TUTOR.COMSOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE

Welcome to the Tutor.com Social Media Guide Series. We hope these guides help you make themost of the social media tools available to your library. Here are some ideas and examples to makethe most of your Pinterest account to promote your programs and services; engage your community;and, connect with your colleagues.

FOCUS ON:PinterestPromote. Engage. Connect.

PromoteSocial media is visual. Facebook posts with clever images and Tweets linking to informative infographics get the mostattention. So it was only a matter of time before a completely visual medium came about. That’s where Pinterestcomes in.

Creating a Pinterest account for your library is a great way to not only store all the visual images you have accumulated, but also to showcase and promote what’s going on at your library. You can pin images that link to blog posts about recent library events, or share fun graphics that express your library team’s love of books!

EngageWomen are five times more likely to use Pinterest than men. Capturing this specific audience on Pinterest is a great wayto introduce library features to them that they might not have known existed. Perhaps a group of new moms are looking for a space to meet for book club. Or retired friends are looking for new activities to add to their open schedule. Visually showcasing your library’s features promotes those activities in a captivating way that Pinterest users respond to.

Once a Pinterest user follows your Pinterest account or board they will receive updates to all the new pins you post.If they see something they like, they may repin or Like it, and by repining your content is opened up to all of theirfollowers! Once one member of the community follows you, your library has the opportunity to reach that person’sfriends, neighbors or colleagues if they repin your post.

ConnectPinterest is similar to Twitter in that your posts are accessible to the entire Pinterest community. When you create a board and assign it a category, it will be seen when anyone on the platform explores those categories. Being able to connect with users across the country strengthens your social media presence as it increases your library’s name recognition.

One final note, don’t forget to cross promote! Pinning your blog posts and sharing your favorite pins on Facebook can help reach your entire audience and promote your presence on other platforms.

TUTOR.COMSOCIAL MEDIA GUIDEFOCUS ON: Pinterest

Birmingham Public Library promotes their recommended

summer reads on the board “Summer Reading Suggestions.”

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library promotes their pins and

Pinterest page to all of their Facebook followers!

Omaha Public Library stays connected with their community by pinning vintage local postcards on their board “Omaha - Our City.”

Niles Public Library keeps track of clever library ideas on their board “Library Idea Box.”

Get the latest promotional materials and social media tools onour Client Resource Center at www.tutor.com/clients

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Pins to Pin• Pin images of the library’s book displays throughout the year.

• Pin PDFs of the library’s marketing materials. Bookmarks, flyers, brochures, oh my!

• Do community clubs meet at your library? For book clubs you can pin the covers of their latest reads. For knitting clubs you can pin images of their latest creations.

• Pin humorous or classic screenshots and quotes from movies that just arrived at the library for borrowing.

• Pin images of the best spots to read in the library.

• Did the elementary school just plant a new garden? Or did the high school just paint a new mural? Pin pictures from around the community!

• Is next week Teen Tech Week? Or perhaps Banned Books Week? Creating boards for a specific event is a great way to promote the events across all platforms.