Elise Aiello

LIS 6271Research Methods

Research Proposal
Due: July 18, 2014

Title:
The Effects of Social Media Marketing on Program Attendance and Library Usage

Abstract:
As public libraries are frequently under threat of budget cuts and closures, advocacy has become
more important than ever to their survival. One of the most effective ways advocacy occurs is
through successful marketing. There are many ways libraries can market their programs and
services, but one of the most efficient and inexpensive ways to promote library services is
through social media. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr
have been utilized by many public libraries to connect with their clientele and attract new
customers. These websites allow libraries to connect with thousands of people. The question the
following research will examine is how effective these mediums are in actually increasing
program attendance and library usage. Library usage is defined in this research as card
registration, technology use, and circulation statistics. Statistics from major library systems
across the country will be used as well as statistics from local branches of the TampaHillsborough Country Public Library System.

Purpose and Significance:

Since social media marketing is a relatively new concept in library marketing, there is not a
wealth of statistics that show a direct link between social media promotion and increased library
usage and programming attendance. However, there is evidence available that shows a
correlation between the two. There are many platforms that libraries are using to promote their
services, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram. Examining all platforms
would yield too broad and varied results, and most libraries are only utilizing Facebook and
Twitter. According to the 2014 ALA State of Americas Libraries Report, Facebook was by far
the most used social media platform among public libraries of all sizes (ALA, 2014). So for this
research, the precise definition of social media marketing will be limited to Facebook. Program
attendance is simply defined as the number of people who attended a particular program, and
library usage is defined as RFID checkouts, library card registrations, and meeting room usage.
The literature review portion of this proposal will explore some of the most effective uses of
social media marketing by major public library systems. The in-depth research will focus
specifically on programming statistics and Facebook Insight data from the Tampa-Hillsborough
County Public Library System.

Research Question:

This study will examine the effect that social media marketing (specifically Facebook) has on
program attendance in Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.

Literature Review:

Facebook is the most used social media in the world. Sharing links to the blog on Facebook will
ensure the broadest dissemination possible (Boniface, 2013). According to the U.S. Public
Libraries and the Use of Web Technologies study for 2012, 93% of the largest public libraries
have Facebook accounts (Wanucha, 2013). Another study conducted in 2012 by Library Journal
surveyed 471 public libraries and found that 100% of those that market using social media use it
to promote upcoming programs and events (Library Journal, 2012). The benefits of a public
library having a Facebook page are manifold. According to a Tampa Bay Library Consortium
article, Facebook allows users to see updates the library has posted, allows those users friends to
see it, and posts are sent into users feeds allowing them to easily see updates (TBLC).
Facebook is currently the best social media platform to evaluate marketing efficacy as it is the
most commonly used amongst public libraries. There is certainly proof to show its impact on
promoting library services. One example is the New York Public Librarys (NYPL) successful
use of social media marketing to increase library card sign-ups during National Library Card
Sign-Up Month. NYPL crafted a marketing campaign in 2012 that used famous celebrity quotes
about love for libraries. These were posted on Facebook, and as a result, page views to library
card registration page increased by 34%, library card sign-ups increased 21% from the year
before, and NYPL card signups were 35% higher than the average number of monthly online
library card applications (Eckerle, 2013).

After the Omaha Public Library gained a following of 5,000 people on Facebook in 2013,
cardholders borrowed more than 3 million items and downloaded 142, 636 items, which is an
increase of 45% (Omaha Library, 2014).

In the article Beyond the Teen Space: Reaching Teens through Social Media, Laura Horn, a
teen librarian from Farmington, CT started a Facebook campaign for her librarys teen users and
noticed a significant increase in usage. Not only was Facebook enabling me to connect with
teens online whom I had never interacted with before, but it was also facilitating introductions in
person (Horn, 2013).

The evidence is there that social media, especially Facebook, is a powerful tool to promote
library services. The following portion of the research will look specifically at internal library
statistics and Facebook analytics of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.

Methodology:

As there is not a wealth of statistics available that evaluate direct correlation of social media
marketing and increased library usage, it was necessary for this research to analyze available
statistics. This research will use EZ Stats Statistics and Facebook analytics to determine the
relation of social media marketing to program attendance in the Tampa-Hillsborough County
Public Library System. The Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library system has 26 branches.
Each branch has to enter program attendance into a program called EZ Stats. These statistics will
be used as the measure of program attendance. Also, the system has one main Facebook page

with an additional page for each branch. The main page has 2,846 likes and has been tagged in
users posts 280 times. The measurement of how successful a post is will be through likes
(how many people liked a post) and shares (how many Facebook users shared a post with their
Facebook friends). Also, the size of the branch will be noted as that is a variable for program
attendance.

The first post and program examined was not very successful. The program being marketed was
the Ask-A-Genealogist program at the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library. There were only eight
adults in attendance according to EZ Stats, and the post only received one like on Facebook. This
is a rather low program attendance considering the size and population served of this particular
branch. The Jan Kaminis Platt Library is a regional library in the system, meaning it serves a
large population and is open more hours than many of the other branches. There are possible
variables that could have affected this program, though. The program was held on June 11, 2014,
which was a Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. This could have prevented people who had
to work during the day from going.

Another program promoted on the librarys Facebook page was the Cooking with Incredible
Spices program held at the Riverview Branch Library on Saturday, June 14 at 3:00 p.m. The
program had a total of 10 people in attendance. The post received one like on Facebook, but was
shared onto the Florida Library Association Outreach & Programming Member Groups page.
That post received four likes and one comment requesting more information about the event.
That is not necessarily a stellar number in terms of reach, but it does show the power that sharing

a post has on promoting an event. By one person sharing the original post, four more people
liked it that may not have even seen the original post.

The Florida History with Stories and Songs program was held at the Jimmie B. Keel Regional
Library on Thursday, June 12 at 6:30 p.m. There were a total of eight people in attendance and
the library post only received one like on Facebook. This also seems like a bit of a discrepancy
because this particular library is one of the busiest in the library system, so it seems as though
there would be a higher attendance level, especially since it was promoted on Facebook.

On Thursday, June 10th at 6:30 p.m. the C. Blythe Andrews Public Library held an event, Arch
Deal: The Corporate Fall Guy that featured a former TV news anchor relating his experiences.
The event post on Facebook received two likes and there were a total of ten people in attendance.

One of the most attended programs at the library this summer was the Reading with the Rays
Kickoff event during which Evan Longoria from the Tampa Bay Rays came and read to
children. The event had 76 children and 54 adults in attendance. The Facebook event promotion
for the event had 8 likes. This event was also highly promoted in other outlets though, such as
flyers, the library website.

Conclusion

Social media marketing in libraries is still evolving and developing. There has not been a large
number of studies done that show empirical evidence of the direct link between social media

marketing and increased program attendance. It is clear that social media marketing, especially
through Facebook, is a successful way to promote programs. However, there are many variables
in doing the research that makes it difficult to determine whether Facebook had a direct affect on
increased program attendance. In order to really determine how successful a Facebook post is in
marketing a program, it would be necessary to survey every person who attended a program to
see how they found out about the program and if Facebook was one of the ways they found out
about it.

References

American Library Association. (2014). Social networking. In State of Americas libraries report
2014. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report2014/social-networking.
Boniface, Angelinah C. (2013). The United Nations library is seriously social. In Harmon,
Charles and Messina, Michael (Eds.). Using social media in libraries (20). Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Eckerle, Courtney. (2013). Social media marketing: how New York Public Library increased card
sign-ups by 35%. MarketingSherpa blog. Retrieved from
http://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/online-marketing/nypl-social-media-marketing/.
Horn, Laura A. (2013). Beyond the teen space: reaching teens through social media. In Harmon,
Charles and Messina, Michael (Eds.). Using social media in libraries (56). Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Library Journal. Public library marketing: methods and best practices. (2012). Retrieved from
https://s3.amazonaws.com/WebVault/PublicLibraryMarketingRpt2013.pdf.
Omaha Public Library. (2014). Omaha public library celebrates increased usage in 2013. News
releases. Retrieved from http://omahalibrary.org/news-room/news-releases/926-omahapublic-library-celebrates-increased-usage-in-2013.
Tampa Bay Library Consortium. How Facebook can help market your library. Retrieved from
http://tblc.org/archives/2502.

Wanucha, Meghan and Hofschire, Linda. (2013). U.S. public libraries and the use of web
technologies, 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.lrs.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/11/WebTech2012_CloserLook.pdf.