Channeling Passions: Developing a Successful Social Media Strategy

Libraries often struggle with developing a consistent message that communicates their relevance and value to their patrons. When it comes to a social media strategy it’s understood that consistency is an essential aspect in library branding, but how to do it? What measures need to be in place to decide to use new social media tools like Instagram and Pinterest? In 2012, Albertsons Library worked with Web and social media teams in the library and across the Boise State University campus to develop a strategy that works for today’s busy library staff and librarians. By channeling the passion of library staff members from units throughout the library, creating a shared calendar of themes, and asking for volunteers, the authors, who are the social media strategy coordinators, created a unified voice across all social media, the Library’s Web presence, and on the screen savers in the computer labs.