And the electronic collection includes databases
Lili Luo
Practical implications – The paper helps interested librarians develop a more grounded understanding of how video sharing sites can be effectively and efficiently used as a marketing platform and how to successfully create their own video marketing campaigns.
Originality/value – One significant weakness in library marketing literature is the lack of empirical studies analyzing the details of creating an online video marketing campaign. This paper helps fill that void, and contributes to the growth of the knowledge about library marketing using innovative technologies.
| organizations, communities, and individuals in recent years, libraries are increasingly embracing it to strengthen their connections with the user community. Defined as “a group of internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content” (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010, p. 61), social media technologies take on many different forms such as blogs, microblogs, wikis, social networking sites, social bookmarking sites, photo and video sharing sites. According to the Pew Internet |  |
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In this paper, we present a case study accurately describing the successful use of a popular video sharing site for library marketing. At Tsinghua University Library in China, we produced a low-cost series of five short and entertaining videos titled “Falling in Love with the Library” to promote library resources and services and to improve brand awareness. The videos were posted on Youku (www.youku.com), China’s equivalent of YouTube, and achieved a staggering level of popularity. This online video marketing project won the 10th IFLA International Marketing Award. The paper seeks to share our successful experience with the world of academic libraries, hoping to shed light on how to most effectively employ social media in libraries’ marketing campaigns.
2. Literature review
The importance of library marketing is well documented in the literature. Cole et al. (2010) pithily summarized that marketing is imperative for libraries to be proactive and to meet users’ needs. As the information environment becomes more competitive and cluttered, marketing can make a difference by helping connect libraries with their users. Kenneway (2007, p. 92) observed that marketing is now more of a critical issue for librarians than it has been in the past because “it is not good enough just to be good at what you do anymore”, and librarians have to be adept at communicating this and what that means for their users.
| While it is indisputable that social networking sites like Facebook constitute an effective marketing ground, another social media technology, video sharing sites, are also worth pursuing. PC Magazine (2012) defines a video sharing site to be “a website that allows |
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relevant articles have been located in literature searches, most of which were opinion pieces about the promise and potential of library marketing via video sharing sites.
As early as 2007, Webb (2007) discussed the possibilities of using YouTube in academic libraries. Although he did not specifically use the word “marketing”, it was apparent that his suggested uses of YouTube served marketing purposes. For example, he recommended that libraries film its various services, load them to YouTube, and then make the link available on its website. Another recommendation was to use it as a method of introducing resources available on campus, such as creating visual helper for incoming freshmen-orientation sessions.
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viewership by the intended audience.
Only one article resulted from the literature searches was about individual libraries’experience of using video sharing sites for library marketing. Martin (2012) described a
The university library system consists of a main library, seven branch libraries and reference rooms in a number of colleges and departments. Plate 1 presents a panoramic view of the main library’s building cluster.
Plate 1. |
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| most common activity (49.2 percent) on social media was content sharing, and 50.3 percent of the users had shared videos (China Internet Network Information Center, 2012). At Tsinghua University, social media such as video sharing sites are widely | 459 |
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used by students. In addition to personal use, video sharing sites are extensively used for campus events. Students make and share their own videos for new student orientations, award presentation ceremonies, student festivals, graduation ceremonies, and events on Student Government Election Day.
3.3 Librarians partnering with students in library marketing
The popularity of video sharing via social media drew the attention of
librarians. Impressed by the pervasive use of video sharing sites in
students’ campus life, we decided to create a library marketing campaign
to take advantage of it. The idea of an online video marketing project
was hence born. This marketing project aimed at improving library brand
awareness, promoting library resources, facilities and services, and
encouraging the optimal use of the library in a popular and effective
way. The project sought to engage online video marketing via social
media to achieve this aim. The outcome of the project was set to be a
series of videos (named “Falling in Love with the Library”) that would
promote the library and evoke a feeling of love for the library via an
entertaining and romantic story. The videos would be posted to the
popular video sharing site Youku and promoted in multiple channels.
3.5 End product – a five-episode video series
The end product of this marketing project was a five-episode video series titled“Falling in Love with the Library”. Each episode was four to five minutes in length. The entire series featured a love story between two college students, and each episode had a focus that highlighted a particular aspect of using the library. Table II provides the summary of each episode and the messages conveyed in that episode. Throughout the video series, the romantic love story unfolds in a light-hearted and humorous way. Many details of the story were based on real college life so that students could resonate with it and therefore feel a connection with the library.3.6 Promotion
The video series[1] was posted to Youku, a popular video sharing site in China. It was then announced and promoted in multiple channels, including the library website, poster displays, post cards and book marks, word-of-mouth advertisement, RenRen (www.renren.com, the equivalent of Facebook in China), and the library’s Weibo page (www.weibo.com, Weibo is China’s equivalent of Twitter). Colburn and Haines (2012) found that the key to viewership increase is to promote the videos via as many venues as possible, including web sites, local or campus communication vehicles, and other social media platforms, and our strategic and frequent promotional efforts echoed this finding (see Figure 1).
| Episode synopsis | Library highlight | Marketing via |
|---|---|---|
| social media |
the due date. So Yifu walks up to him, points out
the book is long overdue, grabs it from him, and
returns it
Episode 2. Although Yifu rather forcefully
returns Kaifeng’s book, Kaifeng is drawn to this beautiful girl. He has
been saving the seat next to him for Yifu since they met, hoping she
would sit by him and study together with him
Episode 4. One day Yifu asks Kaifeng on a date in one of the library
buildings, but Kaifeng
misunderstands the building name and goes to a different building by
mistake. Because of this mistake, Kaifeng is 20 minutes late for their
date, and Yifu is upset. Kaifeng then tries to apologize by texting her
book titles from the Integrated Library System (ILS) that indicate “I’m
sorry” or
The ILS of the library allows users to text a bibliographic record to their mobile phones, which makes it convenient for them to locate the books they are looking for
There is a new library building on campus, which is often confused with one of the old buildings because they have similar nicknames.
| “I love you” | Table II. | |
|---|---|---|
| Episode 5. Yifu and Kaifeng are graduating soon. | ||
| The romantic moments they have shared in the |
library are flashing by. Kaifeng leaves a message in a book in the library reference room, telling Yifu that she’s the love of his life
A break-down of the
episodes of “Falling in
Love with the Library”
The survey focused on examining students’ awareness and perception of “Falling in Love with the Library”. More than 50 percent of the respondents had seen at least one episode of the series, and close to 28 percent had heard of it. Regarding the helpfulness of the series, 42.7 percent agreed that they had learned more about library services and policies, and 72.6 percent felt that they had connected with the library at an emotional level and truly fell in love with the library.
Respondents were also asked about their perception of the different aspects of the video series, and Table III presents a detailed view of their feedback, which was positive overall as the average rating for each item was higher than 4 on a five point Likert scale (5 being excellent and 1 being poor).
| the library, yet in the meantime they discovered new things about the library; and the style of the videos was humorous and refreshing, which changed the serious, rigid and old-fashioned image of the library in their minds. Some respondents even proposed |
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possible explanation is that it was more convenient for social media users to follow the link to view the video online than it was for those who learned about it via other physical venues. This evidence shows that for an online video marketing effort to take effect, the“online” element should be emphasized in the distribution and promotion of the videos.
Both the statistics and survey results suggest that the video marketing project accomplished its objectives and could be considered successful. The title and slogan of the project, “Falling in Love with the Library” has been widely accepted as the brand identity of the library and hence used in library workshops and brochures for freshmen. Even the University’s Admission Office posted the video series on their Webpage to showcase the library and attract prospective students. The project team was also invited to present at professional conferences to share the successful experience. Lessons learned from the project are discussed in the next section, and we hope that interested libraries will find it beneficial in their own marketing practice.
| 5 Excellent | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 Poor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall quality | 57.3 | 34.7 | 7.2 | 0.8 | 0 | Table III. |
| Story | 56.4 | 23.4 | 12.9 | 5.7 | 1.6 | |
| Acting | 51.6 | 33.1 | 11.3 | 3.2 | 0.8 | |
| Background music | 62.9 | 28.2 | 5.6 | 3.2 | 0 | |
| Messages conveyed | 66.1 | 21.8 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | |
| Length | 64.5 | 25.8 | 8.1 | 0 | 1.6 | the videos series (%) |
reflecting what students experience in their everyday activities. There are many young couples at Tsinghua University, and they often come to the library to
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(4) Partnership with students. Most important of all, the project thrives on an innovative partnership between librarians and students. One of the roadblocks for libraries to engage in video marketing is the lack of video production expertise. Little suggested that academic libraries first find out if their institution partners with any video sharing site because participating in an institutional video initiative usually means that librarians can rely on technical and production support from campus media/information technology or public affairs departments in planning, producing and promoting videos (Little, 2011).
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In conclusion, Tsinghua University Library’s video series “Falling in Love with the Library” has proved to be a successful case of library marketing via social media. It is a clear manifestation of going where users are and making the library’s presence relevant and meaningful there. We hope this detailed analysis of the case can help interested academic librarians develop a more grounded understanding of how video sharing sites can be effectively and efficiently used as a marketing platform and successfully create their own video marketing campaigns.
Note
China Internet Network Information Center (2012), The 2011 Report of Social Media Use in China, available at: www.cnnic.cn/hlwfzyj/hlwxzbg/sqbg/201209/P020120903424883 977032.pdf (accessed 5 November 2012).
Colburn, S. and Haines, L. (2012), “Measuring libraries’ use of youtube as a promotional tool: an exploratory study and proposed best practices”, Journal of Web Librarianship, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 5-31.
Ivie, T., McKay, B., May, F., Mitchell, J., Mortimer, H. and Walker, L. (2011), “Marketing and
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Martin, C.M. (2012), “One-minute video: marketing your library to faculty”, Reference Services Review, Vol. 40 No. 4.
Miller, M. (2009), YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Business, Pearson Education, Oxford.
Webb, P.L. (2007), “YouTube and libraries: it could be a beautiful relationship”, College & Research Libraries News, Vol. 68 No. 6, pp. 354-355.
About the authors
Lili Luo is an Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, San Jose State University, San Jose, California. Lili Luo is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: lili.luo@sjsu.edu
Yuan Wan is Deputy Director of the Reference Department at Tsinghua University Library, Beijing, China.