Transcript Delivering Your Messages in Today’s Online Environment American Library Association, PR Forum Kevin T.

Delivering Your Messages in
Today’s Online Environment
American Library Association, PR Forum
Kevin T. Kirkpatrick
Executive Vice President
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Agenda
• How is the Internet (and social media,
specifically) changing the way we
communicate with one another?
• How are libraries using the Internet and
social media?
• Where do you start?
Credit: xkcd.com
Impact of Social Media
• Changing the way we communicate with
each other, and how we connect with
organizations we care about
– Social networking has surpassed email as the
most popular activity online.
• It’s huge, and growing fast
– Facebook >200 Million monthly active users
– Twitter >6 million users, growing at 1382%
Pros/Cons of Social Media
Benefits
Challenges
• Incredibly cost effective versus
traditional means of
communication
• Faster, more timely
• Ability to customize audiences
and content
• Easy to update, revise
• Can be more environmentally
sustainable (e.g., reduced
printing costs)
• Creating relationships!
• Can be overwhelming
• Growing fast, but still not
dominant
• Some audiences not yet
engaged (degree of
disproportionality)
• Requires commitment (e.g.,
updating, responding)
• Sacrifices certain degree of
control over content
Types of Social Media
• Communicate (blogs, podcasts, video,
photo)
• Connect (social networks, texting, instant
messaging, microblogs)
• Collaborate (Wikis, consumer-generated
media, ratings, social news)
• Collect (tagging, social bookmarking,
search)
• Customize (RSS, widgets, virtual worlds)
The Basic Idea
• Groups based on affinities and
expertise
• Profiles serve as identities, share info
about you
• Connections build the networks –
friends, family, co-workers, partners
• Sharing via opinions, information,
interests, stories, photos, videos
Your Website
Putting a “Face” on Your Library
“Tweeting” Your Library
Starting
discussions
Connecting
to other
resources
Promoting
Holdings
Schedule
changes
Announcing
events
Job
postings
Wave of the Not-so-distant Future …
First Things First: Your Website
• Update the content (frequently!)
• Refresh the look and feel of the site
• Tell stories/communicate impact
• Add photos, photo essays
• Increase opportunities for interactivity
(take action, email list, tell-a-friend, etc.)
• Add contact information
Tell-a-friend
Then, When You’re Ready…
• Join the conversation
– Appropriately
– Carefully
– Transparently
• Try one thing right away
– Update your website
– Add “tell-a-friend”
– Create a Twitter account
– Start a Facebook page
Ask Yourself
• What’s your unique value?
• Why would people want to talk
about you?
• Where are your audiences? Are they
already doing something? Saying
something?
• What can you offer to the world? How
can you be a resource?
Keep in Mind
• Social media works best as a two-way
conversation
• Great for customer service; less so for PR
• Need to stay on top of it