading / watching / listening the newest release of a book / DVD / CD. In Twitter, I would prompt proactive interactions with patrons, either through searching for people discussing libraries or asking for events that the SFPL sponsors. Tweeting directly to these people creates conversation and shows that the library is fine with open and direct dialog. By doing this, it shows that anybody could Tweet the library and get a response, which opens up the option of the SFPL’s Twitter account as another reference source. This could, however, cause the Twitter page to become deluged so it would be important to create a balance between announcements and discussion in order to ensure that the announcements continue at the same pace.
Prompting patrons to submit media and ensure a Web 2.0 experience is important, especially in trying to make the library’s online presence more than just the online face of the library. Making announcements about library events is not enough. If enough communication occurs between patrons and staff and the patrons themselves, the library can become a hub of the community both online and offline.
The San Francisco Public Library system is comprised of numerous branches. These branches allow the SFPL to serve a large population and, similarly, their online presence allows for an even greater patronage.
What is the library doing to market themselves online?
The SFPL markets itself online through its main website, a Twitter page, a Facebook page, numerous blogs, and podcasts and videos of library programs. The main SFPL website is clean cut, informative, and eye-catching. Its Library Highlights section allows for patrons to browse through numerous events in a visual manner, while the library services, events, and hours are clearly stated and navigable. The library catalog itself is highly reminiscent of an Internet information search that blends into the layout of the rest of the main website.
The library’s Teen and Children’s pages are designed in a specialized fashion that targets their intended audience and shows an attention to detail and design. While the Kid’s website could be confusing to navigate to some, that the hyperlinks are incorporated into the actual background design is reminiscent of wallpaper in a child’s room and was most likely designed with that in mind. In comparison, the Teen website is clean cut and almost too simple, with few images or interactive elements that teens may appreciate, such as a scrolling message feed, chat features, or simply images of the latest movies or CDs.
SFPL’s Twitter page is active almost daily, providing important information on events and programs to its 1,366 followers. The language and jargon used is casual and avoids the formally polite phrasing of many librarians who use social media tools. The Twitter page does not, however, contain many conversations with or responses to patrons.
Similarly, the library’s Facebook page is often updated and has numerous comments and “likes” to each announcement. It has a staggering 6,379 likes. What stood out was the amount of Information on SFPL, which also includes a “status” of whether the library is open or not. The Facebook page’s Discussion section is a good attempt at creating conversation between patrons but has not been updated for months. The Poll section is important tool in order to receive patron feedback in a manner that is easy to both receive and provide. The Library’s Teen Services Facebook page makes many announcements which are image heavy but they do not update daily and only have 132 likes. What catches the eye the most is the photography folder of Teen Librarians, which consists of cartoon drawings of the SFPL’s young adult librarians. For the patrons who interact with these librarians, it must be fun to associate and recognize their favorite staff members.
The number of blogs published by the SFPL staff are numerous (21 in total), with the majority being specific branch blogs and only a handful consisting of specific subject blogs such as the Filipino American Center Blog and LGBT Resources Blog. While having so many blogs is rather staggering and looks good as a whole, they may not be updated as often due to spreading the staff so thinly between 21 blogs. Instead, they could have had a main blog for the entire system, including branch-related announcements (perhaps with accompanying photographs or caricatures to identify the branch) and events with separate subject-related blogs.
The SFPL also has a number of podcasts and videos of the events that occur at the branches, such as author visits, book readings, and branch openings. The podcasts revolve around book readings and panel discussions.
What are they doing right in their marketing efforts?
The SFPL system is reaching out through multiple social media tools as well as through its traditional website and media collection. The Kids’ library page especially shows that the library is marketing towards its youth population through the design of the website and the interactivity, even in the main categories that it chooses to embed into the front page.
Both Facebook and Twitter provide information in a timely and easy-to-access manner as well as provide a professional and modern face of the library online. Similarly, the blogs discuss interesting and important aspects of modern life, targeting audiences that may need extra support or information or even stories about people who are experiencing the same issues.
Providing specialized and targeted information is what the SFPL system is doing extremely well, in that their blogs and their Facebook pages target specific audiences and cater the announcements and news to them. This is especially important for those of differing generations who may digest and search for information in different ways. For example, the teen Facebook page is designed differently than the SFPL main Facebook page, in that it is more graphic heavy with briefer announcements.
Where are they falling short?
While the SFPL system does reach out with social media tools, it does not appear to be creating much conversation with its patrons, current or future. One of the greatest strengths of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, let alone blogs, is to create conversation and dialog between patrons and library staff, or even patrons and other patrons. Conversation can also include comments, which the Facebook page does have, but the Twitter page seems to lack. For a previous research paper, the American Eagle Outfitters Twitter page was researched and there were many tweets along the lines of “@customer: Those jeans look great!” or “@customer: I agree with you regarding that event.” While they may appear banal messages, it shows interaction between staff and customers in a manner that is conversational and sounds like dialog between individuals in a face-to-face encounter.
The blog effort, as previously mentioned, could be condensed into fewer but more often updated blogs. Keeping a high level of activity, which includes keeping up-to-date with recent vents in the world and respective communities is especially important to a library that serves such a broad populace.
What do you think of their branding efforts? Have they build a strong and consistent brand online?
While the SFPL does have a few items that they could work on in order to strengthen their online branding efforts, what they do have at the moment is a strong and consistent foundation for its brand name. With the Facebook and Twitter pages already up and running, it is only a simple step to improve their outreach and marketing. Their blogs provide a human voice of their staff along with the extremely humanized (through caricatures) teen librarian population. By making their staff identifiable through blog posts and rosters, SFPL shows the diversity of their members as well as the population they serve.
If the library hired you as a social media marketing consultant, what would you suggest to them?
If hired as a social media marketing consultant for the SFPL system, I would firstly congratulate them on their outreach thus far and state their previous accomplishments. Then I would recommend a redesign of their Teen website in order to make it as individual and eye-catching as the Kids page. Providing a Teen Facebook page does not allow the website page to be less impacting.
Regarding the Facebook and Twitter pages, I would attempt to increase conversation between patrons and staff members either by increasing the number of Discussion threads or polls, as well as changing the tone of the announcements into one that prompts response. Questions such as whether or not the patrons enjoyed the finished event and would want more of the same type or if the patrons enjoyed reading / watching / listening the newest release of a book / DVD / CD. In Twitter, I would prompt proactive interactions with patrons, either through searching for people discussing libraries or asking for events that the SFPL sponsors. Tweeting directly to these people creates conversation and shows that the library is fine with open and direct dialog. By doing this, it shows that anybody could Tweet the library and get a response, which opens up the option of the SFPL’s Twitter account as another reference source. This could, however, cause the Twitter page to become deluged so it would be important to create a balance between announcements and discussion in order to ensure that the announcements continue at the same pace.
Prompting patrons to submit media and ensure a Web 2.0 experience is important, especially in trying to make the library’s online presence more than just the online face of the library. Making announcements about library events is not enough. If enough communication occurs between patrons and staff and the patrons themselves, the library can become a hub of the community both online and offline.
Hello Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to read that the SFPL has over 6,000 Facebook followers! That really is a staggering amount as the Austin Public Library (APL) that I covered for my report has around 2,500 followers. I was also impressed the SFPL has 21 different blogs by various staff members. That demonstrates a concerted effort to reach out and go where the patrons are. I think the cartoon section of patron drawings of librarians is a great idea and puts humor and a very personal touch to interaction. I wonder if any staff members have gotten ruffled feathers if they weren’t portrayed kindly!!!
You mention the SFPL has podcasts and videos of events that have occurred at the branches. That is very clever and a great way of creating user interest and feedback. The Austin Public Library (APL) does not create and include these but I think it is well worth the time and efforts of libraries to do so.
In your critique and analysis of what you would do if hired as a marketing consultant, I think you give sound advice about redesigning the Teen website and making it as effective as the Kids page. Giving the different pages equal balance and adding quality where needed will ensure patron satisfaction.
~ William